MiniCPM5 2B VRAM requirements
MiniCPM5 2B needs about 2.42 GB of VRAM at Q4_K_M with 8K context, so it fits an 8 GB card such as the RTX 4060 8GB. MiniCPM5 2B has 2.5B parameters. With the same 8K context and one request it needs 3.44 GB at FP8 and 6.02 GB at FP16/BF16. The published weights take 4.69 GB (BF16). The smallest setup here that holds it at Q4_K_M with an 8K context is the RTX 4060 8GB; on one 24 GB RTX 3090 / 4090 it runs with its full 128K-token context.
2.42 GB at Q4_K_M, 8K context, one request
- FP8
- 3.44 GB
- FP16 / BF16
- 6.02 GB
- Published weights
- 4.69 GB
- Smallest setup, Q4_K_M
- RTX 4060 8GB
Worked example: MiniCPM5 2B with 32K tokens
Inputs: MiniCPM5 2B · Q4_K_M weights · 32,768 tokens of context · one request · FP16 KV cache
- Weights (2.5B at Q4_K_M)
- 1.42 GB
- KV cache (42 KB per token)
- 1.31 GB
- Buffers and runtime (0.5 GB + 10%)
- 792 MB
- Total
- 3.50 GB
The smallest setup here that holds it is the RTX 4060 8GB, with about 4.50 GB to spare. Change the inputs in the calculator
What makes MiniCPM5 2B's memory use different
Per token of context it adds 42 KB of FP16 cache; Granite 4.2 3B (3.7B), the nearest-sized model here with plain full attention, adds 80 KB, so MiniCPM5 2B needs 48% less.
How much VRAM does MiniCPM5 2B need?
MiniCPM5 2B needs 2.42 GB at Q4_K_M, 3.60 GB at Q8_0 and 6.02 GB at FP16 with 8,192 tokens of context and one request. Each total below is the weights plus the FP16 KV cache and the runtime overhead (0.5 GB plus 10%), and each row opens the calculator with that setting. What the GGUF names mean.
| Precision | Weights | Total | Smallest setup |
|---|---|---|---|
| As published (BF16) | 4.69 GB | 6.02 GB | RTX 4060 8GB |
| FP16 / BF16 | 4.69 GB | 6.02 GB | RTX 4060 8GB |
| FP8 / INT8 | 2.34 GB | 3.44 GB | RTX 4060 8GB |
| INT4 (AWQ / GPTQ) | 1.25 GB | 2.23 GB | RTX 4060 8GB |
| GGUF Q8_0 | 2.49 GB | 3.60 GB | RTX 4060 8GB |
| GGUF Q6_K | 1.92 GB | 2.98 GB | RTX 4060 8GB |
| GGUF Q5_K_M | 1.66 GB | 2.69 GB | RTX 4060 8GB |
| GGUF Q4_K_M | 1.42 GB | 2.42 GB | RTX 4060 8GB |
| GGUF IQ4_XS | 1.27 GB | 2.26 GB | RTX 4060 8GB |
| GGUF Q3_K_M | 1.15 GB | 2.12 GB | RTX 4060 8GB |
| GGUF IQ3_XXS | 990 MB | 1.92 GB | RTX 4060 8GB |
| GGUF Q2_K | 1,005 MB | 1.94 GB | RTX 4060 8GB |
Fine-tuning MiniCPM5 2B? MiniCPM5 2B VRAM for LoRA, QLoRA and full training.
MiniCPM5 2B GGUF files on Hugging Face
The 8 GGUF files llama.cpp picks for MiniCPM5 2B with -hf <repo>:<QUANT>, with the bytes the Hugging Face file list reported on 2026-09-29. Each total is that file plus the FP16 KV cache and 0.5 GB + 10%, one request. "vs estimate" compares the file with the bits-per-weight size the table above uses.
