text model · Nemotron 3 · Windows
Can I run Nemotron 3 Super 120B-A12B on 16GB RAM Laptop (CPU/iGPU only)?
No. Nemotron 3 Super 120B-A12B needs ~80.3 GB even at Q4_K_M, but 16GB RAM Laptop (CPU/iGPU only) only has ~12 GB usable.
Needs ~80.3 GB even at Q4_K_M, but only ~12 GB is usable.
That figure is at a 4k context and moves about ±15% as context length changes.
The gap is about 68.3 GB: Nemotron 3 Super 120B-A12B needs roughly 80.3 GB at Q4_K_M and 16GB RAM Laptop (CPU/iGPU only) leaves only about 12 GB usable for a model. The lightest tracked hardware that runs Nemotron 3 Super 120B-A12B is the Apple M4 Max (128GB) at 128 GB. See Nemotron 3 Super 120B-A12B on Apple M4 Max (128GB).
- Q4_K_M needed
- ~80.3 GB
- Usable on device
- ~12 GB
- Device memory
- 16 GB
Which quant fits
- Parameters
- 120B (MoE, 12B active)
- Q4_K_M size
- 76.87 GB
- Q8_0 size
- 119.65 GB
- Context
- 256k
- Ollama tag
- nemotron-3-super:120b-a12b
- Memory
- 16 GB ram
- Usable for weights
- ~12 GB
- Power draw
- ~28 W
- Best runtime
- Ollama (llama.cpp backend)
What you can run instead
Run Nemotron 3 Super 120B-A12B on other hardware
FAQ
Can 16GB RAM Laptop (CPU/iGPU only) run Nemotron 3 Super 120B-A12B?
No. Nemotron 3 Super 120B-A12B needs ~80.3 GB even at Q4_K_M, but 16GB RAM Laptop (CPU/iGPU only) only has ~12 GB usable.
How much memory does Nemotron 3 Super 120B-A12B need?
16GB RAM Laptop (CPU/iGPU only) does not have enough memory. At Q4_K_M the weights are ~76.87 GB; with KV cache and runtime overhead, budget ~80.3 GB at a 4k context. It is a Mixture-of-Experts model (120B total / 12B active), so all experts must stay in memory; memory tracks total params, not active params.
What is the best tool to run Nemotron 3 Super 120B-A12B on Windows?
LM Studio for a simple setup; Ollama (CUDA) for the most speed. AMD GPUs run via Vulkan/ROCm at roughly half CUDA throughput. NVIDIA is the smooth path on Windows.
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A live badge for your model card or README, updated as the data is. [](https://localmodel.run/can-i-run/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b/laptop-16gb) Sources
Weights are measured from GGUF files; KV cache and overhead are computed, so totals can vary ~15% with context and runtime. Any tok/s is a bandwidth estimate. See methodology.