Text model · Qwen3
Qwen3 8B requirements
Qwen3 family · 8B params · released Apr 2025 · 23M Ollama pulls. Minimum to run at Q4_K_M: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 (12GB).
Quantization sizes
| Quantization | Size on disk |
|---|---|
| Q2_K | 3.4 GB est |
| Q3_K_M | 3.9 GB est |
| Q4_K_M (default) | 5.03 GB |
| Q5_K_M | 5.7 GB est |
| Q6_K | 6.6 GB est |
| Q8_0 | 8.71 GB |
| FP16 | 16 GB |
Lower quant = smaller and faster, slightly lower quality. Q4_K_M is the common default.
Run it
ollama run qwen3:8b llama-cli -hf Qwen/Qwen3-8B-GGUF:Q4_K_M lms get Qwen/Qwen3-8B-GGUF Which devices can run Qwen3 8B?
Apple Silicon Macs
RAM-only laptops
iPhone & iPad
Android
NVIDIA GPUs
AMD GPUs
FAQ
How much VRAM or RAM does Qwen3 8B need?
At Q4_K_M, Qwen3 8B needs about 6.5 GB (weights ~5.03 GB + KV cache + overhead) at a 4k context. At Q8_0 budget ~10.2 GB.
Can Qwen3 8B run on a laptop?
Yes, Qwen3 8B fits on a 16 GB machine at Q4_K_M and runs on Apple Silicon or a 12 GB+ GPU comfortably.
Can I use Qwen3 8B commercially?
Yes. Qwen3 8B is licensed Apache-2.0, which permits commercial use.
Official Qwen/Qwen3-8B-GGUF HF repo lists Q4_K_M=5.03GB, Q8_0=8.71GB. Ollama library shows 5.2GB (rounded). Qwen3 released 2025-04-29. Context 32K native, extendable to 128K via YaRN.
Sources
Memory figures are estimates. See methodology.