Can the GeForce RTX 3060 12GB (used) run Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct (2506)?
Only with CPU offload at Q4_K_M.
Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct (2506) is 24B parameters. At Q4_K_M the weights are about 13.4 GiB; with the 1.5 GiB runtime reserve that is 14.9 GiB against the card's 12GB, about 2.9 GiB more than the card has.
All three quants
12GB card| Quant | Weights | With reserve | Verdict | Headroom |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q4_K_Mthe everyday quant | 13.4 GiB | 14.9 GiB | Only with CPU offload | short 2.9 GiB |
| Q8_0near-lossless | 23.7 GiB | 25.2 GiB | Does not fit | short 13.2 GiB |
| FP16full weights | 44.7 GiB | 46.2 GiB | Does not fit | short 34.2 GiB |
Verdict rules: fits comfortably when weights plus reserve sit within 85% of VRAM; tight when they fit with little left for context; CPU offload when they exceed VRAM by up to 2x (runs, slowly, with layers in system RAM); no beyond that. The KV cache per token depends on the model's architecture and is not modelled here.
The numbers for this pairing
At Q4_K_M the weights take about 13.4 GiB, so with the 1.5 GiB runtime reserve it needs 14.9 GB: 2.9 GB more than the card's 12 GB.
No version of it fits entirely in this card's memory, so it would lean on system RAM and run far slower.
The cheapest card on our list that runs it comfortably at Q4 is the Radeon RX 7900 XTX at about $850, against about $455 for this card.
At about $455, this card costs roughly $38 per GB of VRAM.
Running it at its full 170 W board power for 4 hours a day would use about 20 kWh a month, about $3.75 at the US average residential rate of 18.4 cents per kWh (2026-05); real use sits below that ceiling.
Prices are the lowest current listings our tracker saw on Oct 7, 2026, since averages include premium variants; launch prices are marked where we have no listing.
Not this card. These fit it comfortably at Q4.
- GeForce RTX 5090 32GB · headroom 17.1 GiB
- GeForce RTX 3090 (used) 24GB · headroom 9.1 GiB
- GeForce RTX 4090 (used) 24GB · headroom 9.1 GiB
- Radeon RX 7900 XTX 24GB · headroom 9.1 GiB
What the GeForce RTX 3060 12GB (used) does run well → · Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct (2506) on every card →
About the model
Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct (2506) by Mistral AI: 131,072-token native context, text + vision, released 2025 under the Apache-2.0. Model card → · Hosted pricing on PicksByModel →