Can the RTX 5090 32 GB run Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large?
Download 16-bit (16.5 GB). With the model's working memory it needs about 18.8 GB, leaving 13.2 GB spare on 32 GB. Quality: the original weights.
01What to download
| Part | File | Folder | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | sd3.5_large.safetensors 16-bit · stabilityai/stable-diffusion-3.5-large | models/diffusion_models | 16.5 GB | Download → |
| Text encoder | t5xxl_fp8_e4m3fn.safetensors T5-XXL FP8 · Comfy-Org/stable-diffusion-3.5-fp8 | models/text_encoders | 4.9 GB | Download → |
| Text encoder | clip_l.safetensors CLIP-L · Comfy-Org/stable-diffusion-3.5-fp8 | models/text_encoders | 0.2 GB | Download → |
| Text encoder | clip_g.safetensors CLIP-G · Comfy-Org/stable-diffusion-3.5-fp8 | models/text_encoders | 1.4 GB | Download → |
| Total download · keep about the same free on disk | 23.0 GB | |||
Alternatives: T5-XXL FP16 (9.8 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 23.0 GB, plus roughly 6 GB for Windows, ComfyUI and a browser: 29.0 GB in total. With less RAM it still runs, but Windows starts swapping to disk and loading gets very slow. calculated
02Every SD 3.5 Large file on 32 GB
| File | Size | Needed | On this card | Quality | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16-bit ← SAFETENSORS · stabilityai | 16.5 GB | 18.8 GB | fits · 13.2 GB spare | the original weights | Hugging Face → |
| Q8_0 GGUF · city96 | 8.8 GB | 11.1 GB | fits · 20.9 GB spare | practically identical to the original | Hugging Face → |
| Q5_1 GGUF · city96 | 6.3 GB | 8.6 GB | fits · 23.4 GB spare | close; small differences in fine detail | Hugging Face → |
| Q4_1 GGUF · city96 | 5.3 GB | 7.6 GB | fits · 24.4 GB spare | good; some loss in fine detail and text | 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
CLIP-L + CLIP-G + T5-XXL: 9.8 GB as 16-bit, 4.9 GB as FP8 (T5-XXL sizes shown; CLIP-L and CLIP-G add about 1.6 GB). 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 32 GB the FP8 encoder fits on its own, so prompt encoding stays fast.
04About this GPU
The RTX 5090 32 GB is a Blackwell GPU with FP8 and FP4 hardware: ComfyUI computes Comfy-Org's FP8 files natively here, and NVFP4 files (where a model offers them) are faster still.
RTX 5090 32 GB: 32 GB GDDR7 · 512-bit · 1792 GB/s · Blackwell. Everything that runs on the RTX 5090 32 GB →
05What more VRAM would change
Nothing to gain for this model: the RTX 5090 32 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 SD 3.5 Large on a RTX 5090 32 GB, send your time per image and peak VRAM and it will appear here, credited.
07Questions
How much VRAM does SD 3.5 Large need?
Around 7.6 GB with the smallest file (Q4_1) and 11.1 GB with an 8-bit file (Q8_0), counting working memory and a small system reserve. The full 16-bit file needs about 18.8 GB.
Which SD 3.5 Large file should I download for the RTX 5090 32 GB?
16-bit (16.5 GB) from stabilityai/stable-diffusion-3.5-large.
Is FP8 faster than GGUF on the RTX 5090 32 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 SD 3.5 Large on the RTX 5090 32 GB?
About 23.0 GB for the model file, text encoder and VAE listed on this page, and the same again free on disk. With a 32 GB card, 32 GB of system RAM or more is recommended.