| Quant | File | Size | vs estimate | 8K | 32K | 128K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q2_K | bartowski/ | 967 MB1,014,320,352 bytes | −4% | 1.90 GB | 2.98 GB | 7.31 GB |
| Q3_K_M | bartowski/ | 1.15 GB1,236,085,984 bytes | ±0% | 2.13 GB | 3.21 GB | 7.54 GB |
| IQ4_XS | bartowski/ | 1.36 GB1,463,942,368 bytes | +7% | 2.36 GB | 3.44 GB | 7.77 GB |
| Q4_K_M | bartowski/ | 1.50 GB1,615,826,144 bytes | +6% | 2.52 GB | 3.60 GB | 7.93 GB |
| Q5_K_M | bartowski/ | 1.79 GB1,920,175,328 bytes | +8% | 2.83 GB | 3.91 GB | 8.24 GB |
| Q6_K | bartowski/ | 1.96 GB2,107,305,184 bytes | +2% | 3.02 GB | 4.10 GB | 8.43 GB |
| Q8_0 | bartowski/ | 2.50 GB2,679,712,992 bytes | ±0% | 3.61 GB | 4.69 GB | 9.02 GB |
| BF16 | bartowski/ | 4.69 GB5,039,008,704 bytes | ±0% | 6.02 GB | 7.11 GB | 11.4 GB |
GB here is GiB (1024³ bytes), as everywhere on this site; Hugging Face shows the Q4_K_M file as 1.6 GB, in 10⁹ bytes.
Which MiniCPM5 2B GGUF fits a 16, 24, 32, 48 or 80 GB GPU or a Mac
From the file sizes above: the largest file that fits each machine with an 8K context and 0.5 GB left free, the longest context it then has room for, and the longest context for Q4_K_M (1.50 GB). One request, FP16 KV cache.
| Hardware | Largest GGUF, 8K | Its longest context | Q4_K_M, longest context |
|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 5060 Ti 16GB | BF16, 4.69 GB | 128K (full) | 128K (full) |
| RTX 4090 (24 GB) | BF16, 4.69 GB | 128K (full) | 128K (full) |
| RTX 5090 (32 GB) | BF16, 4.69 GB | 128K (full) | 128K (full) |
| L40S (48 GB) | BF16, 4.69 GB | 128K (full) | 128K (full) |
| H100 SXM (80 GB) | BF16, 4.69 GB | 128K (full) | 128K (full) |
| M4 Pro Mac (64 GB, 48 GB usable) | BF16, 4.69 GB | 128K (full) | 128K (full) |
| M4 Max Mac (128 GB, 96 GB usable) | BF16, 4.69 GB | 128K (full) | 128K (full) |
Run MiniCPM5 2B with llama.cpp
llama-server -hf bartowski/MiniCPM5-2B-GGUF:Q4_K_M -c 131072 MiniCPM5-2B-Q4_K_M.gguf, 1.6 GB, from bartowski/
MiniCPM5 2B at 8K, 32K and 128K (full) tokens of context
All 42 layers use full attention. Each extra token of context adds 42 KB of FP16 cache per request. The last column is the smallest setup here, one card or a group, that holds it at Q4_K_M. How the KV cache works.
| Context | KV cache, FP16 | Total at Q4_K_M | Total at Q8_0 | Smallest setup, Q4_K_M |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8K tokens | 336 MB | 2.42 GB | 3.60 GB | RTX 4060 8GB |
| 32K tokens | 1.31 GB | 3.50 GB | 4.68 GB | RTX 4060 8GB |
| 128K tokens | 5.25 GB | 7.83 GB | 9.01 GB | RTX 4060 8GB |
How fast MiniCPM5 2B writes
Tokens per second for one request with 8,192 tokens of context, estimated from memory bandwidth. A dash means it does not fit on one card. Try other settings in the speed calculator.
| Hardware | Bandwidth | Q4_K_M | FP8 |
|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 3060 12GB | 360 GB/s | 91–134 | 63–90 |
| RTX 4090 | 1,008 GB/s | 205–336 | 150–233 |
| RTX 5090 | 1,792 GB/s | 294–528 | 227–380 |
| M4 Max Mac (128 GB) | 546 GB/s | 129–197 | 90–133 |
| M3 Ultra Mac Studio (512 GB) | 819 GB/s | 177–281 | 127–193 |
| H100 SXM | 3,350 GB/s | 397–802 | 327–609 |
| H200 | 4,800 GB/s | 452–980 | 387–771 |
Longest context on one GPU
How many tokens of context MiniCPM5 2B fits on a single card with one request, an FP16 KV cache and 0.5 GB left free. "Full" means the model's whole context window fits.
