Largest RAG-capable models that fit 24 GB

On a 24 GB GPU, 6 catalog models run fully on the GPU at an 8,192-token context. The most capable is Qwen3-Reranker-8B at BF16 (needs ~18.4 GiB). Pick a smaller model or a lower quant for more headroom.

Figures assume a 24 GB GPU paired with 32 GB of system RAM (a typical desktop), judged at an 8,192-token context. Speed depends on the specific card — this page ranks by fit, not speed.

The biggest model you can run

Qwen3-Reranker-8B at BF16 · 8.2B params · needs ~18.4 GiB

One command to run it (llama.cpp):

llama-server -m qwen-qwen3-reranker-8b-BF16.gguf -c 8192 -ngl 999

The filename is a placeholder — this model is license-gated or not yet published. Accept the license on the model page to get the real download.

Models that run, largest first

Model Sweet-spot quant Fits in
Qwen3-Reranker-8B Qwen BF16 Runs fully on GPU ~18.4 GiB
Qwen3-Embedding-8B Qwen Q4_K_M Runs fully on GPU ~6.4 GiB
Qwen3-Reranker-4B Qwen BF16 Runs fully on GPU ~9.9 GiB
Qwen3-Embedding-4B Qwen Q4_K_M Runs fully on GPU ~4.2 GiB
Qwen3-Reranker-0.6B Qwen BF16 Runs fully on GPU ~2.6 GiB
Qwen3-Embedding-0.6B Qwen Q8_0 Runs fully on GPU ~2 GiB

Derived live from the fit engine + catalog at an 8,192-token context. "Fits in" is the modelled VRAM the sweet-spot quant needs (weights + KV cache + overhead). Speed depends on your specific card — check a GPU page or the calculator.

Check it against your exact setup

Open the fit calculator

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