Mistral AI · mistral3
Can I run ministral-3?
The Ministral 3 family is designed for edge deployment, capable of running on a wide range of hardware.
8.9B parameters256K contextimagetextApache License9 builds
ministral-3 system requirements
Memory needed at 4K context, counting model weights, KV cache, compute buffers and runtime overhead. Download sizes come from the official Ollama registry.
| Build | Quantization | Download | Memory needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| ministral-3:3b | Q4_K_M | 2.8 GB | ~4.3 GB(est.) |
| ministral-3:3b-instruct-2512-q8_0 | Q8_0 | 4.2 GB | ~6.3 GB(est.) |
| ministral-3:8b | Q4_K_M | 5.6 GB | ~8.4 GB(est.) |
| ministral-3:3b-instruct-2512-fp16 | F16 | 7.2 GB | ~10.7 GB(est.) |
| ministral-3:14b | Q4_K_M | 8.5 GB | ~12.5 GB(est.) |
| ministral-3:8b-instruct-2512-q8_0 | Q8_0 | 9.2 GB | ~13.5 GB(est.) |
| ministral-3:14b-instruct-2512-q8_0 | Q8_0 | 14.2 GB | ~20.7 GB(est.) |
| ministral-3:8b-instruct-2512-fp16 | F16 | 16.6 GB | ~24.2 GB(est.) |
Figures marked (est.) approximate the KV cache because this model's architecture details are not published. They are indicative rather than exact.
How to run ministral-3 locally
- 1.Install Ollama for Windows, macOS or Linux.
- 2.Run this in a terminal:
ollama run ministral-3:3b - 3.The weights download on first run, then an interactive prompt opens.
Frequently asked questions about ministral-3
- How much VRAM do I need to run ministral-3?
- At 4K context, the smallest published build of ministral-3 (Q4_K_M) needs roughly 4.3 GB of GPU memory once weights, KV cache, compute buffers and runtime overhead are counted. Bigger quantizations and longer context windows need more. It can also run partly or entirely on the CPU using system RAM, more slowly.
- Can I run ministral-3 without a dedicated GPU?
- Yes, but slowly. Without a GPU the model runs on the CPU using system RAM, which usually means a few tokens per second rather than dozens. You would need at least 4.3 GB of free RAM for the smallest build.
- How big is the ministral-3 download?
- The smallest published build is 2.8 GB. There are 9 builds in total, the largest being 26.0 GB. Leave some extra free disk space beyond the download itself.
- How do I run ministral-3 locally?
- Install Ollama, then run "ollama run ministral-3:3b" in a terminal. The weights download on first use and an interactive session opens.
Will ministral-3 run on your PC?
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Model data from the official Ollama registry · verified 13/09/2026