Would CUDA be a better path than Intel Arc B580 12GB for Qwen2.5 1.5B 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 Qwen2.5 1.5B Instruct run on Intel Arc B580 12GB?

Q: What should I upgrade first if Qwen2.5 1.5B Instruct feels slow on Intel Arc B580 12GB?

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.

YES — Runs Great

C43Usable

Estimated from fit model

Qwen2.5 1.5B Instruct needs ~3.2 GB VRAM. Intel Arc B580 12GB has 12.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~21 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: MediumStack: 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

Q4_K_M (Medium quality) — 3.2 GB, 21.0 tok/s, Runs well

3.2 GB required12.0 GB available

27% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

21.0 tok/s

TTFT

9219 ms

Safe context

818K

Memory

3.2 GB / 12.0 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights0.9 GB

KV Cache0.2 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom1.2 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsQwen2.5 1.5B Instruct on Intel Arc B580 12GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>What is local AI inference?
Local AI inference means running an AI language model directly on your own hardware — your laptop, desktop, or server — instead of sending requests to a remote cloud API.

When you run inference locally the model weights are loaded into your GPU or unified memory. Each token you generate requires reading those weights from memory, so memory bandwidth is the main bottleneck for decode speed.

Key benefits of running locally:
  - Full privacy: your prompts never leave your machine
  - No per-token cost or rate limits
  - Works offline once the model is downloaded
  - Latency depends only on your hardware
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>How much VRAM do I need?
It depends on the model size and quantization level. A rough rule of thumb:

  Model size     Q4 (4-bit)    Q8 (8-bit)    FP16
  7B params      ~4.3 GB       ~7.5 GB       ~14 GB
  13B params     ~7.9 GB       ~13.9 GB      ~26 GB
  70B params     ~42.7 GB      ~74.9 GB      ~140 GB

Most people use 4-bit quantization (Q4_K_M) which gives 90-95% of full quality at a fraction of the memory. A 24 GB GPU can comfortably run most 7B-13B models.
Estimated: 21.0 tok/s decode · 9.2s TTFT (warm) · 53 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

The raw memory story may look fine, but the software ecosystem is still a constraint here.

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

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.

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	C	Runs well	21.0 tok/s	5029 ms	719K
Coding	C	Runs well	21.0 tok/s	9219 ms	818K
Agentic Coding	C	Runs well	21.0 tok/s	13410 ms	818K
Reasoning	C	Runs well	21.0 tok/s	10895 ms	818K
RAG	C	Runs well	21.0 tok/s	16762 ms	818K

Quantization options

How Qwen2.5 1.5B Instruct (1.5B params) fits at each quantization level on Intel Arc B580 12GB (12.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	0.6 GB	Low	C47
Q3_K_S	3	0.7 GB	Low	C47
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Qwen2.5 1.5B Instruct on your machine.

Run

lms load hf-qwen--qwen2-5-1-5b-instruct-gguf && lms server start

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs Qwen2.5 1.5B Instruct well

RTX 5060 Ti 16GBBudget pick

16 GB VRAM (+4)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 36%.28.5 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 36%.

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

This is not only a hardware jump. It also gives you a cleaner runtime ecosystem for local LLM tooling.

~$449 MSRP

RTX 5070 Ti 16GBBest value

16 GB VRAM (+4)896 GB/s (+440)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 36%.28.5 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 36%.

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

This is not only a hardware jump. It also gives you a cleaner runtime ecosystem for local LLM tooling.

~$749 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can Intel Arc B580 12GB run Qwen2.5 1.5B Instruct?

Yes, Intel Arc B580 12GB can run Qwen2.5 1.5B Instruct with a C grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 21.0 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Qwen2.5 1.5B Instruct need?

Qwen2.5 1.5B Instruct (1.5B parameters) requires approximately 3.2 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Qwen2.5 1.5B Instruct?

The recommended quantization for Qwen2.5 1.5B Instruct is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Qwen2.5 1.5B Instruct run at on Intel Arc B580 12GB?

On Intel Arc B580 12GB, Qwen2.5 1.5B Instruct achieves approximately 21.0 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 9219ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can Intel Arc B580 12GB run Qwen2.5 1.5B Instruct for coding?

For coding workloads, Qwen2.5 1.5B Instruct on Intel Arc B580 12GB receives a C grade with 21.0 tok/s and 818K context.

What context window can Qwen2.5 1.5B Instruct use on Intel Arc B580 12GB?

On Intel Arc B580 12GB, Qwen2.5 1.5B Instruct can safely use up to 818K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is —, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

See all results for Intel Arc B580 12GB See all hardware for Qwen2.5 1.5B Instruct

Embed this result▼

Paste this snippet into any page to show a live fit card.

<iframe src="https://willitrunai.com/embed/hf-qwen--qwen2-5-1-5b-instruct-gguf-on-arc-b580-12gb" width="400" height="180" frameborder="0" style="border:none;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;" title="Will It Run AI — fit result"></iframe>

Preview: