Can Qwen3.5 9B run on GTX 1080 8GB?

YES — With Offload

C50Usable

Estimated from fit model

Qwen3.5 9B needs ~8.2 GB VRAM. GTX 1080 8GB has 8.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~24 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: OffloadBandwidth: LowStack: 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) — 8.2 GB, 23.5 tok/s, Runs with offload (needs ~0.2 GB host RAM)

8.2 GB required8.0 GB available

102% VRAM needed

0.2 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization

Fit status

Runs with offload (needs ~0.2 GB host RAM)

Decode

23.5 tok/s

TTFT

8246 ms

Safe context

12K

Memory

8.2 GB / 8.0 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights5.5 GB

KV Cache1.1 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom0.8 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsQwen3.5 9B on GTX 1080 8GB
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: 23.5 tok/s decode · 8.2s TTFT (warm) · 59 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.

Older PCIe generation

PCIe 3.0 is workable, but it compounds the penalty when you offload heavily or try to scale across multiple cards.

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	C	Runs with offload	34.4 tok/s	3071 ms	12K
Coding	C	Runs with offload (needs ~0.2 GB host RAM)	23.5 tok/s	8246 ms	12K
Agentic Coding	D	Very compromised (needs ~0.8 GB host RAM)	18.0 tok/s	15623 ms	12K
Reasoning	C	Runs with offload (needs ~0.2 GB host RAM)	23.5 tok/s	9745 ms	12K
RAG	D	Very compromised (needs ~0.8 GB host RAM)	18.0 tok/s	19529 ms	12K

Inference speed

Qwen3.5 9B inference speed — tokens per second by GPU & Mac

Estimated decode speed (tokens/sec) for Qwen3.5 9B at Q4_K_M across popular GPUs and Apple Silicon, using the fastest local runtime per device. Fastest is RTX 5090 32GB at ~126 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	126.0	Fits
RTX 4090 24GB	24 GB	Q4_K_M	126.0	Fits
RX 7900 XTX 24GB	24 GB	Q4_K_M	125.9	Fits
RTX 3090 24GB	24 GB	Q4_K_M	119.3	Fits
RTX 4080 Super 16GB	16 GB	Q4_K_M	111.3	Fits
Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB	256 GB	Q4_K_M	101.4	Fits
Mac Studio M2 Ultra 128GB	128 GB	Q4_K_M	84.5	Fits
Mac Studio M1 Ultra 128GB	128 GB	Q4_K_M	80.1	Fits
RTX 4070 12GB	12 GB	Q4_K_M	68.9	Fits
MacBook Pro M4 Max 128GB	128 GB	Q4_K_M	68.3	Fits
MacBook Pro M4 Max 64GB	64 GB	Q4_K_M	68.3	Fits
MacBook Pro M3 Max 64GB	64 GB	Q4_K_M	43.7	Fits
RTX 3060 12GB	12 GB	Q4_K_M	43.3	Fits
MacBook Pro M1 Max 64GB	64 GB	Q4_K_M	40.1	Fits
MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB	48 GB	Q4_K_M	35.2	Fits
RTX 4060 8GB	8 GB	Q4_K_M	23.4	Offloads

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.

Quantization options

How Qwen3.5 9B (9B params) fits at each quantization level on GTX 1080 8GB (8.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	3.5 GB	Low	C54
Q3_K_S	3	4.4 GB	Low	C53
NVFP4Best for your GPU	4	5.0 GB	Medium	C53
Q4_K_M	4	5.5 GB	Medium	F0
Q5_K_M	5	6.5 GB	High	F0
Q6_K	6	7.4 GB	High	F0
Q8_0	8	9.6 GB	Very High	F0
F16	16	18.5 GB	Maximum	F0

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Qwen3.5 9B on your machine.

Run

docker run --rm -it ghcr.io/ggerganov/llama.cpp:full \
  --hf-repo "unsloth/Qwen3.5-9B-GGUF" \
  --hf-file "Qwen3.5-9B-GGUF-Q4_K_M.gguf" \
  -c 4096 -ngl 99

Upgrade-Optionen

Hardware, die Qwen3.5 9B gut ausführt

RTX 3060 12GBGünstige Wahl

12 GB VRAM (+4)360 GB/s (+40)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 55%.36.4 tok/s Dekodierung

Raises estimated decode speed by about 55%.

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

ca. $329 MSRP

RTX 5060 Ti 16GBBestes Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis

16 GB VRAM (+8)448 GB/s (+128)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 115%.50.6 tok/s Dekodierung

Raises estimated decode speed by about 115%.

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

ca. $449 MSRP

RTX 4060 Ti 16GBNVIDIA-Upgrade

16 GB VRAM (+8)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 50%.35.2 tok/s Dekodierung

Raises estimated decode speed by about 50%.

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

ca. $499 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can GTX 1080 8GB run Qwen3.5 9B?

Yes, GTX 1080 8GB can run Qwen3.5 9B with a C grade (Runs with offload (needs ~0.2 GB host RAM)). Expected decode speed: 23.5 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Qwen3.5 9B need?

Qwen3.5 9B (9B parameters) requires approximately 8.2 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Qwen3.5 9B?

The recommended quantization for Qwen3.5 9B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Qwen3.5 9B run at on GTX 1080 8GB?

On GTX 1080 8GB, Qwen3.5 9B achieves approximately 23.5 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 8246ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can GTX 1080 8GB run Qwen3.5 9B for coding?

For coding workloads, Qwen3.5 9B on GTX 1080 8GB receives a C grade with 23.5 tok/s and 12K context.

What context window can Qwen3.5 9B use on GTX 1080 8GB?

On GTX 1080 8GB, Qwen3.5 9B can safely use up to 12K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is —, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

What should I upgrade first if Qwen3.5 9B feels slow on GTX 1080 8GB?

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

See all results for GTX 1080 8GB See all hardware for Qwen3.5 9B

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