How much VRAM does Qwen3.5 9B need?

Qwen3.5 9B (9B parameters) requires approximately 12.0 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 M3 Pro 36GB can run Qwen3.5 9B with a C grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 17.8 tok/s.

CUsable

Runs well

Using Q4_K_M in Ollama

Capabilities:

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

17.8 tok/s

TTFT

10901 ms

Safe context

35K

Memory

12.0 GB / 25.9 GB

Weights5.5 GB

KV Cache1.4 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom3.9 GB

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Agentic Coding	C	Runs well	17.8 tok/s	15856 ms	62K
Chat	C	Runs well	17.8 tok/s	5946 ms	18K
Coding	C	Runs well	17.8 tok/s	10901 ms	35K
RAG	C	Runs well	17.8 tok/s	19820 ms	62K
Reasoning	C	Runs well	17.8 tok/s	12883 ms	35K

How Qwen3.5 9B (9B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Pro M3 Pro 36GB (25.9 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	3.5 GB	Low	D32
Q3_K_S	3	4.4 GB	Low	D33
NVFP4	4

HuggingFace

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

Upgrade options

RTX 5090 32GBBudget pick

C218.7 tok/s decode

~$1,999 MSRP

MacBook Pro M4 Max 48GBBest value

C62.7 tok/s decode

~$2,499 MSRP

Mac Studio M2 Ultra 64GBApple upgrade