How much VRAM does Mistral 7B Instruct v0.2 need?

Mistral 7B Instruct v0.2 (7B parameters) requires approximately 7.0 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Mistral 7B Instruct v0.2?

The recommended quantization for Mistral 7B Instruct v0.2 is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

Can it run?

No, Mistral 7B Instruct v0.2 requires more memory than GTX 1650 4GB provides.

FWon't run

Too heavy

Using Q4_K_M in Ollama

Capabilities:

Fit status

Too heavy

Decode

21.6 tok/s

TTFT

8970 ms

Safe context

Memory

7.0 GB / 4.0 GB

Weights4.3 GB

KV Cache1.1 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom0.4 GB

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Agentic Coding	F	Too heavy	15.0 tok/s	18788 ms	16K
Chat	F	Too heavy	15.0 tok/s	7046 ms	5K
Coding	F	Too heavy	21.6 tok/s	8970 ms	9K
RAG	F	Too heavy	15.0 tok/s	23485 ms	16K
Reasoning	F	Too heavy	15.0 tok/s	15265 ms	9K

How Mistral 7B Instruct v0.2 (7B params) fits at each quantization level on GTX 1650 4GB (4.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	2.7 GB	Low	C44
Q3_K_S	3	3.4 GB	Low	C44
NVFP4	4

Upgrade options

Intel Arc B580 12GBBudget pick

C51.3 tok/s decode

~$249 MSRP

RX 7600 8GBBest value

C39.1 tok/s decode

~$269 MSRP

RTX 3080 10GBNVIDIA upgrade

B135.3 tok/s decode

~$699 MSRP

RTX 2080 Ti 11GBBiggest leap