HiDream-I1 (Dev) VRAM requirements
A 17B mixture-of-experts image model with four text encoders. The Full version has the same file sizes but uses more steps.
01The files, and how much VRAM each needs
| File | Size | Needed | Min. VRAM | Quality | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16-bit | 34.2 GB | 37.0 GB | 38 GB | the original weights | Comfy-Org/HiDream-I1_ComfyUI → |
| Q8_0 | 18.7 GB | 21.5 GB | 22 GB | practically identical to the original | city96/HiDream-I1-Dev-gguf → |
| FP8 | 17.1 GB | 19.9 GB | 20 GB | practically identical to the original | Comfy-Org/HiDream-I1_ComfyUI → |
| Q6_K | 14.7 GB | 17.5 GB | 18 GB | very close to the original | city96/HiDream-I1-Dev-gguf → |
| Q5_K_M | 13.0 GB | 15.8 GB | 16 GB | close; small differences in fine detail | city96/HiDream-I1-Dev-gguf → |
| Q4_K_M | 11.5 GB | 14.3 GB | 15 GB | good; some loss in fine detail and text | city96/HiDream-I1-Dev-gguf → |
| Q3_K_M | 8.8 GB | 11.6 GB | 12 GB | noticeable loss of detail | city96/HiDream-I1-Dev-gguf → |
| Q2_K | 6.6 GB | 9.4 GB | 10 GB | heavy loss; a last resort | city96/HiDream-I1-Dev-gguf → |
“Needed” = file + 2 GB working memory + 0.8 GB system reserve.
02By amount of VRAM
03Best GPU for HiDream-I1
The cheapest cards (by launch price) that run it well, and every card sorted by memory: best GPU for HiDream-I1 → Planning bigger images or longer clips? Open the calculator →
04By graphics card
| GPU | VRAM | Verdict | Best file | Needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desktop graphics cards | ||||
| RTX 2060 6 GB | 6 GB | Offload only | Q4_K_M | 14.3 GB |
| RTX 3050 6 GB | 6 GB | Offload only | Q4_K_M | 14.3 GB |
| RTX 2070 Super 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 2080 Super 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 3050 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 3060 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 3070 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 3070 Ti 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 4060 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 5050 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 5060 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RX 7600 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RX 9050 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RX 9060 XT 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| Arc B570 10 GB | 10 GB | Tight | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 3080 10 GB | 10 GB | Tight | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 2080 Ti 11 GB | 11 GB | Tight | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| Arc B580 12 GB | 12 GB | Tight | Q3_K_M | 11.6 GB |
| RTX 2060 12 GB | 12 GB | Tight | Q3_K_M | 11.6 GB |
| RTX 3060 12 GB | 12 GB | Tight | Q3_K_M | 11.6 GB |
| RTX 3080 12 GB | 12 GB | Tight | Q3_K_M | 11.6 GB |
| RTX 3080 Ti 12 GB | 12 GB | Tight | Q3_K_M | 11.6 GB |
| RTX 4070 12 GB | 12 GB | Tight | Q3_K_M | 11.6 GB |
| RTX 4070 Super 12 GB | 12 GB | Tight | Q3_K_M | 11.6 GB |
| RTX 4070 Ti 12 GB | 12 GB | Tight | Q3_K_M | 11.6 GB |
| RTX 5070 12 GB | 12 GB | Tight | Q3_K_M | 11.6 GB |
| RX 7700 XT 12 GB | 12 GB | Tight | Q3_K_M | 11.6 GB |
| RX 9070 GRE 12 GB | 12 GB | Tight | Q3_K_M | 11.6 GB |
| Arc A770 16 GB | 16 GB | Runs | Q5_K_M | 15.8 GB |
| RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB | 16 GB | Runs | Q5_K_M | 15.8 GB |
| RTX 4070 Ti Super 16 GB | 16 GB | Runs | Q5_K_M | 15.8 GB |
| RTX 4080 16 GB | 16 GB | Runs | Q5_K_M | 15.8 GB |
| RTX 4080 Super 16 GB | 16 GB | Runs | Q5_K_M | 15.8 GB |
| RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB | 16 GB | Runs | Q5_K_M | 15.8 GB |
| RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB | 16 GB | Runs | Q5_K_M | 15.8 GB |
| RTX 5080 16 GB | 16 GB | Runs | Q5_K_M | 15.8 GB |
