Can you run Mistral Nemo 12B on RTX 4070?

Mistral Nemo 12B Q4_K_M on the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070: verdict, VRAM math and estimated speed.

Yes, it runs
Quick answer

Yes, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 runs Mistral Nemo 12B. 9.5 GB weights at Q4_K_M vs 10.8 GB usable VRAM; ~37 tok/s est. (ModelFit, 2026).

$ollama run mistral-nemo:12b
VERDICT
Fits
EST. SPEED
~37 tok/s
WEIGHTS
9.5 GB Q4_K_M

VRAM math and speed are ModelFit engine estimates, not measurements. Commands are registry-verified Ollama tags.

Cite this page: ModelFit, Mistral Nemo 12B on RTX 4070, https://modelfit.io/can-i-run/mistral-nemo-12b-q4-on-rtx-4070/, updated September 2026, CC BY 4.0.

Last updated: September 24, 2026 · Editor: ModelFit Team

VRAM
12 GB (10.8 usable)
Model weights
9.5 GB Q4_K_M
Est. speed
~37 tok/s
First token
~0.4s
Fit grade
B · 12

What limits this combo

The four constraints the fit engine checks for Mistral Nemo 12B on the RTX 4070, in order of what usually breaks first.

Weights fitOK9.5 GB of weights against 10.8 GB usable, leaving 1.3 GB of headroom for context and the runtime.
Context ceilingBlockedThe weights alone exceed the budget, so no usable context fits on top.
SpeedOK~37 tok/s (est.) on 504 GB/s of memory bandwidth, comfortable for interactive chat and agentic loops.
Use-case ceilingTightStrongest fit: Chat (A). Agentic coding caps at C, either the speed floor or the model's tuning is the limit; see the workload table for the per-case reason.

Where the RTX 4070 sits for Mistral Nemo 12B

On the RTX 4070, Mistral Nemo 12B runs with room to spare (~37 tok/s est.). The cheapest card that also runs it comfortably is the RTX 3060 (12 GB, ~30 tok/s est.).

CardVRAMUsableVerdictEst. speedMax context
RTX 40608 GB7.2 GBTight~4 tok/snone
RTX 306012 GB10.8 GBYes~30 tok/snone
RTX 4070 (this card)12 GB10.8 GBYes~37 tok/snone
RTX 4060 Ti16 GB14.4 GBYes~24 tok/s16k
RTX 5070 Ti16 GB14.4 GBYes~62 tok/s16k
RTX 4070 Ti SUPER16 GB14.4 GBYes~51 tok/s16k
RTX 508016 GB14.4 GBYes~67 tok/s16k
RTX 309024 GB21.6 GBYes~62 tok/s64k
RTX 409024 GB21.6 GBYes~74 tok/s64k
RTX 509032 GB28.8 GBYes~103 tok/s64k

Same engine as the verdict above: 90% of VRAM usable, KV-cache at fp16, bandwidth-derived tok/s. Verdicts of the other cards are computed for Mistral Nemo 12B Q4_K_M exactly.

Quant explorer

Switch between the quality-gated builds tracked for this exact combo. Q4_K_M stays the default recommendation; heavier Q6/Q8 builds only appear when their exact Ollama tags are registry-verified.

ModelFit engine estimate
Verdict
Runs
Est. speed
~37 tok/s
First token
~0.4s · Instant
Safe context
n/a
B · 12 Comfortable fit

Why no 2-bit builds: Q1/Q2-class quants can look attractive in a memory table, but their quality loss is large enough that ModelFit excludes them from rankings instead of inflating the catalog with junk options. Usable VRAM: 10.8 GB.

Workload verdicts

Mistral Nemo 12B on the RTX 4070, graded per use case from the model's registry-verified tuning and the engine's speed estimate for this exact combo.

ModelFit engine estimate
ChatA~37 tok/s est. vs ~20 needed for chat.
CodingA~37 tok/s est. vs ~15 needed for coding.
Agentic codingC~37 tok/s est. vs ~30 needed for agentic coding; not tuned for tool-calling loops.
ReasoningC~37 tok/s est. vs ~12 needed for reasoning; not a reasoning-tuned model.
RAGC~37 tok/s est. vs ~20 needed for rag; 32k context does not fit.

Grades combine tag-verified tuning (a model not built for the workload caps at C) with the tok/s floor each workload needs to feel usable. A combo that partially offloads caps at C; one that does not fit is D everywhere.

Memory math: weights + context vs budget

Weights take 9.5 GB. Context costs extra KV-cache on top; this is where long-context sessions break on cards that technically fit the weights.

Weights 9.5 GBKV cache · 16k context 3.0 GBRuntime reserve 1.2 GB

This configuration exceeds the comfortable VRAM budget by about 1.7 GB. Expect offload pressure or a shorter safe context.

ContextKV-cacheTotalFits
8k tokens1.5 GB11.0 GBOver
16k tokens3.0 GB12.5 GBOver
32k tokens6.0 GB15.5 GBOver
64k tokens12.0 GB21.5 GBOver
128k tokens24.0 GB33.5 GBOver

KV-cache figures assume an fp16 cache, the llama.cpp/Ollama default. Standard GQA models use a size-class estimate (8 KV heads x 128 head dim class); hybrid linear-attention models (Qwen3.5/3.6, Qwen3-Next) use the exact per-token cost from their published config, since only their sparse full-attention layers cache KV. A q8_0 KV cache roughly halves either figure. Estimates, not measurements.

See how fast it feels

A deterministic typing simulation for Mistral Nemo 12B: first token ~0.4s (instant prefill), then ~37 tokens/sec.

Start the simulation to preview the response pace.

ModelFit engine estimate, not a measured benchmark. Real speed varies with prompt length, thermals, runtime, and KV-cache settings.

Mistral Nemo 12B on RTX 4070: FAQ

Can the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 run Mistral Nemo 12B?

Yes. Mistral Nemo 12B (Q4_K_M) loads in about 9.5 GB and the RTX 4070 offers 10.8 GB of usable VRAM, leaving headroom for context. Expect at roughly 37 tokens/sec (est.).

How much VRAM does Mistral Nemo 12B need?

About 9.5 GB for the weights at Q4_K_M, plus KV-cache for context: roughly 3.0 GB extra at 16k tokens. The RTX 4070 budget is 10.8 GB (12 GB x 90%).

What is the best quantization of Mistral Nemo 12B for the RTX 4070?

Stick with the Q4_K_M build at 9.5 GB; every heavier quant exceeds the 10.8 GB usable VRAM.

What GPU do I need to run Mistral Nemo 12B comfortably?

The RTX 4070 already runs Mistral Nemo 12B comfortably. Larger cards only buy you longer context or a heavier quant.

How much context can Mistral Nemo 12B use on the RTX 4070?

None worth having: the 9.5 GB of weights alone exceed the 10.8 GB usable VRAM, so the model only runs with system-RAM offload and short prompts.

Is Mistral Nemo 12B on the RTX 4070 fast enough for coding agents?

Barely on paper: the engine estimates ~37 tok/s against the ~30 tok/s an agentic loop needs to feel responsive, but Mistral Nemo 12B is not tuned for tool-calling, which caps its agentic grade; a coding-tuned model is the better pick here.