QwQ 32B — Hardware Requirements & GPU Compatibility
ChatReasoningFunctionsQwQ 32B is a 32-billion parameter reasoning-focused model from Alibaba Cloud's Qwen family. Unlike standard chat models, QwQ is specifically optimized for step-by-step logical reasoning, complex problem solving, and mathematical tasks. It employs extended chain-of-thought processing, generating detailed internal reasoning before producing final answers, which significantly improves accuracy on challenging analytical problems. The model requires a GPU with at least 24GB of VRAM for quantized inference and delivers reasoning performance competitive with much larger models. It is particularly well suited for users who need strong analytical capabilities for math, science, coding logic, and multi-step problem solving. Released under the Apache 2.0 license.
Runs well on a 24 GB GPU
Runs from 16 GB (IQ2_M · 16K)Best on 24 GB (Q4_K_M · ~32 tok/s · 8K)Macs from 18 GB (IQ2_XS · ~10 tok/s)
Score 96.2#70 of 106 open#17 of 36 that fit 24 GBApache 2.0
Reference GPU · RTX 4090 24 GB
Estimates, ±20% · how we estimate
llmrun Composite Score →
96.2
- 90% range 93.2–99.3
- #70 of 106 open models
- #17 of 36 that fit 24 GB
Run QwQ 32B
One recommended way. Every other method, OS and quant is in the step-by-step guide.Each way opens a step-by-step guide for your OS and quant.
Recommended
ollama run qwq:32bQ4_K_M · needs ~24.3 GB · 16K context
Download: qwq-32b-q4_k_m.gguf19.85 GBQwen
Ways to runOther ways
each opens step-by-stepRun in cloud
Your own private copy · Q4_K_M · 32 GB GPU
- The easiest way to try this model
- Running in a few minutes, easy setup
- Chat right here or connect any app
$5+ bonus for new users
Runs on RTX 5090 (32 GB) (7 GB headroom) · Q4_K_M
- Generation speed
- ~57 tok/s
- generation speed
- Cost per 1M output tokens
- $2.43
- per 1M output tokens
How Much VRAM Does QwQ 32B Need?
Select a quantization level; the listed hardware adheres to it.
| Quantization | VRAM | +32K | On RTX 4090 (reference) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14.8 GB | 22.8 GB | 2-bit · K-quant — 2-bit quantization with K-quant improvements | Fits: 32K context · ~44 tok/s | |
| 15.2 GB | 23.2 GB | 3-bit small — 3-bit small quantization | Fits: 32K context · ~43 tok/s | |
| 16.8 GB | 24.9 GB | 3-bit medium — 3-bit medium quantization | Fits: 16K context · ~39 tok/s | |
| 17.2 GB | 25.3 GB | 4-bit · legacy — 4-bit legacy quantization | Fits: 16K context · ~38 tok/s | |
| 20.5 GB | 28.6 GB | 4-bit medium — 4-bit medium quantization — most popular sweet spot | Fits: 8K context · ~32 tok/s | |
| 24.2 GB | 32.2 GB | 5-bit medium — 5-bit medium quantization — good quality/size tradeoff | Does not fit: needs 27.9 GB | |
| 27.9 GB | 35.9 GB | 6-bit, very good — 6-bit quantization, very good quality | Does not fit: needs 31.6 GB | |
| 33.6 GB | 41.7 GB | 8-bit, near-lossless — 8-bit quantization, near-lossless | Does not fit: needs 37.4 GB |
Selected Q4_K_M
4-bit medium quantization24.3GBat 16K context
- Weights
- 19.7 GB
- KV cache
- 4.3 GB
- Overhead
- 0.3 GB
Fits RTX 4090 (reference) · fits up to 8K context · ~32 tok/s
≥50 tok/s needs ≥1.57 TB/s · RTX 5090 ~57
Which Hardware Can Run QwQ 32B?
Q4_K_M · 20.5 GBQwQ 32B (Q4_K_M) requires 20.5 GB of VRAM to load the model weights. For comfortable inference with headroom for KV cache and system overhead, 27+ GB is recommended. Using the full 41K context window can add up to 10.2 GB, bringing total usage to 30.7 GB. 7 GPUs can run it, including NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti. 122 devices with unified memory can run QwQ 32B, including Mac Studio (M3 Ultra, 256GB), Mac Studio (M3 Ultra, 512GB), Mac Studio M1 Max (32 GB).