| RX 7600 XT 16 GB | 16 GB | Runs | Q5_K_M | 15.8 GB |
| RX 7800 XT 16 GB | 16 GB | Runs | Q5_K_M | 15.8 GB |
| RX 7900 GRE 16 GB | 16 GB | Runs | Q5_K_M | 15.8 GB |
| RX 9060 XT 16 GB | 16 GB | Runs | Q5_K_M | 15.8 GB |
| RX 9070 16 GB | 16 GB | Runs | Q5_K_M | 15.8 GB |
| RX 9070 XT 16 GB | 16 GB | Runs | Q5_K_M | 15.8 GB |
| RX 7900 XT 20 GB | 20 GB | Runs well | FP8 | 19.9 GB |
| Arc Pro B60 24 GB | 24 GB | Runs well | Q8_0 | 21.5 GB |
| RTX 3090 24 GB | 24 GB | Runs well | Q8_0 | 21.5 GB |
| RTX 3090 Ti 24 GB | 24 GB | Runs well | Q8_0 | 21.5 GB |
| RTX 4090 24 GB | 24 GB | Runs well | FP8 | 19.9 GB |
| RX 7900 XTX 24 GB | 24 GB | Runs well | Q8_0 | 21.5 GB |
| Arc Pro B70 32 GB | 32 GB | Runs well | Q8_0 | 21.5 GB |
| RTX 5090 32 GB | 32 GB | Runs well | FP8 | 19.9 GB |
| Laptop GPUs | ||||
| RTX 3050 Laptop 4 GB | 4 GB | Not practical | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 3050 Ti Laptop 4 GB | 4 GB | Not practical | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 2060 Laptop 6 GB | 6 GB | Offload only | Q4_K_M | 14.3 GB |
| RTX 3050 Laptop 6 GB | 6 GB | Offload only | Q4_K_M | 14.3 GB |
| RTX 3060 Laptop 6 GB | 6 GB | Offload only | Q4_K_M | 14.3 GB |
| RTX 4050 Laptop 6 GB | 6 GB | Offload only | Q4_K_M | 14.3 GB |
| RTX 2070 Laptop 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 2070 Super Laptop 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 2080 Laptop 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 2080 Super Laptop 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 3070 Laptop 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 3070 Ti Laptop 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 3080 Laptop 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 4060 Laptop 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 4070 Laptop 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 5050 Laptop 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 5060 Laptop 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 5070 Laptop 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RX 7600M 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RX 7600M XT 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RX 7600S 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RX 7700S 8 GB | 8 GB | Offload only | Q2_K | 9.4 GB |
| RTX 4080 Laptop 12 GB | 12 GB | Tight | Q3_K_M | 11.6 GB |
| RTX 5070 Laptop 12 GB | 12 GB | Tight | Q3_K_M | 11.6 GB |
| RTX 5070 Ti Laptop 12 GB | 12 GB | Tight | Q3_K_M | 11.6 GB |
| RX 7800M 12 GB | 12 GB | Tight | Q3_K_M | 11.6 GB |
| RTX 3080 Laptop 16 GB | 16 GB | Runs | Q5_K_M | 15.8 GB |
| RTX 3080 Ti Laptop 16 GB | 16 GB | Runs | Q5_K_M | 15.8 GB |
| RTX 4090 Laptop 16 GB | 16 GB | Runs | Q5_K_M | 15.8 GB |
| RTX 5080 Laptop 16 GB | 16 GB | Runs | Q5_K_M | 15.8 GB |
| RX 7900M 16 GB | 16 GB | Runs | Q5_K_M | 15.8 GB |
| RTX 5090 Laptop 24 GB | 24 GB | Runs well | FP8 | 19.9 GB |
| Unified memory | ||||
| Radeon 8060S (Strix Halo) 96 GB | 96 GB | Runs well | 16-bit | 37.0 GB |
| Apple Silicon Macs (by memory) | ||||
| Mac 16 GB | 12.7 GB | Tight | Q3_K_M | 11.6 GB |
| Mac 18 GB | 14.4 GB | Runs | Q4_K_M | 14.3 GB |
| Mac 24 GB | 19.6 GB | Runs | Q6_K | 17.5 GB |
| Mac 32 GB | 26.8 GB | Runs well | Q8_0 | 21.5 GB |
| Mac 36 GB | 30.2 GB | Runs well | Q8_0 | 21.5 GB |
| Mac 48 GB | 40.2 GB | Runs well | 16-bit | 37.0 GB |
| Mac 64 GB | 55.7 GB | Runs well | 16-bit | 37.0 GB |
| Mac 96 GB | 85 GB | Runs well | 16-bit | 37.0 GB |
| Mac 128 GB | 115.4 GB | Runs well | 16-bit | 37.0 GB |
| Mac 192 GB | 175.4 GB | Runs well | 16-bit | 37.0 GB |
| Mac 256 GB | 236.9 GB | Runs well | 16-bit | 37.0 GB |
| Mac 512 GB | 498.1 GB | Runs well | 16-bit | 37.0 GB |
On RTX 40/50 GPUs the FP8 file is preferred over Q8_0 when both fit (hardware FP8). All verdicts are calculated; see how the numbers work.
