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.
Parameter counts and memory belong to each build below. A family can contain several sizes and tasks; fitting in memory is not a quality ranking.
Calculate memory for a build and contextministral-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-3:3b3B parameters (tag)256K documented maximum contextBuild sourceCatalog checked 2026-10-13 | Q4_K_M | 2.8 GB | ~3.8 GB |
| ministral-3:3b-instruct-2512-q8_03B parameters (tag)256K documented maximum contextBuild sourceCatalog checked 2026-10-13 | Q8_0 | 4.2 GB | ~5.3 GB |
| ministral-3:8b8B parameters (tag)256K documented maximum contextBuild sourceCatalog checked 2026-10-13 | Q4_K_M | 5.6 GB | ~7.0 GB |
| ministral-3:3b-instruct-2512-fp163B parameters (tag)256K documented maximum contextBuild sourceCatalog checked 2026-10-13 | F16 | 7.2 GB | ~8.5 GB |
| ministral-3:14b14B parameters (tag)256K documented maximum contextBuild sourceCatalog checked 2026-10-13 | Q4_K_M | 8.5 GB | ~10.2 GB |
| ministral-3:8b-instruct-2512-q8_08B parameters (tag)256K documented maximum contextBuild sourceCatalog checked 2026-10-13 | Q8_0 | 9.2 GB | ~10.8 GB |
| ministral-3:14b-instruct-2512-q8_014B parameters (tag)256K documented maximum contextBuild sourceCatalog checked 2026-10-13 | Q8_0 | 14.2 GB | ~16.3 GB |
| ministral-3:8b-instruct-2512-fp168B parameters (tag)256K documented maximum contextBuild sourceCatalog checked 2026-10-13 | F16 | 16.6 GB | ~18.9 GB |
Showing the 8 smallest non-alias builds. Choose any build and change the context. A context above the build's documented maximum is a hypothetical calculation, not a supported setting.
How to run ministral-3 locally
- 1.Install Ollama for Windows, macOS or Linux.
- 2.Download this exact build in a terminal:
ollama pull ministral-3:3b - 3.Check the source for the build's task. For text generation, run
ollama run ministral-3:3b. Base/text builds may need a prompt template; an instruct build is usually the appropriate starting point for a conversation.
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 3.8 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?
- A supported CPU runtime can use system RAM. The smallest listed build needs an estimated 3.8 GB at 4K context, plus headroom for your operating system. Check the build's runtime requirements. We have not measured its speed on your CPU.
- 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 download a specific build with "ollama pull ministral-3:3b". For a build that supports text generation, use ollama run with the same tag. Check the model source for its task and prompt format.
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Model data from the official Ollama registry · verified 13/10/2026