Would CUDA be a better path than Intel Arc A730M 12GB for Devstral Small 2 24B Instruct?

Often yes, if your goal is the easiest setup and the widest runtime support. Intel can offer attractive memory capacity, but CUDA still tends to win on tooling maturity, guides, kernels, and model coverage for local AI.

Can Devstral Small 2 24B Instruct run on Intel Arc A730M 12GB?

Q: What should I upgrade first if Devstral Small 2 24B Instruct feels slow on Intel Arc A730M 12GB?

Remove offload with more accelerator memory. Prioritize a GPU or unified-memory tier that fits the whole model natively. Removing offload usually helps more than small compute gains.

YES — With Q2_K

A78Great

Estimated from fit model

Devstral Small 2 24B Instruct needs ~13.9 GB VRAM. Intel Arc A730M 12GB has 12.0 GB. With Q2_K quantization, expect ~9 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: OffloadBandwidth: LowStack: StandardBottleneck: Host offload

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.

Devstral Small 2 24B Instruct at Q4_K_M needs 19.2 GB — too much for Intel Arc A730M 12GB (12.0 GB). Runs at Q2_K (13.9 GB) with low quality.

Capabilities:

Select quantization to explore

Q4_K_M (Medium quality) — 19.2 GB, exceeds 12.0 GB available

19.2 GB required12.0 GB available

160% VRAM needed

7.2 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization

Fit status

Too heavy

Decode

3.4 tok/s

TTFT

57310 ms

Safe context

Memory

19.2 GB / 12.0 GB

Offload

40%

Memory breakdown

Weights14.6 GB

KV Cache2.4 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom1.2 GB

See how fast it feels

With memory offload — actual speed may be lower

See how fast it feelsDevstral Small 2 24B Instruct on Intel Arc A730M 12GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>Write a Python function to sort a list
Here's a Python function that sorts a list using quicksort:

def quicksort(arr):
    if len(arr) <= 1:
        return arr
    pivot = arr[len(arr) // 2]
    left   = [x for x in arr if x < pivot]
    middle = [x for x in arr if x == pivot]
    right  = [x for x in arr if x > pivot]
    return quicksort(left) + middle + quicksort(right)

# Example usage
numbers = [3, 6, 8, 10, 1, 2, 1]
print(quicksort(numbers))  # [1, 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 10]

The algorithm picks a pivot, partitions the list into smaller, equal, and larger elements, then recursively sorts each partition and concatenates the results.
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>Now add type hints and a docstring
def quicksort(arr: list[int]) -> list[int]:
    """Sort a list using the quicksort algorithm.

    Args:
        arr: List of integers to sort.

    Returns:
        A new sorted list.
    """
    if len(arr) <= 1:
        return arr
    pivot = arr[len(arr) // 2]
    left   = [x for x in arr if x < pivot]
    middle = [x for x in arr if x == pivot]
    right  = [x for x in arr if x > pivot]
    return quicksort(left) + middle + quicksort(right)

Added type hints for the input and return type, plus a Google-style docstring.
Estimated: 3.4 tok/s decode · 57.3s TTFT (warm) · 8 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

It fits through host-memory offload, and offload is the main reason performance drops.

CPU or host-memory offload is active

About 10% of the working set spills out of accelerator memory, which usually hurts latency and sustained decode throughput.

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.

Runtime ecosystem is narrower than CUDA

Intel GPUs can look attractive on memory per dollar, but local AI tooling, kernels, and model coverage are still broader and easier on CUDA today.

Best improvement path

Remove offload with more accelerator memory

Prioritize a GPU or unified-memory tier that fits the whole model natively. Removing offload usually helps more than small compute gains.

Prefer CUDA if you want the path of least resistance

If your goal is maximum runtime coverage, easier troubleshooting, and better support for new local AI releases, CUDA is usually still the safer upgrade 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	F	Too heavy	3.9 tok/s	27219 ms	4K
Coding	F	Too heavy	3.4 tok/s	57310 ms	4K
Agentic Coding	F	Too heavy	2.6 tok/s	107271 ms	4K
Reasoning	F	Too heavy	3.4 tok/s	67730 ms	4K
RAG	F	Too heavy	2.6 tok/s	134089 ms	4K

Quantization options

How Devstral Small 2 24B Instruct (24B params) fits at each quantization level on Intel Arc A730M 12GB (12.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	9.4 GB	Low	F0
Q3_K_S	3	11.8 GB	Low	F0
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Devstral Small 2 24B Instruct on your machine.

Run

ollama run devstral-small-2

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs Devstral Small 2 24B Instruct well

Intel Arc Pro B60 24GBBudget pick

24 GB VRAM (+12)456 GB/s (+120)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.18.1 tok/s decode

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.

~$599 MSRP

RTX 5090 32GBBiggest leap

32 GB VRAM (+20)1792 GB/s (+1456)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.62 tok/s decode

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.

~$1,999 MSRP

Intel Data Center GPU Max 1550 128GBBest value

128 GB VRAM (+116)3200 GB/s (+2864)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.148 tok/s decode

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.

~$15,000 MSRP

Gaudi 3 128GBIntel upgrade

128 GB VRAM (+116)3700 GB/s (+3364)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.190.2 tok/s decode

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.

~$15,000 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can Intel Arc A730M 12GB run Devstral Small 2 24B Instruct?

Yes, Intel Arc A730M 12GB can run Devstral Small 2 24B Instruct at Q2_K quantization (Very compromised (needs ~1.3 GB host RAM)). The recommended Q4_K_M requires 19.2 GB which exceeds available memory, but at Q2_K it needs only 13.9 GB. Expected decode speed: 8.8 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Devstral Small 2 24B Instruct need?

Devstral Small 2 24B Instruct (24B parameters) requires approximately 19.2 GB at Q4_K_M quantization. On Intel Arc A730M 12GB, it fits at Q2_K using 13.9 GB.

What is the best quantization for Devstral Small 2 24B Instruct?

The recommended quantization is Q4_K_M, but on Intel Arc A730M 12GB the best fitting quantization is Q2_K, which uses 13.9 GB.

What speed will Devstral Small 2 24B Instruct run at on Intel Arc A730M 12GB?

On Intel Arc A730M 12GB, Devstral Small 2 24B Instruct achieves approximately 8.8 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 21889ms using Q2_K quantization.

Can Intel Arc A730M 12GB run Devstral Small 2 24B Instruct for coding?

For coding workloads, Devstral Small 2 24B Instruct on Intel Arc A730M 12GB receives a F grade with 3.4 tok/s and 4K context.

What context window can Devstral Small 2 24B Instruct use on Intel Arc A730M 12GB?

On Intel Arc A730M 12GB, Devstral Small 2 24B Instruct can safely use up to 4K tokens of context at Q2_K quantization. The model's official context limit is 256K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

See all results for Intel Arc A730M 12GB See all hardware for Devstral Small 2 24B Instruct

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