05Text encoder, VAE and other files
| File | Folder | Size | When | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLIP-L (HiDream) clip_l_hidream.safetensors | models/text_encoders | 0.2 GB | required | Download → |
| CLIP-G (HiDream) clip_g_hidream.safetensors | models/text_encoders | 1.4 GB | required | Download → |
| T5-XXL FP8 scaled t5xxl_fp8_e4m3fn_scaled.safetensors | models/text_encoders | 5.2 GB | text encoder · smaller, recommended | Download → |
| T5-XXL FP16 t5xxl_fp16.safetensors | models/text_encoders | 9.8 GB | text encoder · alternative | Download → |
| Llama 3.1 8B Instruct FP8 llama_3.1_8b_instruct_fp8_scaled.safetensors | models/text_encoders | 9.1 GB | required | Download → |
| FLUX.1 VAE (ae) ae.safetensors | models/vae | 0.3 GB | required | Download → |
The files the official ComfyUI workflows load next to the model. Sizes read from Hugging Face (2026-09-25). Every GPU page for this model lists the exact set to download for that card, with the total.
CLIP-L + CLIP-G + T5-XXL + Llama 3.1 8B: 15.9 GB as FP8 (all four together: CLIP-L 0.25 + CLIP-G 1.39 + T5-XXL FP8 5.16 + Llama 3.1 8B FP8 9.08 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 16 GB the encoder itself is too big for VRAM, so let it run from system RAM: slower prompt encoding, same images.
06Where the files go in ComfyUI
| File | Folder | Loader node |
|---|---|---|
| Diffusion model (.safetensors: 16-bit, FP8, INT8) | ComfyUI/models/diffusion_models | Load Diffusion Model |
| GGUF file (.gguf) | ComfyUI/models/unet | Unet Loader (GGUF) — from the ComfyUI-GGUF node pack |
| Text encoder | ComfyUI/models/text_encoders | Load CLIP / DualCLIPLoader (or the GGUF versions) |
| VAE | ComfyUI/models/vae | Load VAE |
Standard ComfyUI folders. After copying files, press R in ComfyUI (or restart it) to refresh the lists. Some uploads need their uploader's own loader node — see the notes above.
07AMD, Intel and NVIDIA: which file types are fast
| File type | RTX 50 | RTX 40 | RTX 30 / 20 | RX 9000 | RX 7000/6000 · Strix Halo | Intel Arc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16-bit | Runs | Runs | Runs | Runs | Runs | Runs |
| FP8 | Native FP8 | Native FP8 | No FP8 speed-up | Native FP8 | No FP8 speed-up | No FP8 speed-up |
| GGUF | Runs (GGUF node) | Runs (GGUF node) | Runs (GGUF node) | Runs (GGUF node) | Runs (GGUF node) | Runs (GGUF node) |
Every file type loads on every listed GPU, so the memory verdicts apply to all of them. What differs is speed: FP8 maths needs RTX 40/50 or RX 9000 (with ROCm 6.4+ and PyTorch 2.7+); ComfyUI's INT8 maths runs on NVIDIA and AMD, not on Intel; GGUF is unpacked on the fly on any GPU, which costs some speed. NVFP4 files are fast only on RTX 50. AMD runs ComfyUI on Windows through ROCm, Intel through PyTorch XPU; some custom nodes are NVIDIA-only. Source: ComfyUI model_management.py. AMD and Intel guide →
08Measured and reported results
| Label | GPU | Setup | Result | Peak VRAM | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| reported | RTX 3090 24 GB | HiDream Full fp8 (T5 fp8, Llama3.1 fp8 scaled) “ComfyUI Full example from their page at https://comfyanonymous.github.io/ComfyUI_examples/hidream/ runs at 115.09s on my RTX 3090, from cold start.” HiDream-I1 Full via ComfyUI example workflow, Windows portable; cold start incl. load; resolution/steps not restated | 115.09 s / image | — | 2025-04-18 | huggingface.co → |
Reported results are other people's numbers, copied as published, with a link. Settings, drivers and ComfyUI versions differ, so compare them with care. Send yours.
