Can Codestral 21B Pruned i1 run on RTX 3050 8GB?

Q: What should I upgrade first if Codestral 21B Pruned i1 feels slow on RTX 3050 8GB?

Add more VRAM headroom. The first useful upgrade is more dedicated VRAM so you can fit the model without shrinking context or dropping to a much lower quant.

NO — Won't Fit

F0Won't run

Estimated from fit model

Codestral 21B Pruned i1 needs ~17.3 GB but RTX 3050 8GB only has 8.0 GB. Try a smaller quantization or lighter model.

Runtime: OllamaCapacity: No fitBandwidth: Very lowStack: BasicBottleneck: Memory capacity

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

Q4_K_M (Medium quality) — 17.3 GB, exceeds 8.0 GB available

17.3 GB required8.0 GB available

216% VRAM needed

9.3 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization

Fit status

Too heavy

Decode

2.0 tok/s

TTFT

96800 ms

Safe context

Memory

17.3 GB / 8.0 GB

Offload

50%

Memory breakdown

Weights12.8 GB

KV Cache2.5 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom0.8 GB

See how fast it feels

With memory offload — actual speed may be lower

See how fast it feelsCodestral 21B Pruned i1 on RTX 3050 8GB
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: 2.0 tok/s decode · 96.8s TTFT (warm) · 5 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

Usable VRAM is the main blocker for this model.

Not enough usable memory

The model needs 17.3 GB, but this setup only exposes 8.0 GB of usable VRAM.

Best improvement path

Add more VRAM headroom

The first useful upgrade is more dedicated VRAM so you can fit the model without shrinking context or dropping to a much lower quant.

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	F	Too heavy	2.0 tok/s	52764 ms	4K
Coding	F	Too heavy	2.0 tok/s	96800 ms	4K
Agentic Coding	F	Too heavy	2.0 tok/s	140800 ms	4K
Reasoning	F	Too heavy	2.0 tok/s	114400 ms	4K
RAG	F	Too heavy	2.0 tok/s	176000 ms	4K

Quantization options

How Codestral 21B Pruned i1 (21B params) fits at each quantization level on RTX 3050 8GB (8.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	8.2 GB	Low	F0
Q3_K_S	3	10.3 GB	Low	F0
NVFP4	4

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs Codestral 21B Pruned i1 well

RTX 5060 Ti 16GBBest value

16 GB VRAM (+8)448 GB/s (+224)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.12.9 tok/s decode

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

Raises estimated decode speed by about 545%.

~$449 MSRP

RTX 4060 Ti 16GBNVIDIA upgrade

16 GB VRAM (+8)288 GB/s (+64)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.9.5 tok/s decode

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

Raises estimated decode speed by about 375%.

~$499 MSRP

RTX 4000 Ada 20GBBudget pick

20 GB VRAM (+12)360 GB/s (+136)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.21.9 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.

~$1,250 MSRP

RTX 4090 24GBBiggest leap

24 GB VRAM (+16)1008 GB/s (+784)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.59.8 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.

~$1,599 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can RTX 3050 8GB run Codestral 21B Pruned i1?

No, Codestral 21B Pruned i1 requires more memory than RTX 3050 8GB provides.

How much VRAM does Codestral 21B Pruned i1 need?

Codestral 21B Pruned i1 (21B parameters) requires approximately 17.3 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Codestral 21B Pruned i1?

The recommended quantization for Codestral 21B Pruned i1 is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Codestral 21B Pruned i1 run at on RTX 3050 8GB?

On RTX 3050 8GB, Codestral 21B Pruned i1 achieves approximately 2.0 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 96800ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can RTX 3050 8GB run Codestral 21B Pruned i1 for coding?

For coding workloads, Codestral 21B Pruned i1 on RTX 3050 8GB receives a F grade with 2.0 tok/s and 4K context.

What context window can Codestral 21B Pruned i1 use on RTX 3050 8GB?

On RTX 3050 8GB, Codestral 21B Pruned i1 can safely use up to 4K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is —, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

What should I upgrade first if Codestral 21B Pruned i1 feels slow on RTX 3050 8GB?

See all results for RTX 3050 8GB See all hardware for Codestral 21B Pruned i1

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