CanRun

Qwen3 30B-A3B (2507) hardware requirements

What is Qwen3 30B-A3B (2507)?

This is Qwen3-30B-A3B-Instruct-2507, the July 2025 update from Alibaba Cloud's Qwen team to the non-thinking mode of Qwen3 30B-A3B. It answers directly with no thinking step, and its model card reports better instruction following, coding, tool use and understanding of long inputs up to its native 256k context. It is a mixture-of-experts model with about 30B parameters, of which about 3B are active per token.

Model card

What to know before running Qwen3 30B-A3B (2507)

Qwen3 30B-A3B is a mixture-of-experts model: about 30B parameters in total, but only about 3B are used for each token. At Q4_K_M it needs 19.8 GB with an 8k context, so a 24GB card holds it completely and runs it great; see our page for Qwen3 30B-A3B (2507) on the GeForce RTX 3090. On smaller cards, the experts that do not fit stay in system RAM, and because each token only touches a few of them, CanRun still expects it to run well on 8GB to 16GB cards such as the GeForce RTX 4060 and the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB. Those are theoretical estimates (±30%) that depend on your system RAM speed.

This is the 2507 Instruct release, which has no thinking mode: it answers directly, as the model card says. CanRun therefore uses the normal speed bar for it, not the stricter one for thinking models. On a Mac, the 48GB Apple M4 Pro runs it great. Even without a graphics card, a dual-channel DDR5 desktop with 32GB runs it. CanRun caps every CPU-only setup at Runs slowly whatever its speed, though its calibrated estimate there clears the Runs well line.

About the model

Parameters
30.5B total · 3.3B active (MoE)
Attention
Full attention
Max context
262,144 tokens
Released
2025-07-31

Other sizes in this series

Graphics card memory each model needs at its baseline quant with 8k context, and its verdict on common graphics cards, smallest model first
ModelParametersBaseline quantMemory needed (8k)GeForce RTX 4060GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GBGeForce RTX 3090
Qwen3 8B8.2BQ4_K_M6.5 GBRuns greatRuns greatRuns great
Qwen3 14B14.8BQ4_K_M10.5 GBRuns slowlyRuns greatRuns great
Qwen3 30B-A3B (2507)this model30.5B total · 3.3B active (MoE)Q4_K_M19.8 GBRuns wellRuns wellRuns great
Qwen3 32B32.8BQ4_K_M22.0 GBWon't runRuns slowlyRuns well

GGUF files

Tracked quantizations of Qwen3 30B-A3B (2507), smallest first
QuantFile sizeQualityPublished by
Q2_K11.26 GBHeavy lossCommunity GGUF · unsloth
IQ4_XS16.38 GBGood balanceCommunity GGUF · unsloth
Q4_K_Mbaseline18.56 GBGood balanceCommunity GGUF · unsloth
Q8_032.48 GBNear-losslessCommunity GGUF · unsloth

Some repositories publish only Unsloth Dynamic (UD) variants; sizes are those of the file you would download.

Memory needed by quant and context

Graphics card memory in GB: weights loaded on the GPU + f16 KV cache + compute buffer. Add about 0.6 GB if the GPU also drives your display on Windows. Part of the file stays off the graphics card: llama.cpp keeps the input embedding table in system RAM. A Mac counts the whole file, so it needs a little more.
Quant4k8k16k32k64k128k256k
Q2_K12.112.513.415.218.725.739.8
IQ4_XS17.117.618.520.223.730.844.9
Q4_K_M19.319.820.622.425.933.047.0
Q8_033.133.534.436.239.746.760.8

Which GPUs can run Qwen3 30B-A3B (2507)?

How to read the verdicts

Runs great
Fully on the GPU at 20 tok/s or more
Runs well
Fully on the GPU at 8–20 tok/s; MoE experts in system RAM at 20 tok/s or more; or at least 90% on the GPU at 8 tok/s or more
Runs slowly
2–8 tok/s; CPU-only; less than 90% on the GPU; or MoE experts in system RAM below 20 tok/s
Won't run
Does not fit, or under 2 tok/s

Filter this list by budget, type and context in the calculator

Scroll sideways to see every column.

