zephyr 7B alpha needs ~6.6 GB VRAM. Intel Arc Pro A40 6GB has 6.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~14 tok/s.
Operating mode
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.
Select quantization to explore
0.6 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization
Fit status
Very compromised (needs ~0.4 GB host RAM)
Decode
13.6 tok/s
TTFT
14275 ms
Safe context
4K
Memory
6.6 GB / 6.0 GB
Offload
10%
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.
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.
| Workload | Grade | Fit | Decode | TTFT | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chat | C | Runs with offload (needs ~0.1 GB host RAM) | 15.5 tok/s | 6801 ms | 4K |
| Coding | D | Very compromised (needs ~0.4 GB host RAM) | 13.6 tok/s | 14275 ms | 4K |
| Agentic Coding | F | Too heavy | 10.6 tok/s | 26579 ms | 4K |
| Reasoning | D | Very compromised (needs ~0.4 GB host RAM) | 13.6 tok/s | 16870 ms | 4K |
| RAG | F | Too heavy | 10.6 tok/s | 33224 ms |
How zephyr 7B alpha (7B params) fits at each quantization level on Intel Arc Pro A40 6GB (6.0 GB usable).
| Quant | Bits | VRAM | Quality | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Q2_K | 2 | 2.7 GB | Low | C54 |
Q3_K_SBest for your GPU | 3 | 3.4 GB | Low | C54 |
Copy-paste commands to run zephyr 7B alpha on your machine.
Run
lms load hf-thebloke--zephyr-7b-alpha-gguf && lms server startUpgrade options
Intel Arc A580 8GBBudget pickRemoves host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.
Raises estimated decode speed by about 332%.
~$179 MSRP
Intel Arc B570 10GBBest valueRemoves host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.
Raises estimated decode speed by about 254%.
~$219 MSRP
Intel Arc B580 12GBIntel upgradeRemoves host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.
Raises estimated decode speed by about 277%.
~$249 MSRP
Yes, Intel Arc Pro A40 6GB can run zephyr 7B alpha with a D grade (Very compromised (needs ~0.4 GB host RAM)). Expected decode speed: 13.6 tok/s.
zephyr 7B alpha (7B parameters) requires approximately 6.6 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.
The recommended quantization for zephyr 7B alpha is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.
On Intel Arc Pro A40 6GB, zephyr 7B alpha achieves approximately 13.6 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 14275ms using Q4_K_M quantization.
For coding workloads, zephyr 7B alpha on Intel Arc Pro A40 6GB receives a D grade with 13.6 tok/s and 4K context.
On Intel Arc Pro A40 6GB, zephyr 7B alpha can safely use up to 4K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is —, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.
Paste this snippet into any page to show a live fit card.
<iframe src="https://willitrunai.com/embed/hf-thebloke--zephyr-7b-alpha-gguf-on-arc-pro-a40-6gb" width="400" height="180" frameborder="0" style="border:none;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;" title="Will It Run AI — fit result"></iframe>
Preview:
| 4K |
| 4 |
3.9 GB |
| Medium |
| F0 |
Q4_K_M | 4 | 4.3 GB | Medium | F0 |
Q5_K_M | 5 | 5.0 GB | High | F0 |
Q6_K | 6 | 5.7 GB | High | F0 |
Q8_0 | 8 | 7.5 GB | Very High | F0 |
F16 | 16 | 14.3 GB | Maximum | F0 |
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.
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.