20 GB
Q4_K_M · best fit IQ3_M (19.3 GB)
1 GPU
RX 7900 XT~31Simulate output on RX 7900 XT32–40 GB
fits · 7.7 GB free · up to 40K ctx
1 GPU · 3 Mac classes · 4 device families
RTX 5090~57Simulate output on RTX 5090M5 Max36 GB~16Simulate output on Mac Studio M5 Max (36 GB)M532 GB~5Simulate output on MacBook Air 13" M5 (32 GB)Orin~7Simulate output on NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin 32GBSnapdragon X Elite (X1E-80-100)~4Simulate output on Snapdragon X Elite Copilot+ PC
By VRAM tier · typical GPUs and Macs at Q4_K_M
How good is QwQ 32B?
The llmrun Score merges 5 public benchmark boards into a single figure, where 100 represents the average for open models.
Score vs VRAM in the 24 GB tier
- QwQ 32B
- Other models
- Best Score for its VRAM
#17 of 36 that fit 24 GB
Each dot is a model at the best quant that fits a 24 GB GPU. The line steps up to the best Score available at each amount of VRAM; a dot below it is beaten by a model that needs no more memory.
Full 24 GB ranking →Benchmarks
Here are all 6 boards that have results for this model, sorted by their weight in the llmrun Score; badges show who ran the test.
- GPQA Diamond
Epoch AI · Mar 2025Independent
Independent65.3%
#40/100 open
- LMArena Text
LMArena · Oct 2026Arena
Arena1335.6
#86/188 open
- AIME 2024/2025
Epoch AI · Mar 2025Independent
Independent59.2%
#40/88 open
- MMLU-Pro
TIGER-LabIndependent
Independent69.1%
#40/146 open
- Aider Polyglot
Epoch AI · Mar 2025Independent
Independent20.9%
#12/18 open
- Fiction.LiveBench
Epoch AI · Mar 2025Independent
Independent83.3%
#3/25 open
In the 24 GB class
36 models fit 24 GBSame Score, only models that fit 24 GB at their best quant: the ranking a 24 GB owner actually chooses from.
- #1
Qwen3.8 27BAlibaba
122.0
~38 tok/s · 17.9 GB
- #2
Qwen3.6 27BAlibaba
111.2
~38 tok/s · 17.9 GB
- #3
Qwen3.6 35B A3BAlibaba
106.8
~151 tok/s · 22.0 GB
- #4
Gemma 4 31B ITGoogle
106.7
~32 tok/s · 21.7 GB
- #5
Gemma 4 26B A4B ITGoogle
105.8
~171 tok/s · 16.5 GB
- #6
Qwen3.5 35B A3BAlibaba
105.8
~151 tok/s · 22.0 GB
Official models with an llmrun Score, each answering one question; numbers are at the best quant that fits a 24 GB GPU.
Best alternative at this size
Qwen3.8 27B
Alibaba
- 25.8 higher Score
- 5.2 GB less VRAM
- 4 tok/s faster
Score 122.0 · 17.9 GB · ~38 tok/s
Much faster, similar quality
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
Alibaba
- 10.6 higher Score
- 1 GB less VRAM
- 117 tok/s faster
Score 106.8 · 22 GB · ~151 tok/s
Fits in less VRAM
GPT OSS 20B
OpenAI
- 0.2 higher Score
- 9.9 GB less VRAM
- 156 tok/s faster
Score 96.4 · 13.1 GB · ~190 tok/s
Other vendor
Gemma 4 31B IT
Google
- 10.5 higher Score
- 1.3 GB less VRAM
- 2 tok/s slower
Score 106.7 · 21.7 GB · ~32 tok/s
Similar models
10| Model | Score | VRAM | tok/s | Why it is similar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3.6 27BAlibaba | 111.2 | 17.9 GB | ~38 | similar score |
| Gemma 4 26B A4B ITGoogle | 105.8 | 16.5 GB | ~171 | similar score |
| Qwen3.5 35B A3BAlibaba | 105.8 | 22 GB | ~151 | similar score |
| Qwen3.5 27BAlibaba | 103.8 | 17.9 GB | ~38 | similar score |
| Seed OSS 36B InstructByteDance-Seed | 102.5 | 22.8 GB | ~31 | similar score |
| Qwen3 30B A3B Thinking 2507Alibaba | 100.7 | 19.4 GB | ~173 | similar score |
| Qwen3.5 9BAlibaba | 99.4 | 6.6 GB | ~103 | similar score |
| Qwen3.5 4BAlibaba | 98.5 | 3.4 GB | ~201 | similar score |
| Qwen3 14BAlibaba | 98.0 | 11.9 GB | ~69 | similar score |
| Qwen3 8BAlibaba | 93.9 | 7.6 GB | ~119 | similar score |
Specifications
- Publisher
- Alibaba
- Family
- QwQ
- Parameters
- 32.8B
- Architecture
- Qwen2ForCausalLM
- Context Length
- 40,960 tokens
- Vocabulary Size
- 152,064
- Release Date
- 2025-03-05
- License
- Apache 2.0
Frequently Asked Questions
How much VRAM does QwQ 32B need?
