Alibaba (Qwen team) · 8.2B parameters · Apache 2.0
What GPU do you need to run Qwen3 8B?Memory, cards and speed.
Qwen3 8B needs about 6 GB of GPU memory (VRAM) at its smallest (4-bit), so a 16 GB card such as an RTX 4080 runs it. The cheapest card on our list that fits, an RTX 4060 Ti 16GB, costs about $0.14 an hour. At its largest (16-bit) it needs about 18 GB.
GPU memory
Qwen3 8B, by version.
Includes about 1.5 GB for the program and a short conversation (about 4,000 tokens). Long conversations need more. Speeds are ceilings: real speeds are usually half to two-thirds of them. How we work it out
| Version | Memory needed | Card size | Cards that fit | From | Top speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4-bit | about 6 GB | 16–20 GB | RTX 4090, RTX 5090, RTX 3090, RTX 4080, RTX 3090 Ti, RTX 5080, RTX 5070 Ti, RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, RTX 5060 Ti 16GB, RTX 4060 Ti 16GB | $0.14/hr on an RTX 4060 Ti 16GB | about 364 tokens/s on an RTX 5090 |
| 8-bit | about 10 GB | 16–20 GB | RTX 4090, RTX 5090, RTX 3090, RTX 4080, RTX 3090 Ti, RTX 5080, RTX 5070 Ti, RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, RTX 5060 Ti 16GB, RTX 4060 Ti 16GB | $0.14/hr on an RTX 4060 Ti 16GB | about 206 tokens/s on an RTX 5090 |
| 16-bit | about 18 GB | 24 GB | RTX 4090, RTX 5090, RTX 3090, RTX 3090 Ti | $0.155/hr on an RTX 3090 | about 109 tokens/s on an RTX 5090 |
Can think step by step before it answers, or reply straight away. Apache 2.0, so commercial use is fine.
Run it
Start Qwen3 8B in minutes.
On KernelMachine, Rent a Chat model with it: it loads into the chat app by itself once the rental is ready, straight from Ollama to the machine, and is in the app's model menu. On any machine with Ollama, one command downloads and runs it. Ollama on a rented GPU
$ ollama run qwen3:8b
# Model files: huggingface.co/Qwen/Qwen3-8B
Common questions
Questions, answered plainly.
How much VRAM does Qwen3 8B need?
4-bit: about 6 GB; 8-bit: about 10 GB; 16-bit: about 18 GB. That includes about 1.5 GB for the program and a short conversation; longer conversations need more.
Can an RTX 4090 run Qwen3 8B?
Yes. Qwen3 8B (16-bit) needs about 18 GB, which fits in the RTX 4090's 24 GB.
How fast does Qwen3 8B run?
At 4-bit, the ceiling is about 364 tokens/s on an RTX 5090: each word means reading the whole model from memory once. Real speeds are usually half to two-thirds of that.
Can I run Qwen3 8B on KernelMachine?
Yes. Rent a Chat model with Qwen3 8B, on this page, starts the chat app on the cheapest card with 16 GB or more, and qwen3:8b loads into it by itself once it's ready. Already renting a Chat model? Pick Qwen3 8B on the rental's page, or download qwen3:8b from the chat app's model menu.
Other models
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