Qwen3.6 27B VRAM requirements
Qwen · 27B params · See model card. Estimates, not vendor numbers.
Qwen3.6 27B (27B parameters) needs about 18 GB of VRAM or unified memory at Q4, 21 GB at Q5 and 30 GB at Q8 (weights plus about 1.5 GB headroom, our estimate). The smallest common setup that runs it is 24GB GPU (RTX 4090).
| Quant | Download | Memory needed |
|---|---|---|
| Q4 | 16 GB | 18 GB |
| Q5 | 19 GB | 21 GB |
| Q8 | 29 GB | 30 GB |
Will it run on my machine?
| Setup | Runs? | Speed est. |
|---|---|---|
| 8GB GPU (RTX 4060) | No | n/a |
| 12GB GPU (RTX 3060 / 4070) | No | n/a |
| 16GB GPU (RTX 4060 Ti 16GB) | No | n/a |
| 24GB GPU (RTX 4090) | Yes, Q5 | ~31 tok/s |
| 32GB GPU (RTX 5090) | Yes, Q8 | ~37 tok/s |
| Mac 16GB (M4) | No | n/a |
| Mac 48GB (M4 Pro) | Yes, Q4 | ~10 tok/s |
| Mac 128GB (M4 Max) | Yes, Q5 | ~17 tok/s |
| PC, 32GB RAM, no GPU | Yes, Q4 | ~2 tok/s |
Best quant that fits each setup, with estimated generation speed from memory bandwidth. Real speed depends on the runtime, context length and settings.
Check the license on the model card before commercial use.
FAQ
How much VRAM does Qwen3.6 27B need?
About 18 GB at Q4, 21 GB at Q5 and 30 GB at Q8, including about 1.5 GB headroom. These are estimates from the parameter count on the official model card.
Can Qwen3.6 27B run on 8GB of VRAM?
Not fully on the GPU. At Q4 it needs about 18 GB; partial CPU offload works but is much slower.
Can Qwen3.6 27B run on a Mac?
Yes. Mac 48GB (M4 Pro), Mac 128GB (M4 Max) can run it.
Which quant of Qwen3.6 27B should I use?
Use the highest quant that fits with room to spare: Q8 is near full quality, Q5 is a good balance, and Q4 is the smallest that usually keeps quality acceptable.
Similar-size models
Gemma 4 26B A4B (25.2B) · Qwen3.8 27B (27.8B) · Muse Glimmer 30B (29.6B) · Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B (30.5B) · Gemma 4 31B (30.7B) · DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B (32.8B)