Qwen 1 8B — Hardware Requirements & GPU Compatibility
Chat
Qwen 1 8B is a 1.8B-parameter open language model from Alibaba in the Qwen family. It supports a context window of up to 8,192 tokens. At Q4_K_M it needs about 1.21 GB of VRAM — see which GPUs and Macs can run it below.
1.8K downloads
73 likesSpecifications
- Publisher
- Alibaba
- Family
- Qwen
- Parameters
- 1.8B
- Architecture
- QWenLMHeadModel
- Context Length
- 8,192 tokens
- Vocabulary Size
- 151,936
Get Started
HuggingFace
How Much VRAM Does Qwen 1 8B Need?
Select a quantization to see compatible GPUs below.
| Quantization | Bits | VRAM | + Context | File Size | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q2_K | 3.40 | 0.9 GB | — | 0.78 GB | 2-bit quantization with K-quant improvements |
| Q3_K_S | 3.50 | 0.9 GB | — | 0.80 GB | 3-bit small quantization |
| Q3_K_M | 3.90 | 1.0 GB | — | 0.90 GB | 3-bit medium quantization |
| Q4_K_M | 4.80 | 1.2 GB | — | 1.10 GB | 4-bit medium quantization — most popular sweet spot |
| Q5_K_M | 5.70 | 1.4 GB | — | 1.31 GB | 5-bit medium quantization — good quality/size tradeoff |
| Q6_K | 6.60 | 1.7 GB | — | 1.52 GB | 6-bit quantization, very good quality |
| Q8_0 | 8.00 | 2.0 GB | — | 1.84 GB | 8-bit quantization, near-lossless |
Which GPUs Can Run Qwen 1 8B?
Q4_K_M · 1.2 GBQwen 1 8B (Q4_K_M) requires 1.2 GB of VRAM to load the model weights. For comfortable inference with headroom for KV cache and system overhead, 2+ GB is recommended. 35 GPUs can run it, including NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti.
Runs great
— Plenty of headroomWhich Devices Can Run Qwen 1 8B?
Q4_K_M · 1.2 GB33 devices with unified memory can run Qwen 1 8B, including NVIDIA DGX H100, NVIDIA DGX A100 640GB.
Runs great
— Plenty of headroomBenchmarks
View all 3 →Related Models
Derivatives (1)
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much VRAM does Qwen 1 8B need?
Qwen 1 8B requires 1.2 GB of VRAM at Q4_K_M, or 2.0 GB at Q8_0.
VRAM = Weights + KV Cache + Overhead
Weights = 1.8B × 4.8 bits ÷ 8 = 1.1 GB
KV Cache + Overhead ≈ 0.1 GB (at 2K context + ~0.3 GB framework)
VRAM usage by quantization
Q4_K_M1.2 GB- What's the best quantization for Qwen 1 8B?
For Qwen 1 8B, Q4_K_M (1.2 GB) offers the best balance of quality and VRAM usage. Q5_K_S (1.4 GB) provides better quality if you have the VRAM. The smallest option is Q2_K at 0.9 GB.
VRAM requirement by quantization
Q2_K0.9 GBQ3_K_L1.0 GBQ4_K_S1.1 GBQ4_K_M ★1.2 GBQ5_K_M1.4 GBQ8_02.0 GB★ Recommended — best balance of quality and VRAM usage.
- Can I run Qwen 1 8B on a Mac?
Qwen 1 8B requires at least 0.9 GB at Q2_K, which exceeds the unified memory of most consumer Macs. You would need a Mac Studio or Mac Pro with a high-memory configuration.
- Can I run Qwen 1 8B locally?
Yes — Qwen 1 8B can run locally on consumer hardware. At Q4_K_M quantization it needs 1.2 GB of VRAM. Popular tools include Ollama, LM Studio, and llama.cpp.
- How fast is Qwen 1 8B?
At Q4_K_M, Qwen 1 8B can reach ~2409 tok/s on AMD Instinct MI300X. On NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090: ~542 tok/s. Speed depends mainly on GPU memory bandwidth. Real-world results typically within ±20%.
tok/s = (bandwidth GB/s ÷ model GB) × efficiency
Example: AMD Instinct MI300X → 5300 ÷ 1.2 × 0.55 = ~2409 tok/s
Estimated speed at Q4_K_M (1.2 GB)
~2409 tok/s~542 tok/s~1801 tok/s~1490 tok/sReal-world results typically within ±20%. Speed depends on batch size, quantization kernel, and software stack.
- What's the download size of Qwen 1 8B?
At Q4_K_M, the download is about 1.10 GB. The full-precision Q8_0 version is 1.84 GB. The smallest option (Q2_K) is 0.78 GB.
- Which GPUs can run Qwen 1 8B?
35 consumer GPUs can run Qwen 1 8B at Q4_K_M (1.2 GB). Top options include AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT, AMD Radeon RX 6800, AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT. 35 GPUs have plenty of headroom for comfortable inference.
- Which devices can run Qwen 1 8B?
33 devices with unified memory can run Qwen 1 8B at Q4_K_M (1.2 GB), including Mac Mini M4 (16 GB), Mac Mini M4 (32 GB), Mac Mini M4 Pro (24 GB), Mac Mini M4 Pro (48 GB). Apple Silicon Macs use unified memory shared between CPU and GPU, making them well-suited for local LLM inference.