Can the RTX 3080 10 GB run Qwen-Image 2.1?
Download Q8_0 (7.6 GB). With the model's working memory it needs about 9.9 GB, leaving 0.1 GB spare on 10 GB. Quality: practically identical to the original.
01What to download
| Part | File | Folder | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | qwen_image_2.1_Q8_0.gguf Q8_0 · Abiray/Qwen-Image-2.1-GGUF | models/unet | 7.6 GB | Download → |
| Text encoder | qwen3vl_8b_int8_convrot.safetensors Qwen3-VL 8B INT8 · Comfy-Org/Qwen-Image-2.1 | models/text_encoders | 9.4 GB | Download → |
| VAE | qwen_image_2.1_vae_bf16.safetensors Qwen-Image 2.1 VAE · Comfy-Org/Qwen-Image-2.1 | models/vae | 0.7 GB | Download → |
| Total download · keep about the same free on disk | 17.6 GB | |||
Alternatives: Qwen3-VL 8B BF16 (17.5 GB). The 16-bit text encoder is a little more faithful; the smaller one is chosen here because it loads faster and needs less RAM. 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: 32 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 17.6 GB, plus roughly 6 GB for Windows, ComfyUI and a browser: 23.6 GB in total. With less RAM it still runs, but Windows starts swapping to disk and loading gets very slow. calculated
02Every Qwen-Image 2.1 file on 10 GB
| File | Size | Needed | On this card | Quality | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16-bit SAFETENSORS · Comfy-Org | 14.2 GB | 16.5 GB | 6.5 GB too big | the original weights | Hugging Face → |
| Q8_0 ← GGUF · Abiray | 7.6 GB | 9.9 GB | fits · 0.1 GB spare | practically identical to the original | Hugging Face → |
| INT8 SAFETENSORS · Comfy-Org | 7.3 GB | 9.6 GB | fits · 0.4 GB spare | practically identical to the original | Hugging Face → |
| Q6_K GGUF · Abiray | 5.9 GB | 8.2 GB | fits · 1.8 GB spare | very close to the original | Hugging Face → |
| Q5_K_M GGUF · Abiray | 5.0 GB | 7.3 GB | fits · 2.7 GB spare | close; small differences in fine detail | Hugging Face → |
| Q4_K_M GGUF · Abiray | 4.2 GB | 6.5 GB | fits · 3.5 GB spare | good; some loss in fine detail and text | Hugging Face → |
| Q3_K_M GGUF · Abiray | 3.2 GB | 5.5 GB | fits · 4.5 GB spare | noticeable loss of detail | Hugging Face → |
Sizes from the Hugging Face file listing, read 2026-09-25. “Needed” = file + 1.5 GB working memory for this model + 0.8 GB kept free for the system.
03The text encoder
Qwen3-VL 8B: 17.5 GB as 16-bit, 9.4 GB as INT8. ComfyUI encodes the prompt first and can push the encoder out of VRAM before sampling, so it does not have to fit together with the model. On 10 GB the encoder itself is too big for VRAM, so let it run from system RAM: slower prompt encoding, same images.
04About this GPU
The RTX 3080 10 GB (Ampere) has no FP8 compute. FP8 files still load and save memory, but ComfyUI converts them back before the maths, so there is no speed gain — Q8_0 GGUF is the closer-to-original 8-bit choice. ComfyUI can compute INT8 files natively on NVIDIA, which is worth a try where a model offers one.
RTX 3080 10 GB: 10 GB GDDR6X · 320-bit · 760 GB/s · Ampere. Everything that runs on the RTX 3080 10 GB →
05What more VRAM would change
Nothing to gain for this model: the RTX 3080 10 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.
What changes from the RTX 3080 10 GB to the RTX 3090 24 GB → · What changes from the RTX 3080 10 GB to the RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB →
06Measured and reported results
Nobody has sent measured numbers for this pair yet. If you run Qwen-Image 2.1 on a RTX 3080 10 GB, send your time per image and peak VRAM and it will appear here, credited.
07Questions
How much VRAM does Qwen-Image 2.1 need?
Around 5.5 GB with the smallest file (Q3_K_M) and 9.6 GB with an 8-bit file (INT8), counting working memory and a small system reserve. The full 16-bit file needs about 16.5 GB.
Which Qwen-Image 2.1 file should I download for the RTX 3080 10 GB?
Q8_0 (7.6 GB) from Abiray/Qwen-Image-2.1-GGUF. Load it with Unet Loader (GGUF) from the ComfyUI-GGUF node pack.
Is FP8 faster than GGUF on the RTX 3080 10 GB?
No. This GPU has no FP8 compute, so ComfyUI converts FP8 weights back before the maths. FP8 only saves memory here; Q8_0 GGUF is the closer-to-original 8-bit pick.
How much do I need to download for Qwen-Image 2.1 on the RTX 3080 10 GB?
About 17.6 GB for the model file, text encoder and VAE listed on this page, and the same again free on disk. With a 10 GB card, 32 GB of system RAM or more is recommended.