Can Qwen 3 32B run on Tesla P40 24GB?

BARELY — Tight on Memory

A77Great

Estimated from fit model

Qwen 3 32B needs ~26.7 GB VRAM. Tesla P40 24GB has 24.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~7 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: OffloadBandwidth: LowStack: StandardBottleneck: Host offload

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) — 26.7 GB, 6.5 tok/s, Very compromised (needs ~2 GB host RAM)

26.7 GB required24.0 GB available

111% VRAM needed

2.7 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization

Fit status

Very compromised (needs ~2 GB host RAM)

Decode

6.5 tok/s

TTFT

29557 ms

Safe context

Memory

26.7 GB / 24.0 GB

Offload

10%

Memory breakdown

Weights19.5 GB

KV Cache3.9 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom2.4 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsQwen 3 32B on Tesla P40 24GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>Solve: If a train travels at 60 mph for 2.5 hours, how far does it go?
Let me work through this step by step.

Given information:
  - Speed = 60 mph (miles per hour)
  - Time  = 2.5 hours

Formula: Distance = Speed x Time

Calculation:
  Distance = 60 mph x 2.5 h
           = 150 miles

The train travels 150 miles.

Double-check: at 60 mph the train covers 60 miles each hour. In half an hour it covers 30 miles. So in 2.5 hours: 60 + 60 + 30 = 150 miles. Confirmed.
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>What if the train stops for 20 minutes halfway?
The stop doesn't change the total distance covered while moving, but it affects total trip time.

Breakdown:
  - First half: 1.25 hours at 60 mph = 75 miles
  - Stop: 20 minutes (no distance)
  - Second half: 1.25 hours at 60 mph = 75 miles

Total distance: 150 miles (same)
Total time: 2.5 h + 0.33 h = 2.83 hours
Average speed: 150 / 2.83 = 53 mph

The distance stays the same but average speed drops to 53 mph because of the stop.
Estimated: 6.5 tok/s decode · 29.6s TTFT (warm) · 16 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

It fits through host-memory offload, and offload is the main reason performance drops.

CPU or host-memory offload is active

About 10% of the working set spills out of accelerator memory, which usually hurts latency and sustained decode throughput.

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

Remove offload with more accelerator memory

Prioritize a GPU or unified-memory tier that fits the whole model natively. Removing offload usually helps more than small compute gains.

Buy headroom, not only minimum fit

A slightly larger memory tier gives you safer context growth and makes the recommendation more future-proof.

Increase host RAM if you keep offloading

This setup may need roughly 2.0 GB of extra host RAM just for the offloaded portion, before OS and other tools.

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	S	Runs with offload (needs ~0.6 GB host RAM)	7.7 tok/s	13647 ms	5K
Coding	A	Very compromised (needs ~2 GB host RAM)	6.5 tok/s	29557 ms	5K
Agentic Coding	F	Too heavy	4.9 tok/s	58009 ms	5K
Reasoning	A	Very compromised (needs ~2 GB host RAM)	6.5 tok/s	34932 ms	5K
RAG	F	Too heavy	4.9 tok/s	72511 ms	5K

Quantization options

How Qwen 3 32B (32B params) fits at each quantization level on Tesla P40 24GB (24.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	12.5 GB	Low	S91
Q3_K_S	3	15.7 GB	Low	S91
NVFP4Best for your GPU	4	17.9 GB	Medium	S90
Q4_K_M	4	19.5 GB	Medium	F0
Q5_K_M	5	23.0 GB	High	F0
Q6_K	6	26.2 GB	High	F0
Q8_0	8	34.2 GB	Very High	F0
F16	16	65.6 GB	Maximum	F0

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Qwen 3 32B on your machine.

Run

ollama run qwen3:32b

Your hardware

More models your Tesla P40 24GB can run

Model	Params	Grade	Decode	Capabilities
Qwen 3.6 35B A3B	35B	A	12.7 tok/s
Qwen 3.5 35B A3B	35B	A	17.1 tok/s

Frequently asked questions

Can Tesla P40 24GB run Qwen 3 32B?

Yes, Tesla P40 24GB can run Qwen 3 32B with a A grade (Very compromised (needs ~2 GB host RAM)). Expected decode speed: 6.5 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Qwen 3 32B need?

Qwen 3 32B (32B parameters) requires approximately 26.7 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Qwen 3 32B?

The recommended quantization for Qwen 3 32B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Qwen 3 32B run at on Tesla P40 24GB?

On Tesla P40 24GB, Qwen 3 32B achieves approximately 6.5 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 29557ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can Tesla P40 24GB run Qwen 3 32B for coding?

For coding workloads, Qwen 3 32B on Tesla P40 24GB receives a A grade with 6.5 tok/s and 5K context.

What context window can Qwen 3 32B use on Tesla P40 24GB?

On Tesla P40 24GB, Qwen 3 32B can safely use up to 5K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 131K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

What should I upgrade first if Qwen 3 32B feels slow on Tesla P40 24GB?

Remove offload with more accelerator memory. Prioritize a GPU or unified-memory tier that fits the whole model natively. Removing offload usually helps more than small compute gains.

See all results for Tesla P40 24GB See all hardware for Qwen 3 32B

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