SmolLM3 3B needs ~5.9 GB VRAM. RTX 5070 12GB has 12.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~57 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
Fit status
Runs well
Decode
57.0 tok/s
TTFT
3396 ms
Safe context
66K
Memory
5.9 GB / 12.0 GB
This setup is broadly balanced for this model.
No major red flags
This recommendation has enough memory headroom and acceptable estimated speed for the selected workload.
| Workload | Grade | Fit | Decode | TTFT | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chat | B | Runs well | 57.0 tok/s | 1853 ms | 66K |
| Coding | B | Runs well | 57.0 tok/s | 3396 ms | 66K |
| Agentic Coding | B | Runs well | 57.0 tok/s | 4940 ms | 66K |
| Reasoning | B | Runs well | 57.0 tok/s | 4014 ms | 66K |
| RAG | B | Runs well | 57.0 tok/s | 6175 ms | 66K |
How SmolLM3 3B (3B params) fits at each quantization level on RTX 5070 12GB (12.0 GB usable).
| Quant | Bits | VRAM | Quality | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Q2_K | 2 | 1.2 GB | Low | B55 |
Q3_K_S | 3 | 1.5 GB | Low | B55 |
NVFP4 | 4 | 1.7 GB | Medium | B56 |
Q4_K_M | 4 | 1.8 GB | Medium | B56 |
Q5_K_M | 5 | 2.2 GB | High | B56 |
Q6_K | 6 | 2.5 GB | High | B56 |
Q8_0 | 8 | 3.2 GB | Very High | B57 |
F16Best for your GPU | 16 | 6.1 GB | Maximum | B60 |
Copy-paste commands to run SmolLM3 3B on your machine.
Run
lms load SmolLM3-3B && lms server startYes, RTX 5070 12GB can run SmolLM3 3B with a B grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 57.0 tok/s.
SmolLM3 3B (3B parameters) requires approximately 5.9 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.
The recommended quantization for SmolLM3 3B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.
On RTX 5070 12GB, SmolLM3 3B achieves approximately 57.0 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 3396ms using Q4_K_M quantization.
For coding workloads, SmolLM3 3B on RTX 5070 12GB receives a B grade with 57.0 tok/s and 66K context.
On RTX 5070 12GB, SmolLM3 3B can safely use up to 66K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 128K, 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/smollm3-3b-on-rtx-5070-12gb" width="400" height="180" frameborder="0" style="border:none;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;" title="Will It Run AI — fit result"></iframe>
Preview: