How much VRAM does Qwen3.5 9B need?

Qwen3.5 9B (9B parameters) requires approximately 9.3 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, Radeon RX 6850M XT 12GB can run Qwen3.5 9B with a B grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 56.7 tok/s.

BGood

Runs well

Using Q4_K_M in Ollama

Capabilities:

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

56.7 tok/s

TTFT

3417 ms

Safe context

21K

Memory

9.3 GB / 12.0 GB

Weights5.5 GB

KV Cache1.4 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom1.2 GB

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Agentic Coding	C	Tight fit	44.1 tok/s	6390 ms	36K
Chat	C	Runs well	44.1 tok/s	2396 ms	11K
Coding	B	Runs well	56.7 tok/s	3417 ms	21K
RAG	C	Tight fit	44.1 tok/s	7988 ms	36K
Reasoning	C	Runs well	44.1 tok/s	5192 ms	21K

How Qwen3.5 9B (9B params) fits at each quantization level on Radeon RX 6850M XT 12GB (12.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	3.5 GB	Low	D36
Q3_K_S	3	4.4 GB	Low	D37
NVFP4	4

HuggingFace

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

Upgrade options

RTX 5070 Ti 16GBBudget pick

B104.5 tok/s decode

~$749 MSRP

RTX 4070 Ti Super 16GBBest value

B97.9 tok/s decode

~$799 MSRP

RTX 4080 Super 16GBBiggest leap

B111.3 tok/s decode

~$999 MSRP