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Model · Z.ai

GLM-4.5-Air: VRAM and hardware requirements

At Q4_K_M with an 8K context, GLM-4.5-Air needs about 65.8 GB: a GPU with 80 GB or more runs it entirely in VRAM.

  • Parameters106B
  • Active12B
  • Max context128K
  • LicenseMIT

Specifications

Organization
Z.ai
Architecture
glm4_moe
Released
July 2025
Layers
46
Hidden size
4096
Attention heads
96
KV heads
8
Head dimension
128
Vocabulary
151,552
KV cache per 1K tokens (f16)
0.18 GB

Official specData updated todaySource: Hugging Face config.json + model card

Quantizations and memory

GLM-4.5-Air: memory by quantization at 8K context
QuantizationFile sizeMemory neededMinimum GPU memoryQuality
BF16206 GB~210 GB–Reference (unquantized)
Q8_0109 GB~112 GB–Near-lossless
Q6_K92.2 GB~87.5 GB–Near-lossless
Q5_K_M77.8 GB~76.2 GB96 GBVery good
Q4_K_MMost used68 GB~65.8 GB80 GBGood — the usual choice
IQ4_XS56.3 GB~60.1 GB80 GBGood — the usual choice
Q3_K_M53.3 GB~54.2 GB80 GBNoticeable loss
Q2_K42.2 GB~43.4 GB80 GBSignificant loss

File sizes: not available until imported from the model repository. Memory = weights (estimated from bits per weight) + KV cache + runtime overhead + safety margin. (BF16 ≈ 16 bpw, Q8_0 ≈ 8.5 bpw, Q6_K ≈ 6.57 bpw, Q5_K_M ≈ 5.7 bpw, Q4_K_M ≈ 4.9 bpw, IQ4_XS ≈ 4.46 bpw, Q3_K_M ≈ 4 bpw, Q2_K ≈ 3.17 bpw)

Q4, Q5 or Q8: how to choose a quantization

GPUs that run GLM-4.5-Air

GLM-4.5-Air Q4_K_M · 8K context, one GPU
RTX 509032 GB · 64 GB RAM~73.7 GB · 3.5–7 tok/s estimatePossible but slow
RTX 409024 GB · 64 GB RAM~73.7 GB · 3–6 tok/s estimatePossible but slow
RTX 309024 GB · 64 GB RAM~73.7 GB · 3–6 tok/s estimatePossible but slow
RX 7900 XTX24 GB · 64 GB RAM~73.8 GB · 3–6 tok/s estimatePossible but slow
RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB16 GB · 64 GB RAM~73.7 GB · No dataIncompatible
RTX 5070 Ti16 GB · 64 GB RAM~73.7 GB · No dataIncompatible
RTX 508016 GB · 64 GB RAM~73.7 GB · No dataIncompatible
RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB16 GB · 64 GB RAM~73.7 GB · No dataIncompatible
RTX 4070 Ti SUPER16 GB · 64 GB RAM~73.7 GB · No dataIncompatible
RX 9070 XT16 GB · 64 GB RAM~73.8 GB · No dataIncompatible
RTX 3060 12 GB12 GB · 64 GB RAM~73.7 GB · No dataIncompatible
RTX 407012 GB · 64 GB RAM~73.7 GB · No dataIncompatible
RTX 507012 GB · 64 GB RAM~73.7 GB · No dataIncompatible
RTX 40608 GB · 64 GB RAM~73.7 GB · No dataIncompatible

Macs that run GLM-4.5-Air

GLM-4.5-Air Q4_K_M · 8K context
M3 Ultra (80-core GPU) · 512 GBMac Studio~73.5 GB · 34–53 tok/s estimateExcellent
M4 Max (40-core GPU) · 128 GBMacBook Pro 14, MacBook Pro 16~73.5 GB · 26–39 tok/s estimateExcellent
M3 Max (40-core GPU) · 128 GBMacBook Pro 14, MacBook Pro 16~73.5 GB · 20–30 tok/s estimateExcellent
M4 Pro (20-core GPU) · 64 GBMac mini, MacBook Pro 14~73.5 GB · No dataIncompatible
M4 Max (32-core GPU) · 36 GBMacBook Pro 14, MacBook Pro 16~73.5 GB · No dataIncompatible
M4 · 32 GBMacBook Air, MacBook Pro 14~73.5 GB · No dataIncompatible
M5 · 32 GBMacBook Pro 14~73.5 GB · No dataIncompatible
M3 · 24 GBMacBook Air, MacBook Pro 14~73.5 GB · No dataIncompatible

EstimateData updated 40 days agoSource: Run LLM Locally engine

Limits in plain words

GLM-4.5-Air is a mixture-of-experts model: all 106B parameters must be in memory, but only 12B are read per token, so it generates much faster than a dense model of the same size.

The KV cache grows with context: at 32K it adds about 5.8 GB on top of the weights.

With under 8 GB of VRAM, use a smaller quantization or a smaller model of the same family.

Where to buy

Prices and links follow the market you choose.

Radeon PRO W7900

AMD

ExcellentRuns GLM-4.5-Air Q4_K_M entirely in memory

Price not available

Availability unknown

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NVIDIA DGX Spark (GB10)

Unified memory PC

ExcellentRuns GLM-4.5-Air Q4_K_M entirely in memory

Price not available

Availability unknown

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No current offer imported for this market: the link opens a marketplace search.

Frequently asked questions

How much VRAM does GLM-4.5-Air need?
About 65.8 GB at Q4_K_M with an 8K context, including the KV cache and runtime overhead. At Q8_0 it needs about 112 GB. A longer context adds more: about 5.8 GB of KV cache at 32K.
Can GLM-4.5-Air run on a Mac?
Yes on a Mac whose GPU can use at least 73.5 GB, e.g. M4 Max (40-core GPU) 128 GB. macOS lets the GPU use about two thirds to three quarters of unified memory by default.
How fast is GLM-4.5-Air?
On a RTX 4090, we estimate 3–6 tok/s at Q4_K_M. This is an estimate from memory bandwidth (confidence low) until benchmarks are imported.