Can Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B run on RTX 3090 24GB?

Q: What should I upgrade first if Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B feels slow on RTX 3090 24GB?

Buy headroom, not only minimum fit. A slightly larger memory tier gives you safer context growth and makes the recommendation more future-proof.

YES — With Offload

S91Excellent

Estimated from fit model

Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B needs ~24.5 GB VRAM. RTX 3090 24GB has 24.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~73 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: OffloadBandwidth: HighStack: 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) — 24.5 GB, 72.6 tok/s, Runs with offload (needs ~0.4 GB host RAM)

24.5 GB required24.0 GB available

102% VRAM needed

0.5 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization

Fit status

Runs with offload (needs ~0.4 GB host RAM)

Decode

72.6 tok/s

TTFT

2668 ms

Safe context

13K

Memory

24.5 GB / 24.0 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights18.3 GB

KV Cache2.9 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom2.4 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsNemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B on RTX 3090 24GB
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: 72.6 tok/s decode · 2.7s TTFT (warm) · 181 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

This setup is broadly balanced for this model.

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.

Best improvement 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	S	Runs with offload	101.3 tok/s	1043 ms	13K
Coding	S	Runs with offload (needs ~0.4 GB host RAM)	72.6 tok/s	2668 ms	13K
Agentic Coding	A	Very compromised (needs ~2.3 GB host RAM)	57.2 tok/s	4922 ms	13K
Reasoning	S	Runs with offload (needs ~0.4 GB host RAM)	72.6 tok/s	3154 ms	13K
RAG	A	Very compromised (needs ~2.3 GB host RAM)	57.2 tok/s

Quantization options

How Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B (30B params) fits at each quantization level on RTX 3090 24GB (24.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	11.7 GB	Low	S88
Q3_K_S	3	14.7 GB	Low	S88
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B on your machine.

Run

ollama run nemotron-cascade-2

Your hardware

More models your RTX 3090 24GB can run

Model	Params	Grade	Decode	Capabilities
Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B Instruct	30.5B	S	65.4 tok/s
Qwen 3.6 35B A3B	35B	A	42.7 tok/s

Frequently asked questions

Can RTX 3090 24GB run Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B?

Yes, RTX 3090 24GB can run Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B with a S grade (Runs with offload (needs ~0.4 GB host RAM)). Expected decode speed: 72.6 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B need?

Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B (30B parameters) requires approximately 24.5 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B?

The recommended quantization for Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B run at on RTX 3090 24GB?

On RTX 3090 24GB, Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B achieves approximately 72.6 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 2668ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can RTX 3090 24GB run Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B for coding?

For coding workloads, Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B on RTX 3090 24GB receives a S grade with 72.6 tok/s and 13K context.

What context window can Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B use on RTX 3090 24GB?

On RTX 3090 24GB, Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B can safely use up to 13K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 262K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

See all results for RTX 3090 24GB See all hardware for Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B

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