How much RAM does MiniCPM5-1B need?

MiniCPM5-1B needs about 1.3 GB of memory at Q4_K_M quantization with 4K context. The download itself is 652 MB; the extra covers the context cache and runtime overhead.

Can I run MiniCPM5-1B on a laptop?

Yes — it runs comfortably on a machine with 8GB RAM, for example Base MacBook Air (M1/M2).

MiniCPM5-1B: hardware requirements

MiniCPM5-1B needs about 1.3 GB of memory at Q4 quantization — a 652 MB download plus room for context and overhead. That fits a machine with 8GB RAM.

Parameters

1.1B

Tier

Runs on a laptop

Licence

See model card

Released

2026-05-21

Will it run on your machine?

8GB RAMRuns well 16GB RAMRuns well 24GB RAMRuns well 32GB RAMRuns well 64GB RAMRuns well 128GB RAMRuns well 8GB VRAMRuns well 12GB VRAMRuns well 16GB VRAMRuns well 24GB VRAMRuns well 32GB VRAMRuns well

Download sizes by quantization

Lower quantization means a smaller file and less memory, at some cost to quality. Q4_K_M is the usual starting point. What is this?

Quant	Download	RAM @ 4K	RAM @ 32K	Source
Q4_K_Mrecommended	652 MB	1.3 GB	2.0 GB	estimated
Q5_K_M	766 MB	1.4 GB	2.1 GB	estimated
Q6_K	886 MB	1.5 GB	2.2 GB	estimated
Q8_0	1.2 GB	1.8 GB	2.5 GB	measured
BF16	2.2 GB	2.8 GB	3.5 GB	estimated

“Measured” sizes are read from published GGUF files (GnLOLot/MiniCPM5-1B-Claude-Opus-Fable5-V2-Thinking-GGUF). “Estimated” sizes are derived from the parameter count and are typically within a few percent. The RAM columns add the context cache and runtime overhead to the download size.

Other sizes of MiniCPM5

MiniCPM5-2B2.5B · 2.3 GB

Model card on HuggingFace →API specs & pricing →Verified 2026-09-14Tracked for 12 months after release