How much VRAM does Qwen3.5 9B need?

Qwen3.5 9B (9B parameters) requires approximately 11.6 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.

Can it run?

Yes, MacBook Pro M2 Pro 32GB can run Qwen3.5 9B with a C grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 23.7 tok/s.

CUsable

Runs well

Using Q4_K_M in Ollama

Capabilities:

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

23.7 tok/s

TTFT

8176 ms

Safe context

32K

Memory

11.6 GB / 23.0 GB

Weights5.5 GB

KV Cache1.4 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom3.5 GB

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Agentic Coding	C	Runs well	25.5 tok/s	11043 ms	57K
Chat	C	Runs well	25.5 tok/s	4141 ms	17K
Coding	C	Runs well	23.7 tok/s	8176 ms	32K
RAG	C	Runs well	25.5 tok/s	13803 ms	57K
Reasoning	C	Runs well	25.5 tok/s	8972 ms	32K

How Qwen3.5 9B (9B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Pro M2 Pro 32GB (23.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	3.5 GB	Low	D33
Q3_K_S	3	4.4 GB	Low	D33
NVFP4	4

HuggingFace

huggingface-cli download hf-lmstudio-community--qwen3-5-9b-gguf

Upgrade options

RX 7900 XTX 24GBBudget pick

C125.9 tok/s decode

~$999 MSRP

RTX 3090 24GBBest value

C119.3 tok/s decode

~$1,499 MSRP

MacBook Pro M4 Max 36GBApple upgrade