Question 1

Can Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB run Qwen2.5 3B Instruct?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB can run Qwen2.5 3B Instruct with a C grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 290.9 tok/s.

Question 2

How much VRAM does Qwen2.5 3B Instruct need?

Accepted Answer

Qwen2.5 3B Instruct (3B parameters) requires approximately 31.5 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

Question 3

What is the best quantization for Qwen2.5 3B Instruct?

Accepted Answer

The recommended quantization for Qwen2.5 3B Instruct is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Agentic Coding	C	Runs well	290.9 tok/s	968 ms	187K
Chat	C	Runs well	290.9 tok/s	363 ms	47K
Coding	C	Runs well	290.9 tok/s	666 ms	94K
RAG	C	Runs well	290.9 tok/s	1210 ms	187K
Reasoning	C	Runs well	290.9 tok/s	787 ms	94K

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	1.2 GB	Low	D30
Q3_K_S	3	1.5 GB	Low	D30
NVFP4	4

Can Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB run Qwen2.5 3B Instruct?

Memory breakdown