Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated March 16, 2026
No — Mistral Small 4 doesn't fit the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 (12GB)'s 12 GB; you're short by ~66 GB even at Q2_K. The cheapest card that runs it is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 (32 GB).
| VRAM | 12 GB |
| Memory Bandwidth | 360 GB/s |
| Quant | VRAM needed | Fits 12 GB? | Max context |
|---|---|---|---|
| F16 | 276.9 GB | ✗ No | — |
| Q8_0 | 165.3 GB | ✗ No | — |
| Q6_K | 136.5 GB | ✗ No | — |
| Q5_K_M | 123.2 GB | ✗ No | — |
| Q4_K_M | 110.7 GB | ✗ No | — |
| Q3_K_M | 89.6 GB | ✗ No | — |
| Q2_K | 78 GB | ✗ No | — |
VRAM needed assumes a 4K-token context with an f16 KV cache; “Max context” is the largest window that still fits in 12 GB. Figures are estimates from parameter count, quantization and memory bandwidth — the analyzer lets you tune KV-cache quant and context.
Every Mistral Small 4 variant requires more VRAM than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 (12GB) provides (12 GB).
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 (32 GB VRAM).
Mistral Small 4 needs ~24 GB but this GPU has 12 GB. Rent a RTX 4090 (24 GB)-class GPU by the hour instead of buying one:
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Cloud rates verified 2026-07 — estimates, and marketplace prices vary. Buying price is GPU MSRP only, not a full PC.
No — Mistral Small 4 doesn't fit the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 (12GB)'s 12 GB; you're short by ~66 GB even at Q2_K. The cheapest card that runs it is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 (32 GB).
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 (32 GB VRAM) is the cheapest upgrade that fits it.
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