58 GPUs, Macs and CPU setups at Q4_K_M with 8k context, sorted by verdict and speed
HardwareVerdictSpeedQuantMemoryRuns asContextNotesPrice
GeForce RTX 5090
est. 195.0 tok/s156.0–234.1calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M20.4 / 32.0 GBFull GPUup to 64k—$4,200 street (as of 2026-08-09)
NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell
Runs great
est. 195.0 tok/s156.0–234.1calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M20.4 / 96.0 GBFull GPUup to 256k——
NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q
Runs great
est. 195.0 tok/s156.0–234.1calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M20.4 / 96.0 GBFull GPUup to 256k——
GeForce RTX 3090 Ti
Runs great
est. 146.7 tok/s117.4–176.1calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M20.4 / 24.0 GBFull GPUup to 32k—$1,999 launch MSRP
GeForce RTX 4090
est. 146.7 tok/s117.4–176.1calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M20.4 / 24.0 GBFull GPUup to 32k—$2,755 street (as of 2026-08-09)
GeForce RTX 3090
est. 140.6 tok/s112.5–168.7calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M20.4 / 24.0 GBFull GPUup to 32k—$1,050 street (as of 2026-08-09)
GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop
Runs great
est. 137.0 tok/s109.6–164.5calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M20.4 / 24.0 GBFull GPUup to 32k——
Apple M5 Ultra · 96 GB
Runs great
est. 106.6 tok/s85.3–127.9calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M19.9 / 67.2 GBUnified memoryup to 256k——
Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) · 48 GB
Runs great
est. 104.2 tok/s83.4–125.0calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M19.9 / 33.6 GBUnified memoryup to 128k——
Radeon RX 7900 XTX
Runs great
est. 103.3 tok/s82.6–123.9calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M20.4 / 24.0 GBFull GPUup to 32k—$999 launch MSRP
Apple M4 Max (40-core GPU) · 48 GB
Runs great
est. 96.9 tok/s77.5–116.2calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M19.9 / 33.6 GBUnified memoryup to 128k——
Apple M3 Ultra · 96 GB
Runs great
est. 88.3 tok/s70.7–106.0calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M19.9 / 67.2 GBUnified memoryup to 128k——
Apple M2 Ultra · 64 GB
Runs great
est. 87.3 tok/s69.8–104.7calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M19.9 / 44.8 GBUnified memoryup to 128k——
Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) · 36 GB
Runs great
est. 86.6 tok/s69.3–103.9calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M19.9 / 25.2 GBUnified memoryup to 32k——
Apple M4 Max (32-core GPU) · 36 GB
Runs great
est. 80.0 tok/s64.0–96.0calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M19.9 / 25.2 GBUnified memoryup to 32k——
Apple M5 Pro · 48 GB
Runs great
est. 64.8 tok/s51.8–77.8calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M19.9 / 33.6 GBUnified memoryup to 64k——
NVIDIA DGX Spark · 128 GB
Runs great
est. 60.7 tok/s48.6–72.9calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M19.9 / 116.9 GBUnified memoryup to 64k—$3,999 launch MSRP (128 GB)
Apple M4 Pro · 48 GB
est. 59.2 tok/s47.4–71.1calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M19.9 / 33.6 GBUnified memoryup to 64k——
Ryzen AI Max+ 395 (Strix Halo) · 32 GB
Runs great
est. 54.2 tok/s43.3–65.0calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M19.9 / 22.4 GBUnified memoryup to 16k—$1,999 launch MSRP (128 GB)
Apple M6 · 32 GB
Runs great
est. 40.4 tok/s32.3–48.5calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M19.9 / 22.4 GBUnified memoryup to 16k——
Apple M5 · 32 GB
Runs great
est. 36.9 tok/s29.5–44.3calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M19.9 / 22.4 GBUnified memoryup to 16k——
Apple M4 · 32 GB
est. 29.8 tok/s23.8–35.7calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M19.9 / 22.4 GBUnified memoryup to 16k——
Radeon RX 7900 XT
Runs well
est. 87.9 tok/s61.5–114.3theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M19.6 / 20.0 GB + 0.9 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 128k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
  • Try IQ4_XS: Runs great
$899 launch MSRP
GeForce RTX 5080
Runs well
est. 75.8 tok/s53.0–98.5theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M15.6 / 16.0 GB + 4.9 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 64k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
  • Q2_K (heavy quality loss): Runs great
$1,256 street (as of 2026-08-09)
GeForce RTX 5070 Ti
Runs well
est. 74.3 tok/s52.0–96.6theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M15.6 / 16.0 GB + 4.9 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 64k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
  • Q2_K (heavy quality loss): Runs great
$949 street (as of 2026-08-09)
GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop
Runs well
est. 74.3 tok/s52.0–96.6theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M15.6 / 16.0 GB + 4.9 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 64k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
  • Q2_K (heavy quality loss): Runs great
—
GeForce RTX 4080 Super
Runs well
est. 70.0 tok/s49.0–90.9theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M15.6 / 16.0 GB + 4.9 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 64k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
  • Q2_K (heavy quality loss): Runs great
$999 launch MSRP
GeForce RTX 4080
Runs well
est. 69.3 tok/s48.5–90.2theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M15.6 / 16.0 GB + 4.9 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 64k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
  • Q2_K (heavy quality loss): Runs great
$1,199 launch MSRP
GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super
Runs well
est. 67.8 tok/s47.5–88.2theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M15.6 / 16.0 GB + 4.9 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 64k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
  • Q2_K (heavy quality loss): Runs great
$799 launch MSRP
GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop
Runs well
est. 64.1 tok/s44.9–83.3theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M15.6 / 16.0 GB + 4.9 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 64k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
  • Q2_K (heavy quality loss): Runs great
—
GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB
est. 57.7 tok/s40.4–75.1theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M15.6 / 16.0 GB + 4.9 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 64k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
  • Q2_K (heavy quality loss): Runs great
$569 street (as of 2026-08-09)
Radeon RX 9070
Runs well
est. 57.0 tok/s39.9–74.2theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M15.6 / 16.0 GB + 4.9 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 64k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
  • Q2_K (heavy quality loss): Runs great
$639 street (as of 2026-08-09)
