Qwen3.5 27B needs ~22.0 GB but RTX 3500 Ada Laptop 12GB only has 12.0 GB. Try a smaller quantization or lighter model.
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
10.0 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization
Fit status
Too heavy
Decode
3.1 tok/s
TTFT
62289 ms
Safe context
4K
Memory
22.0 GB / 12.0 GB
Offload
50%
Usable VRAM is the main blocker for this model.
Not enough usable memory
The model needs 22.0 GB, but this setup only exposes 12.0 GB of usable VRAM.
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.
| Workload | Grade | Fit | Decode | TTFT | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chat | F | Too heavy | 3.6 tok/s | 29044 ms | 4K |
| Coding | F | Too heavy | 3.1 tok/s | 62289 ms | 4K |
| Agentic Coding | F | Too heavy | 2.3 tok/s | 120173 ms | 4K |
| Reasoning | F | Too heavy | 3.1 tok/s | 73615 ms | 4K |
| RAG | F | Too heavy | 2.3 tok/s | 150216 ms | 4K |
How Qwen3.5 27B (27B params) fits at each quantization level on RTX 3500 Ada Laptop 12GB (12.0 GB usable).
| Quant | Bits | VRAM | Quality | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Q2_K | 2 | 10.5 GB | Low | F0 |
Q3_K_S | 3 | 13.2 GB | Low | F0 |
NVFP4 | 4 |
Upgrade options
RTX 3090 24GBBudget pickMakes 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.
~$1,499 MSRP
RTX 4090 24GBBest valueMakes 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
RTX 5090 32GBNVIDIA upgradeMakes 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
No, Qwen3.5 27B requires more memory than RTX 3500 Ada Laptop 12GB provides.
Qwen3.5 27B (27B parameters) requires approximately 22.0 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.
The recommended quantization for Qwen3.5 27B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.
On RTX 3500 Ada Laptop 12GB, Qwen3.5 27B achieves approximately 3.1 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 62289ms using Q4_K_M quantization.
For coding workloads, Qwen3.5 27B on RTX 3500 Ada Laptop 12GB receives a F grade with 3.1 tok/s and 4K context.
On RTX 3500 Ada Laptop 12GB, Qwen3.5 27B 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-unsloth--qwen3-5-27b-gguf-on-rtx-3500-ada-laptop-12gb" width="400" height="180" frameborder="0" style="border:none;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;" title="Will It Run AI — fit result"></iframe>
Preview:
| Medium |
| F0 |
Q4_K_M | 4 | 16.5 GB | Medium | F0 |
Q5_K_M | 5 | 19.4 GB | High | F0 |
Q6_K | 6 | 22.1 GB | High | F0 |
Q8_0 | 8 | 28.9 GB | Very High | F0 |
F16 | 16 | 55.4 GB | Maximum | F0 |
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.
