Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GBBudget pick
256 GB Unified (+160)
C
Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.42 tok/s decode
Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.
~$6,999 MSRP
SmolLM3 3B needs ~14.6 GB VRAM. RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition 96GB has 96.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~42 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
42.0 tok/s
TTFT
4610 ms
Safe context
128K
Memory
14.6 GB / 96.0 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 | C | Runs well | 42.0 tok/s | 2514 ms | 128K |
| Coding | C | Runs well | 42.0 tok/s | 4610 ms | 128K |
| Agentic Coding | C | Runs well | 42.0 tok/s | 6705 ms | 128K |
| Reasoning | C | Runs well | 42.0 tok/s | 5448 ms | 128K |
| RAG | C | Runs well | 42.0 tok/s | 8381 ms | 128K |
Inference speed
Estimated decode speed (tokens/sec) for SmolLM3 3B at Q4_K_M across popular GPUs and Apple Silicon, using the fastest local runtime per device. Fastest is RTX 5090 32GB at ~57 tok/s. Speed is memory-bandwidth bound, so cards that fit the whole model in VRAM run far faster than ones that offload to system RAM.
| GPU / Mac | Memory | Quant | Speed (tok/s) | Fits? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 RTX 5090 32GB | 32 GB | Q4_K_M | 57.0 | Fits |
| RTX 4090 24GB | 24 GB | Q4_K_M | 48.0 | Fits |
| RTX 4080 Super 16GB | 16 GB | Q4_K_M | 48.0 | Fits |
| RTX 4060 8GB | 8 GB | Q4_K_M | 48.0 | Fits |
| RTX 3090 24GB | 24 GB | Q4_K_M | 42.0 | Fits |
| RTX 4070 12GB | 12 GB | Q4_K_M | 42.0 | Fits |
| RTX 3060 12GB | 12 GB | Q4_K_M | 42.0 | Fits |
RX 7900 XTX 24GB | 24 GB | Q4_K_M | 42.0 | Fits |
MacBook Pro M4 Max 128GB | 128 GB | Q4_K_M | 42.0 | Fits |
Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB | 256 GB | Q4_K_M | 42.0 | Fits |
Mac Studio M2 Ultra 128GB | 128 GB | Q4_K_M | 42.0 | Fits |
Mac Studio M1 Ultra 128GB | 128 GB | Q4_K_M | 42.0 | Fits |
MacBook Pro M4 Max 64GB | 64 GB | Q4_K_M | 42.0 | Fits |
MacBook Pro M3 Max 64GB | 64 GB | Q4_K_M | 42.0 | Fits |
MacBook Pro M1 Max 64GB | 64 GB | Q4_K_M | 42.0 | Fits |
MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB | 48 GB | Q4_K_M | 42.0 | Fits |
Estimates for single-stream decoding at Q4_K_M; real tokens/sec varies with prompt length, context, batch size, and runtime build. Prompt processing (prefill) is faster than the decode figures shown here.
How SmolLM3 3B (3B params) fits at each quantization level on RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition 96GB (96.0 GB usable).
| Quant | Bits | VRAM | Quality | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Q2_K | 2 | 1.2 GB | Low | C47 |
Q3_K_S | 3 | 1.5 GB | Low | C47 |
NVFP4 | 4 | 1.7 GB | Medium | C47 |
Q4_K_M | 4 | 1.8 GB | Medium | C47 |
Q5_K_M | 5 | 2.2 GB | High | C47 |
Q6_K | 6 | 2.5 GB | High | C47 |
Q8_0 | 8 | 3.2 GB | Very High | C47 |
F16Best for your GPU | 16 | 6.1 GB | Maximum | C47 |
Copy-paste commands to run SmolLM3 3B on your machine.
Run
lms load SmolLM3-3B && lms server startUpgrade options
Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.
~$6,999 MSRP
NVIDIA DGX Spark 128GBNVIDIA upgrade
Yes, RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition 96GB can run SmolLM3 3B with a C grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 42.0 tok/s.
SmolLM3 3B (3B parameters) requires approximately 14.6 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 PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition 96GB, SmolLM3 3B achieves approximately 42.0 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 4610ms using Q4_K_M quantization.
For coding workloads, SmolLM3 3B on RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition 96GB receives a C grade with 42.0 tok/s and 128K context.
On RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition 96GB, SmolLM3 3B can safely use up to 128K 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.
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