Radeon RX 9070 XT
Runs well
est. 57.0 tok/s39.9–74.2theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M15.6 / 16.0 GB + 4.9 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 64k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
  • Q2_K (heavy quality loss): Runs great
$689 street (as of 2026-08-09)
Radeon RX 7800 XT
Runs well
est. 56.5 tok/s39.6–73.5theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M15.6 / 16.0 GB + 4.9 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 64k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
  • Q2_K (heavy quality loss): Runs great
$499 launch MSRP
GeForce RTX 3080 12GB
Runs well
est. 53.8 tok/s37.6–69.9theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M11.6 / 12.0 GB + 9.0 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 64k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
$799 launch MSRP
GeForce RTX 5070
est. 50.5 tok/s35.3–65.6theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M11.6 / 12.0 GB + 9.0 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 64k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
$629 street (as of 2026-08-09)
GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Laptop
Runs well
est. 50.5 tok/s35.3–65.6theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M11.6 / 12.0 GB + 9.0 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 64k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
—
GeForce RTX 4070
est. 46.8 tok/s32.8–60.9theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M11.6 / 12.0 GB + 9.0 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 64k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
$599 launch MSRP
GeForce RTX 4070 Super
Runs well
est. 46.8 tok/s32.8–60.9theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M11.6 / 12.0 GB + 9.0 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 64k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
$599 launch MSRP
GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
Runs well
est. 46.3 tok/s32.4–60.2theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M10.5 / 11.0 GB + 10.1 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 64k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
$999 launch MSRP
GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 16GB
Runs well
est. 46.3 tok/s32.4–60.1theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M15.6 / 16.0 GB + 4.9 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 32k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
  • Q2_K (heavy quality loss): Runs great
$499 launch MSRP
GeForce RTX 3080 10GB
Runs well
est. 45.3 tok/s31.7–58.9theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M9.4 / 10.0 GB + 11.2 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 64k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
$699 launch MSRP
GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop
Runs well
est. 44.7 tok/s31.3–58.1theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M11.6 / 12.0 GB + 9.0 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 64k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
—
Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB
Runs well
est. 44.5 tok/s31.1–57.8theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M15.6 / 16.0 GB + 4.9 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 32k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
  • Q2_K (heavy quality loss): Runs great
$449 street (as of 2026-08-09)
GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
Runs well
est. 43.6 tok/s30.5–56.7theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M10.5 / 11.0 GB + 10.1 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 64k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
$699 launch MSRP
GeForce RTX 3060 12GB
est. 42.0 tok/s29.4–54.6theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M11.6 / 12.0 GB + 9.0 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 32k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
$250 street (as of 2026-08-09)
Intel Arc B580
Runs well
est. 38.1 tok/s26.6–49.5theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M11.6 / 12.0 GB + 9.0 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 32k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
$290 street (as of 2026-08-09)
GeForce RTX 3070
Runs well
est. 37.1 tok/s26.0–48.3theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M7.6 / 8.0 GB + 13.0 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 32k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
$499 launch MSRP
GeForce RTX 5060
Runs well
est. 37.1 tok/s26.0–48.3theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M7.6 / 8.0 GB + 13.0 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 32k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
$339 street (as of 2026-08-09)
GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8GB
Runs well
est. 37.1 tok/s26.0–48.3theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M7.6 / 8.0 GB + 13.0 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 32k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
$429 street (as of 2026-08-09)
GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB
Runs well
est. 33.0 tok/s23.1–42.8theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M7.6 / 8.0 GB + 13.0 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 32k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
$399 launch MSRP
GeForce RTX 4060
est. 32.4 tok/s22.6–42.1theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M7.6 / 8.0 GB + 13.0 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 32k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
$299 launch MSRP
GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop
Runs well
est. 31.7 tok/s22.2–41.2theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M7.6 / 8.0 GB + 13.0 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 32k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
—
GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop
Runs well
est. 31.7 tok/s22.2–41.2theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M7.6 / 8.0 GB + 13.0 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 32k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
—
GeForce RTX 3050 8GB
Runs well
est. 30.2 tok/s21.2–39.3theoretical estimate ±30%
Q4_K_M7.6 / 8.0 GB + 13.0 GB RAMMoE experts in RAMup to 16k
  • Not fully on the GPU — Runs great needs the whole model in GPU memory
$249 launch MSRP
DDR5-6000 dual-channel CPU · 32 GB
Runs slowly
est. 14.7 tok/s11.7–17.6calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M19.4 GB RAMCPU onlyup to 64k
  • CPU inference — capped at Runs slowly
—
DDR5-5600 dual-channel CPU · 32 GB
Runs slowly
est. 13.7 tok/s11.0–16.4calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M19.4 GB RAMCPU onlyup to 64k
  • CPU inference — capped at Runs slowly
—
DDR4-3200 dual-channel CPU · 32 GB
Runs slowly
est. 7.8 tok/s6.3–9.4calibrated estimate ±20%
Q4_K_M19.4 GB RAMCPU onlyup to 64k——

