audio model · musicgen · Windows

Can I run MusicGen medium on Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 (12GB)?

Compatibility verdict memory check

No, not enough memory would not load

Needs ~14 GB at fp32, but only ~11 GB is usable on Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 (12GB).

Needs ~14 GB Device usable ~11 GB

Needs ~14 GB at fp32, but only ~11 GB is usable on Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 (12GB).

The gap is about 3 GB: MusicGen medium needs roughly 14 GB and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 (12GB) leaves only about 11 GB usable for a model. The lightest tracked hardware that runs MusicGen medium is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti (16GB) at 16 GB. See MusicGen medium on Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti (16GB).

Peak memory: ~14 GB
Usable on device: ~11 GB
Device memory: 12 GB
Quant: fp32

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Model musicgen

Type: Music generation
Parameters: 1.5B
Peak memory: ~14 GB at fp32
License: CC-BY-NC-4.0

Full MusicGen medium requirements →

Device Windows

Memory: 12 GB vram
Usable for weights: ~11 GB
Power draw: ~170 W
Best runtime: Ollama (CUDA) / llama.cpp CUDA

Best models for Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 (12GB) →

What you can run instead

Run MusicGen medium on other hardware

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti (16GB)Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 (16GB)Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 (24GB)Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 (24GB)AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX (24GB)Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 (32GB)

FAQ

Can Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 (12GB) run MusicGen medium?

Needs ~14 GB at fp32, but only ~11 GB is usable on Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 (12GB).

How much memory does MusicGen medium need?

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 (12GB) does not have enough memory. At fp32 the realistic peak is ~14 GB of memory.

What do I use to run MusicGen medium locally?

MusicGen medium runs in AudioCraft or HF Transformers. It needs a GPU.

Sources

VRAM figures are sourced peak-usage anchors at the noted quant, validated 2026-08-03. See methodology.