QwQ 32B requires 20.5 GB of VRAM at Q4_K_M, or 66.4 GB at BF16. Full 41K context adds up to 10.2 GB (30.7 GB total).
VRAM = Weights + KV Cache + Overhead
Weights = 32.8B × 4.8 bits ÷ 8 = 19.7 GB
KV Cache + Overhead ≈ 0.8 GB (at 2K context + ~0.3 GB framework)
Fit ratings and hardware model lists check this model with room for a 16K-token context, which needs a little more memory.
KV Cache + Overhead ≈ 11 GB (at full 41K context)
VRAM usage by quantization
Can NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 run QwQ 32B?
Yes, at Q5_1 (23.4 GB) or lower. Higher quantizations like Q5_K_M (24.2 GB) exceed the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090's 24 GB.
What's the best quantization for QwQ 32B?
For QwQ 32B, Q4_K_M (20.5 GB) offers the best balance of quality and VRAM usage. Q4_K_L (20.9 GB) provides better quality if you have the VRAM. The smallest option is IQ2_XXS at 9.8 GB.
VRAM requirement by quantization
★ Recommended — best balance of quality and VRAM usage.
Can I run QwQ 32B on a Mac?
Yes — MacBook Pro 14" M3 Pro (18 GB) and 108 other Macs can run QwQ 32B, the smallest at IQ2_XS. Apple Silicon uses unified memory, so the model shares RAM with the system. At Q4_K_M you need at least 20.5 GB of usable unified memory (RAM minus macOS overhead), from Mac Mini M5 Pro (24 GB).
Can I run QwQ 32B locally?
Yes — QwQ 32B can run locally on consumer hardware. Popular tools include Ollama, LM Studio, and llama.cpp.
How fast is QwQ 32B?
At Q4_K_M, QwQ 32B can reach ~234 tok/s on AMD Instinct MI350X. On NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090: ~32 tok/s. Speed depends mainly on GPU memory bandwidth. Real-world results typically within ±20%.
tok/s = (bandwidth GB/s ÷ model GB) × efficiency
Example: NVIDIA B200 → 8000 ÷ 20.5 × 0.65 = ~254 tok/s
Estimated speed at Q4_K_M (20.5 GB)
Real-world results typically within ±20%. Speed depends on batch size, quantization kernel, and software stack.
What's the download size of QwQ 32B?
At Q4_K_M, the download is about 19.66 GB. The full-precision BF16 version is 65.53 GB. The smallest option (IQ2_XXS) is 9.01 GB.
Which GPUs can run QwQ 32B?
7 consumer GPUs can run QwQ 32B at Q4_K_M. Top options include NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090. 1 GPU has plenty of headroom for comfortable inference.
Which devices can run QwQ 32B?
122 devices with unified memory can run QwQ 32B at Q4_K_M (20.5 GB), including AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (Strix Point) Laptop, ASUS Ascent GX10, Beelink GTR9 Pro (Ryzen AI Max+ 395, 128 GB), Framework Desktop (Ryzen AI Max+ 395, 128 GB). Apple Silicon Macs use unified memory shared between CPU and GPU, making them well-suited for local LLM inference.