09Training a LoRA for HiDream-I1
| Trainer | VRAM | Type | Settings and quote | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SimpleTuner | 20 GB | stated minimum | Lowest config: int8-quanto or nf4-bnb base, 1024px, batch 1, Lion8bit paged, gradient checkpointing, tiny LoRA (rank 1) or LoKr factor 25; guide also says 24G is likely minimum without offload “The lowest VRAM HiDream configuration is about 20-22G:” | github.com → |
| diffusion-pipe | 24 GB | stated minimum | Needs block swapping or nf4 transformer (possible quality loss); 48GB (or 2x24GB pipeline parallel) without block swap “With enough block swapping you can train on a single 24GB GPU.” | github.com → |
| ai-toolkit | 35.2 GB | example run | Official example config (file named 48): base + TEs quantized, rank 32, batch 1, gradient checkpointing; not possible on single 24GB card per config “The settings here will take ~35.2GB of vram to train.” | github.com → |
reported Figures as stated by each trainer's own documentation or official example configs, read 2026-09-25. “Stated minimum” = the docs call it a minimum; “example run” = a config or measured run at that size. They differ a lot because of settings: an 8-bit or 4-bit base model, block swapping and lower resolution all cut memory. All models →
10Every file tracked for HiDream-I1
| File | Type | Size | Repo |
|---|---|---|---|
| hidream_i1_dev_bf16.safetensors | BF16 | 34.21 GB | Comfy-Org/HiDream-I1_ComfyUI → |
| hidream_i1_dev_fp8.safetensors | FP8 | 17.11 GB | Comfy-Org/HiDream-I1_ComfyUI → |
| hidream-i1-dev-BF16.gguf | BF16 | 34.22 GB | city96/HiDream-I1-Dev-gguf → |
| hidream-i1-dev-Q8_0.gguf | Q8_0 | 18.69 GB | city96/HiDream-I1-Dev-gguf → |
| hidream-i1-dev-Q6_K.gguf | Q6_K | 14.68 GB | city96/HiDream-I1-Dev-gguf → |
| hidream-i1-dev-Q5_1.gguf | Q5_1 | 13.52 GB | city96/HiDream-I1-Dev-gguf → |
| hidream-i1-dev-Q5_K_M.gguf | Q5_K_M | 13.04 GB | city96/HiDream-I1-Dev-gguf → |
| hidream-i1-dev-Q5_0.gguf | Q5_0 | 12.73 GB | city96/HiDream-I1-Dev-gguf → |
| hidream-i1-dev-Q5_K_S.gguf | Q5_K_S | 12.49 GB | city96/HiDream-I1-Dev-gguf → |
| hidream-i1-dev-Q4_K_M.gguf | Q4_K_M | 11.49 GB | city96/HiDream-I1-Dev-gguf → |
| hidream-i1-dev-Q4_1.gguf | Q4_1 | 11.45 GB | city96/HiDream-I1-Dev-gguf → |
| hidream-i1-dev-Q4_K_S.gguf | Q4_K_S | 10.90 GB | city96/HiDream-I1-Dev-gguf → |
| hidream-i1-dev-Q4_0.gguf | Q4_0 | 10.66 GB | city96/HiDream-I1-Dev-gguf → |
| hidream-i1-dev-Q3_K_M.gguf | Q3_K_M | 8.77 GB | city96/HiDream-I1-Dev-gguf → |
| hidream-i1-dev-Q3_K_S.gguf | Q3_K_S | 8.22 GB | city96/HiDream-I1-Dev-gguf → |
| hidream-i1-dev-Q2_K.gguf | Q2_K | 6.57 GB | city96/HiDream-I1-Dev-gguf → |
17B sparse MoE DiT. Uses FOUR text encoders (clip_l, clip_g, T5-XXL, Llama-3.1-8B) - heavy offloading. Fast variant (hidream_i1_fast_*) has identical sizes in Comfy-Org repo.