Small Qwen3ForCausalLM — Hardware Requirements & GPU Compatibility
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Small Qwen3ForCausalLM is a 20M-parameter open language model from trl-internal-testing in the Qwen 3 family. It supports a context window of up to 40,960 tokens. At Q4_K_M it needs about 0.31 GB of VRAM — see which GPUs and Macs can run it below.
Runs great on a 24 GB GPU
Runs from 8 GB (Q4_K_M · 40K)Best on 24 GB (Q4_K_M · ~2114 tok/s · 40K)Macs from 32 GB (~271 tok/s)
Reference GPU · RTX 4090 24 GB
Estimates, ±20% · how we estimate
Run Small Qwen3ForCausalLM
One recommended way. Every other method, OS and quant is in the step-by-step guide.
Recommended
vllm serve trl-internal-testing/small-Qwen3ForCausalLM --max-model-len 16384vLLM repo with its own quantisation
Download: Weights on Hugging Face
Other ways
each opens step-by-stepRun in cloud
Fits on RTX 3060 12GB (11 GB headroom) · Q4_K_M
- Generation speed
- ~755 tok/s
- generation speed
- Cost per 1M output tokens
- $0.028
- per 1M output tokens
How Much VRAM Does Small Qwen3ForCausalLM Need?
Select a quantization level; the listed hardware adheres to it.
| Quantization | VRAM | +32K | On RTX 4090 (reference) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.3 GB | 0.3 GB | 2-bit · K-quant — 2-bit quantization with K-quant improvements | Fits: 40K context · ~2114 tok/s | |
| 0.3 GB | 0.3 GB | 3-bit medium — 3-bit medium quantization | Fits: 40K context · ~2114 tok/s | |
| 0.3 GB | 0.3 GB | 4-bit medium — 4-bit medium quantization — most popular sweet spot | Fits: 40K context · ~2114 tok/s | |
| 0.3 GB | 0.3 GB | 5-bit medium — 5-bit medium quantization — good quality/size tradeoff | Fits: 40K context · ~2048 tok/s | |
| 0.3 GB | 0.3 GB | 6-bit, very good — 6-bit quantization, very good quality | Fits: 40K context · ~2048 tok/s | |
| 0.3 GB | 0.3 GB | 8-bit, near-lossless — 8-bit quantization, near-lossless | Fits: 40K context · ~2048 tok/s | |
| 0.3 GB | 0.4 GB | 16-bit · bfloat — Brain floating point 16 — preferred for training | Fits: 40K context · ~1927 tok/s |
Selected Q4_K_M
4-bit medium quantization0.3GBat 16K context
- Weights
- 0.1 GB
- KV cache
- 0.0 GB
- Overhead
- 0.3 GB
Fits RTX 4090 (reference) · 23.7 GB free · ~2114 tok/s
≥50 tok/s needs ≥24 GB/s · RTX 5090 ~3757, RTX 3090 Ti ~2114
Which Hardware Can Run Small Qwen3ForCausalLM?
Q4_K_M · 0.3 GBSmall Qwen3ForCausalLM (Q4_K_M) requires 0.3 GB of VRAM to load the model weights. For comfortable inference with headroom for KV cache and system overhead, 1+ GB is recommended. 52 GPUs can run it, including NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti. 176 devices with unified memory can run Small Qwen3ForCausalLM, including NVIDIA DGX H100, NVIDIA DGX A100 640GB.
≤ 11 GB
≤ 11 GB tier →fits · 7.7 GB free · up to 40K ctx
16 GPUs · 1 Mac class · 2 device families
RTX 3080~1594Simulate output on RTX 3080RTX 2080 Ti~1292Simulate output on RTX 2080 TiRTX 3070 Ti~1276Simulate output on RTX 3070 TiM3*8 GB~231Simulate output on iMac 24" M3 (8 GB)Orin Nano~214Simulate output on NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano 8GB (Super)iPhone~154Simulate output on iPhone 1720 GB
fits · 19.7 GB free · up to 40K ctx
1 GPU
RX 7900 XT~1548Simulate output on RX 7900 XT32–40 GB
fits · 31.7 GB free · up to 40K ctx
1 GPU · 3 Mac classes · 4 device families
RTX 5090~3757Simulate output on RTX 5090M5 Max36 GB~1039Simulate output on Mac Studio M5 Max (36 GB)M532 GB~347Simulate output on MacBook Air 13" M5 (32 GB)Orin~429Simulate output on NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin 32GBSnapdragon X Elite (X1E-80-100)~283Simulate output on Snapdragon X Elite Copilot+ PC
By VRAM tier · typical GPUs and Macs at Q4_K_M
Alternatives to Small Qwen3ForCausalLM
Qwen 3 family · 77 models →Specifications
- Publisher
- trl-internal-testing
- Family
- Qwen 3
- Parameters
- 20M
- Architecture
- Qwen3ForCausalLM
- Context Length
- 40,960 tokens
- Vocabulary Size
- 151,936
- Release Date
- 2025-05-08
Frequently Asked Questions
How much VRAM does Small Qwen3ForCausalLM need?
Small Qwen3ForCausalLM requires 0.3 GB of VRAM at Q4_K_M, or 0.3 GB at BF16.
VRAM = Weights + KV Cache + Overhead
Weights = 20M × 4.8 bits ÷ 8 = 0 GB
KV Cache + Overhead ≈ 0.3 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 ≈ 0.3 GB (at full 41K context)
VRAM usage by quantization
What's the best quantization for Small Qwen3ForCausalLM?
For Small Qwen3ForCausalLM, Q4_K_M (0.3 GB) offers the best balance of quality and VRAM usage. Q5_K_M (0.3 GB) provides better quality if you have the VRAM. The smallest option is Q2_K at 0.3 GB.
VRAM requirement by quantization
★ Recommended — best balance of quality and VRAM usage.
Can I run Small Qwen3ForCausalLM on a Mac?
Yes — Mac Mini M1 (8 GB) and 155 other Macs can run Small Qwen3ForCausalLM. Apple Silicon uses unified memory, so the model shares RAM with the system. At Q4_K_M you need at least 0.3 GB of usable unified memory (RAM minus macOS overhead).
Can I run Small Qwen3ForCausalLM locally?
Yes — Small Qwen3ForCausalLM can run locally on consumer hardware. Popular tools include Ollama, LM Studio, and llama.cpp.
How fast is Small Qwen3ForCausalLM?
At Q4_K_M, Small Qwen3ForCausalLM can reach ~15484 tok/s on AMD Instinct MI350X. On NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090: ~2114 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 ÷ 0.31 × 0.65 = ~16774 tok/s
Estimated speed at Q4_K_M (0.3 GB)
Real-world results typically within ±20%. Speed depends on batch size, quantization kernel, and software stack.
What's the download size of Small Qwen3ForCausalLM?
At Q4_K_M, the download is about 0.01 GB. The full-precision BF16 version is 0.04 GB. The smallest option (Q2_K) is 0.01 GB.
Which GPUs can run Small Qwen3ForCausalLM?
52 consumer GPUs can run Small Qwen3ForCausalLM at Q4_K_M. Top options include AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT, AMD Radeon RX 6800, AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT. 52 GPUs have plenty of headroom for comfortable inference.
Which devices can run Small Qwen3ForCausalLM?
176 devices with unified memory can run Small Qwen3ForCausalLM at Q4_K_M (0.3 GB), including AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (Strix Point) Laptop, ASUS Ascent GX10, Apple iPhone 17 Pro, Asus ROG Flow Z13 (2025, 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.