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Text model · Mistral

Mistral Nemo 12B: RAM and VRAM requirements

Mistral Nemo 12B needs about 8.6 GB to run at Q4_K_M (the Q4_K_M GGUF file is ~6.96 GB to download; KV cache and overhead add the rest), or about 13.7 GB at Q8_0. The lightest hardware that runs it is Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 (12GB).

Mistral family · 12.2B params · released Jul 2024 · 4.9M Ollama pulls.

Shopping for hardware? See what runs Mistral Nemo 12B →

License Apache-2.0 · Commercial OK ↓ 430.1K/mo ♥ 1.7K on HuggingFace
Q4_K_M GGUF
6.96 GB
Q8_0 GGUF
12.13 GB
Memory @ Q4 (4k)
~8.6 GB
Context
128 k

Q4_K_M and Q8_0 are GGUF download (file) sizes. Memory @ Q4 includes the KV cache and overhead, so it runs larger than the file on disk.

Will it run on your device?

Mistral Nemo 12B runs on 29 of 40 tracked devices at Q4_K_M.

29 run well 0 tight fit 11 too small
Fit check Q4_K_M
Yes, it runs fast
needs 8.6 GB usable 10.5 GB
See the full breakdown
$ollama run mistral-nemo:12b

Memory breakdown

Weights (Q4_K_M)6.96 GB
+
KV cache (4k)0.8 GB
+
Overhead0.8 GB
=
Total8.6 GB

How context length changes it

4k context ~8.6 GB 32k context ~14.5 GB 128k context ~34.6 GB

Longer context grows the KV cache quickly: Mistral Nemo 12B needs ~8.6 GB at 4k but ~34.6 GB at 128k, which can push it past a device that fits it at a short context.

Speed drops too: every token re-reads the KV cache, so at 128k context Mistral Nemo 12B generates at roughly ~21% of its short-context speed. How this is estimated.

Quantization sizes

GGUF quantson disk
Quantization Size on disk
Q2_K 5.1 GB est
Q3_K_M 6 GB est
Q4_K_M (default) 6.96 GB
Q5_K_M 8.7 GB est
Q6_K 10 GB est
Q8_0 12.13 GB
FP16 24.4 GB est

Lower quant = smaller and faster, slightly lower quality. Q4_K_M is the common default.

Run it

Ollama
$ ollama run mistral-nemo:12b
llama.cpp
$ llama-cli -hf bartowski/Mistral-Nemo-Instruct-2407-GGUF:Q4_K_M
LM Studio
$ lms get bartowski/Mistral-Nemo-Instruct-2407-GGUF

Which devices can run Mistral Nemo 12B?

Apple Silicon Macs

RAM-only laptops

iPhone & iPad

Android

NVIDIA GPUs

AMD GPUs

Same job, different size

Pick by what fits your memory: step down to free up VRAM, or step up if you have headroom.

Next size down Gemma 4 12B 12B Next size up Phi-4 14B 14B

Similar models

Head-to-head

FAQ

How much VRAM or RAM does Mistral Nemo 12B need?

At Q4_K_M, Mistral Nemo 12B needs about 8.6 GB (weights ~6.96 GB + KV cache + overhead) at a 4k context. At Q8_0 budget ~13.7 GB.

What is the Q4_K_M GGUF file size of Mistral Nemo 12B?

The Q4_K_M GGUF file is about 6.96 GB to download, and the Q8_0 GGUF is about 12.13 GB. That is the weights file on disk; to run it you also need room for the KV cache and overhead, so budget ~8.6 GB of memory at Q4_K_M.

Can Mistral Nemo 12B run on a laptop?

Mistral Nemo 12B is large; you need a 24 GB+ GPU or a 32-48 GB Mac at Q4_K_M.

Can I use Mistral Nemo 12B commercially?

Yes. Mistral Nemo 12B is licensed Apache-2.0, which permits commercial use.

Understand the numbers

Short guides to the ideas behind Mistral Nemo 12B's memory and quant figures.

Mistral Nemo 12B, built with NVIDIA, 128K context. Q4_K_M and Q8_0 sizes from the bartowski GGUF repo.

Sources

Last validated 2026-08-03. Memory figures are estimates. See methodology.