Can Baichuan 13B run on RTX 4090 24GB?

Q: What should I upgrade first if Baichuan 13B feels slow on RTX 4090 24GB?

Buy headroom, not only minimum fit. A slightly larger memory tier gives you safer context growth and makes the recommendation more future-proof.

YES — With Offload

B69Good

Estimated from fit model

Baichuan 13B needs ~24.9 GB VRAM. RTX 4090 24GB has 24.0 GB. With Q5_K_M quantization, expect ~61 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: OffloadBandwidth: HighStack: StandardBottleneck: Balanced

Operating mode

Choose the run profile you care about

Interactive favors responsiveness, while light API and scale-out lean harder on serving readiness. The fit stays the same, but the recommendation lens changes.

Current mode

Balanced

Balanced for general local use. Keeps the ranking neutral across personal and serving workflows.

Capabilities:

Select quantization to explore

Q5_K_M (High quality) — 24.9 GB, 61.0 tok/s, Runs with offload (needs ~0.3 GB host RAM)

24.9 GB required24.0 GB available

104% VRAM needed

0.9 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization

Fit status

Runs with offload (needs ~0.3 GB host RAM)

Decode

61.0 tok/s

TTFT

3173 ms

Safe context

Memory

24.9 GB / 24.0 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights9.4 GB

KV Cache12.2 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom2.4 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsBaichuan 13B on RTX 4090 24GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>Solve: If a train travels at 60 mph for 2.5 hours, how far does it go?
Let me work through this step by step.

Given information:
  - Speed = 60 mph (miles per hour)
  - Time  = 2.5 hours

Formula: Distance = Speed x Time

Calculation:
  Distance = 60 mph x 2.5 h
           = 150 miles

The train travels 150 miles.

Double-check: at 60 mph the train covers 60 miles each hour. In half an hour it covers 30 miles. So in 2.5 hours: 60 + 60 + 30 = 150 miles. Confirmed.
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>What if the train stops for 20 minutes halfway?
The stop doesn't change the total distance covered while moving, but it affects total trip time.

Breakdown:
  - First half: 1.25 hours at 60 mph = 75 miles
  - Stop: 20 minutes (no distance)
  - Second half: 1.25 hours at 60 mph = 75 miles

Total distance: 150 miles (same)
Total time: 2.5 h + 0.33 h = 2.83 hours
Average speed: 150 / 2.83 = 53 mph

The distance stays the same but average speed drops to 53 mph because of the stop.
Estimated: 61.0 tok/s decode · 3.2s TTFT (warm) · 153 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

This setup is broadly balanced for this model.

Very little memory headroom

You can run the model, but there is not much room left for longer context, bigger batches, extra apps, or future model updates.

Best improvement path

Buy headroom, not only minimum fit

A slightly larger memory tier gives you safer context growth and makes the recommendation more future-proof.

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	A	Runs well	87.7 tok/s	1205 ms	8K
Coding	B	Runs with offload (needs ~0.3 GB host RAM)	61.0 tok/s	3173 ms	8K
Agentic Coding	F	Too heavy	26.3 tok/s	10699 ms	8K
Reasoning	B	Runs with offload (needs ~0.3 GB host RAM)	61.0 tok/s	3750 ms	8K
RAG	F	Too heavy	25.1 tok/s	14042 ms

Quantization options

How Baichuan 13B (13B params) fits at each quantization level on RTX 4090 24GB (24.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	5.1 GB	Low	B62
Q3_K_S	3	6.4 GB	Low	B62
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Baichuan 13B on your machine.

Run

docker run --rm -it ghcr.io/ggerganov/llama.cpp:full \
  --hf-repo "baichuan-inc/Baichuan-13B-Chat" \
  --hf-file "Baichuan-13B-Chat-Q5_K_M.gguf" \
  -c 4096 -ngl 99

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs Baichuan 13B well

RTX 5090 32GBBudget pick

32 GB VRAM (+8)1792 GB/s (+784)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 108%.126.9 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 108%.

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

~$1,999 MSRP

RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell 32GBBest value

32 GB VRAM (+8)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 34%.82 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 34%.

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

~$2,499 MSRP

RTX 5000 Ada 32GBNVIDIA upgrade

32 GB VRAM (+8)

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.50.2 tok/s decode

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

~$4,000 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can RTX 4090 24GB run Baichuan 13B?

Yes, RTX 4090 24GB can run Baichuan 13B with a B grade (Runs with offload (needs ~0.3 GB host RAM)). Expected decode speed: 61.0 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Baichuan 13B need?

Baichuan 13B (13B parameters) requires approximately 24.9 GB of memory with Q5_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Baichuan 13B?

The recommended quantization for Baichuan 13B is Q5_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Baichuan 13B run at on RTX 4090 24GB?

On RTX 4090 24GB, Baichuan 13B achieves approximately 61.0 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 3173ms using Q5_K_M quantization.

Can RTX 4090 24GB run Baichuan 13B for coding?

For coding workloads, Baichuan 13B on RTX 4090 24GB receives a B grade with 61.0 tok/s and 8K context.

What context window can Baichuan 13B use on RTX 4090 24GB?

On RTX 4090 24GB, Baichuan 13B can safely use up to 8K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 8K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

What should I upgrade first if Baichuan 13B feels slow on RTX 4090 24GB?

See all results for RTX 4090 24GB See all hardware for Baichuan 13B

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