| GPU | Memory | Q4_K_M | Q8_0 | FP8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 3060 | 12 GB | 128K (full) | 128K (full) | 128K (full) |
| RTX 4060 Ti 16GB | 16 GB | 128K (full) | 128K (full) | 128K (full) |
| RTX 3090 / 4090 | 24 GB | 128K (full) | 128K (full) | 128K (full) |
| RTX 5090 | 32 GB | 128K (full) | 128K (full) | 128K (full) |
| A100 40GB | 40 GB | 128K (full) | 128K (full) | 128K (full) |
| Mac, 64 GB unified memory | 48 GB | 128K (full) | 128K (full) | 128K (full) |
| L40S / RTX 6000 Ada | 48 GB | 128K (full) | 128K (full) | 128K (full) |
| A100 / H100 80GB | 80 GB | 128K (full) | 128K (full) | 128K (full) |
| Mac, 128 GB unified memory | 96 GB | 128K (full) | 128K (full) | 128K (full) |
| H200 | 141 GB | 128K (full) | 128K (full) | 128K (full) |
| B200 | 180 GB | 128K (full) | 128K (full) | 128K (full) |
Model details
- Parameters
- 2.5B (2,516,756,480)
- Layers
- All 42 layers use full attention
- Attention cache
- 2 KV heads × 128
- Context length
- 131,072 tokens
- Published weights
- 4.69 GB (BF16)
- On Hugging Face
- openbmb/MiniCPM5-2B
Why this estimate looks this way
At Q4_K_M and an 8K-token context, MiniCPM5 2B uses 1.42 GB for weights, 336 MB for its FP16 KV cache and 691 MB for estimated runtime overhead, totaling 2.42 GB. The overhead is a 0.5 GB base plus 10% of weights and cache.
The architecture and published checkpoint size come from the model's config.json and weight files. These are estimates rather than measured peak memory; inference engines can reserve extra buffers or preallocate the full configured cache.
MiniCPM5 2B next to similar-sized models
The three models here closest to it in parameter count, at Q4_K_M with 8,192 tokens of context.
| Model | Parameters | Total | KV per token | Smallest setup |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MiniCPM5 2B | 2.5B | 2.42 GB | 42 KB | RTX 4060 8GB |
| Granite 4.2 3B | 3.7B | 3.46 GB | 80 KB | RTX 4060 8GB |
| Nemotron 3 Nano 4B | 4.0B | 3.10 GB | 16 KB | RTX 4060 8GB |
| Spark-X2.5 4B | 4.1B | 3.47 GB | 36 KB | RTX 4060 8GB |
MiniCPM5 2B VRAM questions
How much VRAM do I need to run MiniCPM5 2B locally?
About 2.42 GB at Q4_K_M with an 8K context and one request, by the bits-per-weight estimate, and 6.02 GB at BF16. The Q4_K_M GGUF MiniCPM5-2B-Q4_K_M.gguf in bartowski/
Can I run MiniCPM5 2B on a 24 GB GPU?
Yes. On the RTX 4090 (24 GB), the largest listed GGUF that fits with an 8K context and 0.5 GB free is BF16 (4.69 GB), with its full 128K-token context.
Which quantization of MiniCPM5 2B fits in 16 GB of VRAM?
On the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB, the largest listed GGUF that fits with an 8K context and 0.5 GB free is BF16 (4.69 GB), with its full 128K-token context.
Can I run MiniCPM5 2B on a Mac?
On the M4 Pro Mac (64 GB, 48 GB usable), the largest listed GGUF that fits with an 8K context and 0.5 GB free is BF16 (4.69 GB), with its full 128K-token context. On the M4 Max Mac (128 GB, 96 GB usable), the largest listed GGUF that fits with an 8K context and 0.5 GB free is BF16 (4.69 GB), with its full 128K-token context. By default macOS lets the GPU use about 75% of unified memory.
How much more VRAM does MiniCPM5 2B need for 32K or 128K tokens of context?
Its FP16 KV cache is 336 MB at 8K, 1.31 GB at 32K, 5.25 GB at 128K for one request, so 128K adds 4.92 GB over 8K, plus 10% overhead. A q8_0 cache
Why does MiniCPM5 2B use more VRAM than its GGUF file size?
The file holds only the weights. At Q4_K_M with an 8K context: 1.50 GB of weights (the file's 1,615,826,144 bytes) + 336 MB of FP16 KV cache + 700 MB of compute buffers and runtime (0.5 GB + 10%) = 2.52 GB.
Badge for your model card
Paste it into a Hugging Face or GitHub README; it shows the Q4_K_M total above and links to this page. Q8_0 and FP16 badges.
Numbers read from the model files on Hugging Face on . Compare it with other models in the reproducible model and GPU report.