Is unified memory on NVIDIA DGX Spark 128GB as fast as VRAM for Nous Dolphin 13B?

Not always. NVIDIA DGX Spark 128GB can often fit larger models thanks to unified memory, but a discrete GPU with dedicated high-bandwidth VRAM may still decode faster once the model fits. For this combination, the important distinction is capacity versus sustained throughput.

Can Nous Dolphin 13B run on NVIDIA DGX Spark 128GB?

YES — With F16

B65Good

Estimated from fit model

Nous Dolphin 13B needs ~53.1 GB VRAM. NVIDIA DGX Spark 128GB has 0 MB. With F16 quantization, expect ~9 tok/s.

Runtime: OllamaCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: LowStack: BasicBottleneck: 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.

Nous Dolphin 13B at Q5_K_M needs 22.8 GB — too much for NVIDIA DGX Spark 128GB (0.0 GB). Runs at F16 (53.1 GB) with maximum quality. 8 quantization levels fit.

Capabilities:

Select quantization to explore

Q5_K_M (High quality) — 35.8 GB, 17.9 tok/s, Runs well

35.8 GB required108.8 GB available

33% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

17.9 tok/s

TTFT

10846 ms

Safe context

16K

Memory

35.8 GB / 108.8 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights9.4 GB

KV Cache12.2 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom13.1 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsNous Dolphin 13B on NVIDIA DGX Spark 128GB
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: 17.9 tok/s decode · 10.8s TTFT (warm) · 45 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

This setup is broadly balanced for this model.

Shared-memory contention still exists

The OS, browser, and inference runtime all compete for the same physical memory pool, so real-world headroom is less forgiving than raw capacity suggests.

Best improvement path

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	B	Runs well	17.9 tok/s	5916 ms	16K
Coding	F	Too heavy	3.2 tok/s	60255 ms	4K
Agentic Coding	B	Runs well	17.9 tok/s	15776 ms	16K
Reasoning	B	Runs well	17.9 tok/s	12818 ms	16K
RAG	B	Runs well	17.9 tok/s	19720 ms	16K

Quantization options

How Nous Dolphin 13B (13B params) fits at each quantization level on NVIDIA DGX Spark 128GB (92.2 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	5.1 GB	Low	B60
Q3_K_S	3	6.4 GB	Low	B60
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Nous Dolphin 13B on your machine.

Run

docker run --rm -it ghcr.io/ggerganov/llama.cpp:full \
  --hf-repo "nousresearch/Nous-Dolphin-13B" \
  --hf-file "Nous-Dolphin-13B-Q5_K_M.gguf" \
  -c 4096 -ngl 99

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs Nous Dolphin 13B well

NVIDIA H200 141GBBudget pick

141 GB VRAM (+13)4800 GB/s (+4527)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 917%.182 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 917%.

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

~$30,000 MSRP

NVIDIA H200 PCIe 141GBBest value

141 GB VRAM (+13)4800 GB/s (+4527)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 917%.182 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 917%.

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

~$30,000 MSRP

NVIDIA B200 180GBNVIDIA upgrade

180 GB VRAM (+52)8000 GB/s (+7727)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 917%.182 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 917%.

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

~$30,000 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can NVIDIA DGX Spark 128GB run Nous Dolphin 13B?

Yes, NVIDIA DGX Spark 128GB can run Nous Dolphin 13B at F16 quantization (Runs well). The recommended Q5_K_M requires 22.8 GB which exceeds available memory, but at F16 it needs only 53.1 GB. Expected decode speed: 8.6 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Nous Dolphin 13B need?

Nous Dolphin 13B (13B parameters) requires approximately 22.8 GB at Q5_K_M quantization. On NVIDIA DGX Spark 128GB, it fits at F16 using 53.1 GB.

What is the best quantization for Nous Dolphin 13B?

The recommended quantization is Q5_K_M, but on NVIDIA DGX Spark 128GB the best fitting quantization is F16, which uses 53.1 GB.

What speed will Nous Dolphin 13B run at on NVIDIA DGX Spark 128GB?

On NVIDIA DGX Spark 128GB, Nous Dolphin 13B achieves approximately 8.6 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 22499ms using F16 quantization.

Can NVIDIA DGX Spark 128GB run Nous Dolphin 13B for coding?

For coding workloads, Nous Dolphin 13B on NVIDIA DGX Spark 128GB receives a F grade with 3.2 tok/s and 4K context.

What context window can Nous Dolphin 13B use on NVIDIA DGX Spark 128GB?

On NVIDIA DGX Spark 128GB, Nous Dolphin 13B can safely use up to 16K tokens of context at F16 quantization. The model's official context limit is 16K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

See all results for NVIDIA DGX Spark 128GB See all hardware for Nous Dolphin 13B

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