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text model · Phi-3.5 · Windows

Can I run Phi-3.5-mini 3.8B on Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 (24GB)?

Compatibility verdict VRAM threshold engine
Yes, it runs GPU accelerated ~255 tok/s est.

Yes. Phi-3.5-mini 3.8B runs on Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 (24GB) at Q4_K_M (~3.7 GB of ~23 GB usable).

Needs ~3.7 GB Device usable ~23 GB

Runs at Q4_K_M using ~3.7 GB of ~23 GB usable. You have room for FP16 for higher quality.

That figure is at a 4k context and moves about ±15% as context length changes. Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 (24GB) leaves ~19.3 GB of headroom, room to step up to FP16 for higher quality.

Q4_K_M needed
~3.7 GB
Usable on device
~23 GB
Device memory
24 GB
Best quant
Q4_K_M
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Which quant fits

Quant ladder vs ~23 GB usable
Q2_K
~2.9 GB
Q3_K_M
~3.2 GB
Q4_K_M
~3.7 GB
Q5_K_M
~4 GB
Q6_K
~4.4 GB
Q8_0
~5.4 GB
FP16
~8.9 GB
The line marks Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 (24GB)'s ~23 GB budget; rungs past it are too large.

Running cost · estimate

Power & economics est.
Power draw
~350 W
Electricity / 1M tokens
~$0.06
Pays for itself after
~3,407M tok

At ~$0.15/kWh and the estimated ~255 tok/s, a million generated tokens costs about $0.06 in electricity. Versus a hosted API at ~$0.5 per million tokens, the ~$1,499 Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 (24GB) pays for itself after roughly 3,407 million tokens, so local hardware is mostly a fixed cost, not a per-token one. TDP is the peak draw, so this is an upper bound. Assumptions.

Run it

Install commands Windows

Pick your tool. All 3 load the same Q4_K_M weights.

Ollama
$ ollama run phi3.5:3.8b
llama.cpp
$ llama-cli -hf bartowski/Phi-3.5-mini-instruct-GGUF:Q4_K_M
LM Studio
$ lms get bartowski/Phi-3.5-mini-instruct-GGUF
Model Phi-3.5
Parameters
3.82B
Q4_K_M size
2.39 GB
Q8_0 size
4.06 GB
Context
128k
Ollama tag
phi3.5:3.8b
Full Phi-3.5-mini 3.8B requirements →
Device Windows
Memory
24 GB vram
Usable for weights
~23 GB
Power draw
~350 W
Best runtime
vLLM (Linux) / Ollama (CUDA)
Best models for Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 (24GB) →

You could also run

Run Phi-3.5-mini 3.8B on other hardware

FAQ

Can Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 (24GB) run Phi-3.5-mini 3.8B?

Yes. Phi-3.5-mini 3.8B runs on Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 (24GB) at Q4_K_M (~3.7 GB of ~23 GB usable).

How much memory does Phi-3.5-mini 3.8B need?

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 (24GB) has room to spare. At Q4_K_M the weights are ~2.39 GB; with KV cache and runtime overhead, budget ~3.7 GB at a 4k context.

What is the best tool to run Phi-3.5-mini 3.8B 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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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.