Cheapest GPUs that run it

  • Runs greatGeForce RTX 3090$1,050 street (as of 2026-08-09), est. 140.6 tok/s (112.5–168.7, calibrated estimate ±20%).
  • Runs wellGeForce RTX 3060 12GB$250 street (as of 2026-08-09), est. 42.0 tok/s (29.4–54.6, theoretical estimate ±30%).

Measured results for Qwen3 30B-A3B (2507)

Public benchmarks we calibrate against. Their conditions (context, backend, flags) can differ from the estimates above.

Measured results for Qwen3 30B-A3B (2507)
HardwareQuantBackendContextPrompt (tok/s)Generation (tok/s)FlagsSourceMeasured
GeForce RTX 5090Q4_K_XLllama.cpp16k—141.6—hardware-corner.net2026-08-09
GeForce RTX 4090Q4_K_XLllama.cpp16k—139.7—hardware-corner.net2026-08-09
GeForce RTX 3090Q4_K_XLllama.cpp16k—113.8—hardware-corner.net2026-08-09

Frequently asked questions

How much VRAM does Qwen3 30B-A3B (2507) need?

At Q4_K_M the file is 18.56 GB; with 8k context a graphics card needs about 19.8 GB (weights 18.37 GB, KV cache 0.8 GB, compute buffer 0.6 GB). The smallest tracked file (Q2_K (heavy quality loss)) needs about 12.5 GB. Part of the file stays off the graphics card: llama.cpp keeps the input embedding table in system RAM. A Mac counts the whole file, so it needs a little more.

What is the cheapest GPU that runs Qwen3 30B-A3B (2507) well?

Cheapest that runs it great: GeForce RTX 3090 at $1,050 (street price as of 2026-08-09), est. 140.6 tok/s (112.5–168.7, calibrated estimate ±20%). Cheaper and still Runs well: GeForce RTX 3060 12GB at $250 (street price as of 2026-08-09), est. 42.0 tok/s (29.4–54.6, theoretical estimate ±30%).

Can Qwen3 30B-A3B (2507) run on an 8 GB, 16 GB or 24 GB GPU?

At Q4_K_M with 8k context: GeForce RTX 4060 — Runs well, est. 32.4 tok/s (22.6–42.1, theoretical estimate ±30%); GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB — Runs well, est. 57.7 tok/s (40.4–75.1, theoretical estimate ±30%); GeForce RTX 3090 — Runs great, est. 140.6 tok/s (112.5–168.7, calibrated estimate ±20%).

Speeds are estimates from memory bandwidth, calibrated against public benchmarks, and each one comes with an error band and a confidence label. Real results vary with drivers, backend, context length and thermals.