Can the RTX 4050 Laptop 6 GB run Illustrious XL / Pony (SDXL anime)?
Download FP8 (3.5 GB). With the model's working memory it needs about 5.5 GB, leaving 0.5 GB spare on 6 GB. Quality: practically identical to the original.
01What to download
| Part | File | Folder | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | illustrious_fp8_e4m3fn.safetensors FP8 · calcuis/illustrious | models/diffusion_models | 3.5 GB | Download → |
| Total download · keep about the same free on disk | 3.5 GB | |||
The calcuis FP8 and GGUF files contain the UNet only: take the text encoders and VAE from any SDXL checkpoint, or use the 16-bit checkpoint if it fits. Sizes read from Hugging Face (2026-09-25). “Download” links start the file directly; the file name links are the same files the official ComfyUI workflows use.
System RAM: 16 GB or more. ComfyUI keeps the model file, the text encoder and the VAE in system RAM and moves them to the GPU as needed. With this set of files that is about 3.5 GB, plus roughly 6 GB for Windows, ComfyUI and a browser: 9.5 GB in total. With less RAM it still runs, but Windows starts swapping to disk and loading gets very slow. calculated
02Every Illustrious / Pony file on 6 GB
| File | Size | Needed | On this card | Quality | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16-bit SAFETENSORS · OnomaAIResearch | 6.9 GB | 7.1 GB | spills 1.1 GB | the original weights | Hugging Face → |
| FP8 ← SAFETENSORS · calcuis | 3.5 GB | 5.5 GB | fits · 0.5 GB spare | practically identical to the original | Hugging Face → |
| Q8_0 GGUF · calcuis | 2.7 GB | 4.7 GB | fits · 1.3 GB spare | practically identical to the original | Hugging Face → |
| Q6_K GGUF · calcuis | 2.1 GB | 4.1 GB | fits · 1.9 GB spare | very close to the original | Hugging Face → |
| Q5_K_M GGUF · calcuis | 1.8 GB | 3.8 GB | fits · 2.2 GB spare | close; small differences in fine detail | Hugging Face → |
| Q4_K_M GGUF · calcuis | 1.5 GB | 3.5 GB | fits · 2.5 GB spare | good; some loss in fine detail and text | Hugging Face → |
| Q3_K_M GGUF · calcuis | 1.2 GB | 3.2 GB | fits · 2.8 GB spare | noticeable loss of detail | Hugging Face → |
| Q2_K GGUF · calcuis | 0.9 GB | 2.9 GB | fits · 3.1 GB spare | heavy loss; a last resort | Hugging Face → |
Sizes from the Hugging Face file listing, read 2026-09-25. “Needed” = file + 1.2 GB working memory for this model + 0.8 GB kept free for the system. The 6.94 GB checkpoint holds the UNet plus text encoders and VAE; only the UNet (about 5.1 GB) sits in VRAM while sampling. The GGUF and FP8 files from calcuis contain the UNet only.
03The text encoder
The text encoder is inside the checkpoint, so there is nothing extra to download.
04About this GPU
The RTX 4050 Laptop 6 GB is an Ada Lovelace GPU with hardware FP8, so ComfyUI can compute Comfy-Org's FP8 files natively: small and fast. (Plain FP8 files use FP8 maths with the --fast fp8_matrix_mult option.) As a laptop GPU it runs at a lower power limit than desktop cards (35–115 W depending on the laptop). The memory verdicts are the same; speed depends heavily on how much power the laptop maker allows.
RTX 4050 Laptop 6 GB: 6 GB GDDR6 · 96-bit · Ada Lovelace · 35–115 W. Everything that runs on the RTX 4050 Laptop 6 GB →
05What more VRAM would change
Nothing to gain for this model: the RTX 4050 Laptop 6 GB already runs a top-quality file entirely in VRAM. More memory would only help with bigger images, longer clips or several models at once.
06Measured and reported results
Nobody has sent measured numbers for this pair yet. If you run Illustrious / Pony on a RTX 4050 Laptop 6 GB, send your time per image and peak VRAM and it will appear here, credited.
07Questions
How much VRAM does Illustrious / Pony need?
Around 2.9 GB with the smallest file (Q2_K) and 5.5 GB with an 8-bit file (FP8), counting working memory and a small system reserve. The full 16-bit file needs about 7.1 GB.
Which Illustrious / Pony file should I download for the RTX 4050 Laptop 6 GB?
FP8 (3.5 GB) from calcuis/illustrious.
Is FP8 faster than GGUF on the RTX 4050 Laptop 6 GB?
It can be. This GPU has FP8 hardware, and ComfyUI computes FP8 natively for files made for it (Comfy-Org's fp8_scaled files), or for any FP8 file with the --fast fp8_matrix_mult option. GGUF files are unpacked on the fly, which costs some speed.
How much do I need to download for Illustrious / Pony on the RTX 4050 Laptop 6 GB?
About 3.5 GB for the model file, text encoder and VAE listed on this page, and the same again free on disk. With a 6 GB card, 16 GB of system RAM or more is recommended.