Text model · Mistral
Mistral Small 3 24B: RAM and VRAM requirements
Mistral Small 3 24B needs about 16.3 GB to run at Q4_K_M (the Q4_K_M GGUF file is ~14.33 GB to download; KV cache and overhead add the rest), or about 27.1 GB at Q8_0. The lightest hardware that runs it is Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 (24GB).
Mistral family · 24B params · released Jun 2025 · 1.3M Ollama pulls · LMArena Elo 1357.
Shopping for hardware? See what runs Mistral Small 3 24B →
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 Small 3 24B runs on 13 of 40 tracked devices at Q4_K_M.
Memory breakdown
How context length changes it
Longer context grows the KV cache quickly: Mistral Small 3 24B needs ~16.3 GB at 4k but ~52.7 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 Small 3 24B generates at roughly ~28% of its short-context speed. How this is estimated.
Benchmark scores
Sourced third-party benchmarks for the full-precision Mistral Small 3 24B, not a specific quant. See the full leaderboard.
Quantization sizes
| Quantization | Size on disk |
|---|---|
| Q2_K | 10.1 GB est |
| Q3_K_M | 11.7 GB est |
| Q4_K_M (default) | 14.33 GB |
| Q5_K_M | 17.1 GB est |
| Q6_K | 19.7 GB est |
| Q8_0 | 25.05 GB |
| FP16 | 48 GB est |
Lower quant = smaller and faster, slightly lower quality. Q4_K_M is the common default.
Run it
ollama run mistral-small3.2:24b llama-cli -hf bartowski/mistralai_Mistral-Small-3.2-24B-Instruct-2506-GGUF:Q4_K_M lms get bartowski/mistralai_Mistral-Small-3.2-24B-Instruct-2506-GGUF Which devices can run Mistral Small 3 24B?
Apple Silicon Macs
- Apple M1 (8GB) No
- Apple M2 (16GB) No
- Apple M4 (16GB) No
- Apple M5 (16GB) No
- Apple M3 Pro (18GB) No
- Apple M4 (24GB) No
- Apple M4 Pro (24GB) No
- Apple M5 (32GB) Yes
- Apple M4 Pro (48GB) Yes
- Apple M5 Pro (48GB) Yes
- Apple M4 Max (64GB) Yes
- Apple M4 Max (128GB) Yes
- Apple M5 Max (128GB) Yes
- Apple M3 Ultra (256GB) Yes
RAM-only laptops
iPhone & iPad
Android
NVIDIA GPUs
Same job, different size
Pick by what fits your memory: step down to free up VRAM, or step up if you have headroom.
Similar models
Head-to-head
FAQ
How much VRAM or RAM does Mistral Small 3 24B need?
At Q4_K_M, Mistral Small 3 24B needs about 16.3 GB (weights ~14.33 GB + KV cache + overhead) at a 4k context. At Q8_0 budget ~27.1 GB.
What is the Q4_K_M GGUF file size of Mistral Small 3 24B?
The Q4_K_M GGUF file is about 14.33 GB to download, and the Q8_0 GGUF is about 25.05 GB. That is the weights file on disk; to run it you also need room for the KV cache and overhead, so budget ~16.3 GB of memory at Q4_K_M.
Can Mistral Small 3 24B run on a laptop?
Mistral Small 3 24B is large; you need a 24 GB+ GPU or a 32-48 GB Mac at Q4_K_M.
Can I use Mistral Small 3 24B commercially?
Yes. Mistral Small 3 24B is licensed Apache-2.0, which permits commercial use.
Understand the numbers
Short guides to the ideas behind Mistral Small 3 24B's memory and quant figures.
Mistral Small 3.2 released June 20, 2025. Latest in the Mistral Small 3 line. Context 128K confirmed by official Mistral docs. Q4_K_M=14.33GB and Q8_0=25.05GB from bartowski HF repo (mistralai_Mistral-Small-3.2-24B-Instruct-2506-GGUF). Ollama page shows 15GB for the default tag.
Sources
Last validated 2026-08-03. Memory figures are estimates. See methodology.