Best local AI models for NVIDIA RTX 3050 6GB
6 GB GDDR6. At a 4k context, 114 of the 233 models in our catalog with verified parameter counts fit fully, up to Granite 3.3 2B / 8B at 8B parameters.
Check your own machine against every model →The largest models that fit fully
The 30 largest of the 114 models that fit; every smaller model in the catalog fits too. Best quant means the highest quality compression whose weights and 4k context both sit inside the memory.
| Model | Parameters | Best quant that fits | Memory used at 4k |
|---|---|---|---|
| Granite 3.3 2B / 8B | 8B | Q4_K_M | 5.9 GB |
| Ministral 3B / 8B | 8B | Q4_K_M | 5.9 GB |
| InternLM 3 8B | 8B | Q4_K_M | 5.9 GB |
| OpenCoder 1.5B / 8B | 8B | Q4_K_M | 5.9 GB |
| Seed-Coder 8B | 8B | Q4_K_M | 5.9 GB |
| MiniCPM-V 2.6 / MiniCPM-o 2.6 | 8B | Q4_K_M | 5.9 GB |
| Idefics 3 8B | 8B | Q4_K_M | 5.9 GB |
| Fuyu-8B | 8B | Q4_K_M | 5.9 GB |
| Emu3 | 8B | Q4_K_M | 5.9 GB |
| Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large / Turbo | 8B | Q4_K_M | 5.9 GB |
| EXAONE 3.5 2.4B / 7.8B | 7.8B | Q4_K_M | 5.7 GB |
| Mistral 7B | 7B | Q4_K_M | 5.7 GB |
| Qwen2.5 0.5B / 1.5B / 3B / 7B | 7B | Q5_K_M | 6 GB |
| OLMo 2 1B / 7B | 7B | Q5_K_M | 6 GB |
| Falcon 3 1B / 3B / 7B | 7B | Q5_K_M | 6 GB |
| Command R7B | 7B | Q5_K_M | 6 GB |
| OpenHermes 2.5 | 7B | Q5_K_M | 6 GB |
| Zephyr 7B Beta | 7B | Q5_K_M | 6 GB |
| OpenChat 3.5 | 7B | Q5_K_M | 6 GB |
| Starling LM 7B | 7B | Q5_K_M | 6 GB |
| Codestral Mamba 7B | 7B | Q5_K_M | 6 GB |
| CodeGemma 2B / 7B | 7B | Q5_K_M | 6 GB |
| aiXcoder-7B | 7B | Q5_K_M | 6 GB |
| Nxcode / CodeQwen 1.5 7B | 7B | Q5_K_M | 6 GB |
| Janus-Pro 1B / 7B | 7B | Q5_K_M | 6 GB |
| Ruyi-Mini-7B | 7B | Q5_K_M | 6 GB |
| Qwen2-Audio 7B | 7B | Q5_K_M | 6 GB |
| Qwen2.5-Omni 3B / 7B | 7B | Q5_K_M | 6 GB |
| YuE | 7B | Q5_K_M | 6 GB |
| Magicoder-S-DS 6.7B | 6.7B | Q5_K_M | 5.7 GB |
Close, but only with CPU offload
These need more than the card holds at their smallest practical quant, so part of the model runs from system memory (figures assume 32 GB of it). They work, several times slower.
| Model | Parameters | Memory at Q4_K_M | System RAM at 4k |
|---|---|---|---|
| Llama 3.1 8B | 8B | 6.4 GB needed | 8.4 GB |
| Chroma | 8.9B | 6.5 GB needed | 8.5 GB |
| Gemma 2 9B | 9B | 8 GB needed | 10 GB |
| Nemotron Nano 4B / 9B | 9B | 6.6 GB needed | 8.6 GB |
| GLM-4 9B / GLM-4.5-Air | 9B | 6.6 GB needed | 8.6 GB |
| Yi-Coder 1.5B / 9B | 9B | 6.6 GB needed | 8.6 GB |
| GLM-4-9B-Chat / CodeGeeX4 | 9B | 6.6 GB needed | 8.6 GB |
| GLM-4V-9B / GLM-4.1V-Thinking | 9B | 6.6 GB needed | 8.6 GB |
| Mochi 1 | 10B | 7.3 GB needed | 9.3 GB |
| Open-Sora 2.0 | 11B | 8.1 GB needed | 10.1 GB |
How to read this
The NVIDIA RTX 3050 6GB graphics card features 6 GB of GDDR6 video memory. This memory size determines which artificial intelligence models can run entirely on your hardware. For local execution, the model weights must fit inside this video memory to ensure fast processing speeds. If a model exceeds this limit, your system must use slower memory alternatives.
The quantization column indicates the compression level applied to each model. Quantization reduces the size of model files so they fit into smaller hardware configurations. A Q4_K_M quant represents a four bit medium quantization level. A Q5_K_M quant represents a five bit medium quantization level. These formats balance model accuracy with memory consumption to maximize performance on your card.
Several high performance models fit completely within the video memory of this card. You can run Granite 3.3 8B, Ministral 8B, InternLM 3 8B, OpenCoder 8B, Seed-Coder 8B, MiniCPM-V 2.6, MiniCPM-o 2.6, Idefics 3 8B, Fuyu-8B, Emu3, and Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large at Q4_K_M quantization using 5.9 GB of memory. EXAONE 3.5 7.8B and Mistral 7B fit at Q4_K_M using 5.7 GB of memory.
Other models fit within the limit using Q5_K_M quantization. Qwen2.5 7B, OLMo 2 7B, Falcon 3 7B, Command R7B, OpenHermes 2.5, Zephyr 7B Beta, OpenChat 3.5, Starling LM 7B, Codestral Mamba 7B, CodeGemma 7B, aiXcoder-7B, Nxcode, CodeQwen 1.5 7B, Janus-Pro 7B, Ruyi-Mini-7B, Qwen2-Audio 7B, Qwen2.5-Omni 7B, and YuE fit at Q5_K_M using 6 GB of memory. Magicoder-S-DS 6.7B fits at Q5_K_M using 5.7 GB of memory.
When a model is too large for the video memory, you can offload parts of it to your system RAM. This offload process allows you to run larger models but reduces generation speed. Assuming a system with 32 GB of system RAM, Llama 3.1 8B needs 6.4 GB of video memory at Q4_K_M and 8.4 GB of system RAM. Chroma needs 6.5 GB at Q4_K_M and 8.5 GB of system RAM. Gemma 2 9B needs 8 GB at Q4_K_M and 10 GB of system RAM.
Other offload options include Nemotron Nano 9B, GLM-4 9B, GLM-4.5-Air, Yi-Coder 9B, GLM-4-9B-Chat, CodeGeeX4, GLM-4V-9B, and GLM-4.1V-Thinking. These models need 6.6 GB of video memory at Q4_K_M and 8.6 GB of system RAM. Mochi 1 needs 7.3 GB at Q4_K_M and 9.3 GB of system RAM. Open-Sora 2.0 needs 8.1 GB at Q4_K_M and 10.1 GB of system RAM.
Memory calculations assume a standard four thousand token context window. Running longer conversations or processing larger documents increases memory usage. If you exceed the four thousand token limit, the model will require more video memory or force more data into your system RAM.