How much VRAM does Yi 9B Chat need?
Yi 9B Chat needs about 6.0 GB of VRAM at Q4_K_M, or 9.9 GB at Q8_0 and 18.0 GB at FP16. That fits a consumer card: the smallest in our set that holds it at Q4_K_M is the RTX 3060 12GB (12 GB). Weights plus runtime overhead; with only 4K of context the cache stays small.
Weights-plus-runtime footprint across the six most common quantizations. KV cache is context-dependent and comes on top. A full 4K window is a real share of the budget; size it precisely in the GPU Memory Calculator.
This is the instruction-tuned checkpoint: the same architecture and the same memory footprint as the base model, fine-tuned to follow prompts and hold a conversation. If you intend to fine-tune on your own data, start from Yi 9B instead.
Can your GPU run Yi 9B Chat?
Pick your card — the answer below is computed by the same engine that produces every figure on this page.
RTX 3060 12GB runs Yi 9B Chat at Q4_K_M with 5.4 GB to spare; room left for context and everyday runtime pressure.
Weights plus runtime overhead. KV cache is not included — it depends on context length and this model’s published architecture.
| Weights (Q4_K_M) | 5.0 GB |
| Runtime overhead | 1.0 GB |
| Estimated total | 6.0 GB |
| Usable VRAM (95% of 12 GB) | 11.4 GB |
Across every GPU we track
- RTX 3060 12GBExcellent+5.4 GB
- RTX 4060 Ti 16GBExcellent+9.2 GB
- RTX 4070 Ti SUPERExcellent+9.2 GB
- RTX 3090Excellent+16.8 GB
- RTX 4090Excellent+16.8 GB
- RTX 5090Excellent+24.4 GB
- A100 40GBExcellent+32.0 GB
- RTX A6000Excellent+39.6 GB
- L40SExcellent+39.6 GB
- A100 80GBExcellent+70.0 GB
- H100 80GBExcellent+70.0 GB
- H200 141GBExcellent+128.0 GB
Estimates, not guarantees: real usage moves with runtime, driver, batch size and context. Size a specific context window in the GPU Memory Calculator.
How was this number calculated? Every figure here comes from Bitpute’s documented calculation methodology — parameters, precision, quantization, runtime overhead and usable VRAM, each formula written out in full.
Memory by quantization
| Quant | Weights | + runtime overhead |
|---|---|---|
| FP16 | 16.4 GB | 18.0 GB |
| Q8_0 | 8.7 GB | 9.9 GB |
| Q6_K | 6.7 GB | 7.8 GB |
| Q5_K_M | 5.8 GB | 6.9 GB |
| Q4_K_M | 5.0 GB | 6.0 GB |
| Q4_0 | 4.6 GB | 5.6 GB |
Overhead = 0.75 GB + 5% of weights (CUDA context, buffers). Add KV cache on top. A full 4K window is a real share of the budget.
Which quantization should you actually run?
Yi 9B Chat runs best on a 12 GB card at Q6_K (7.8 GB), with room for everyday context lengths — the practical quality-to-size balance. For Q8_0 (9.9 GB) step up to RTX 4070 Ti SUPER; full FP16 (18.0 GB) needs RTX 4090 and is rarely worth it at this size.
Single-GPU fit at Q4_K_M (6.0 GB + KV)
RTX 3060 12GBRTX 4060 Ti 16GBRTX 4070 Ti SUPERRTX 3090RTX 4090RTX 5090A100 40GBRTX A6000L40SA100 80GBH100 80GBH200 141GB
Where the memory goes
Weights and overhead are exact for Q4_K_M. The KV bar assumes a generic 32-layer transformer at 8K context — your model’s layer count and attention scheme move it, which is what the calculator is for.
Weighing the cheapest card that fits against the next one up? RTX 3060 12GB vs RTX 4060 Ti 16GB compares them on bandwidth, power and which models each one holds.
Common questions
How much VRAM does Yi 9B Chat need?
Yi 9B Chat needs about 6.0 GB of VRAM at Q4_K_M, 9.9 GB at Q8_0, or 18.0 GB at FP16. That is weights plus about 0.75 GB of runtime overhead and 5% of weight size; KV cache is additional and depends on context length.
What GPU can run Yi 9B Chat?
At Q4_K_M the smallest card in our set that fits is the RTX 3060 12GB (12 GB usable at 95%). At FP16 you need the RTX 3090 (24 GB) or larger.
Can Yi 9B Chat run on 24 GB?
Yes. At Q4_K_M it needs about 6.0 GB, which fits inside the ~22.8 GB usable on a 24 GB card.
Same memory footprint as 1 other checkpoint
Yi 9B Chat has an identical parameter count to this, so every figure on this page applies to it unchanged. What varies is different checkpoint roles (base) — not the size. Choose on capability and licence; the memory budget is identical.