gpt-oss-20b-BF16
unsloth/gpt-oss-20b-BF16gpt-oss-20b-BF16 at Q4_K_M is exactly 15,805,134,880 bytes (14.72 GiB / 15.81 GB) — an effective 6.045 bits per weight, not the nominal 4. Its KV cache at 32K is 0.77 GiB, not the 1.50 GiB a flat formula predicts.
Shipped quantizations
| Quant | Size● | Exact bytes● | Effective bpw● | Tensors● | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q3_K_M | 12.03 GiB | 12,916,149,600 | 4.941 | — | huihui-ai |
| Q4_K_M | 14.72 GiB | 15,805,134,880 | 6.045 | — | Melikshah |
| Q4_K_M | 14.72 GiB | 15,805,135,200 | 6.045 | — | huihui-ai |
| Q5_K_M | 15.73 GiB | 16,893,060,640 | 6.462 | — | Melikshah |
| Q8_0 | 20.73 GiB | 22,261,910,560 | 8.515 | — | Melikshah |
| Q8_0 | 20.73 GiB | 22,261,910,880 | 8.515 | — | huihui-ai |
| F16 | 38.99 GiB | 41,860,886,560 | 16.012 | — | Melikshah |
| F16 | 38.99 GiB | 41,860,886,880 | 16.012 | — | huihui-ai |
KV cache by context
| Context | KV cache (f16)● | Flat formula | Overstated by | Full / windowed / recurrent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4,096 | 0.11 GiB | 0.19 GiB | 1.68× | 12 / 12 / 0 |
| 8,192 | 0.21 GiB | 0.38 GiB | 1.83× | 12 / 12 / 0 |
| 16,384 | 0.39 GiB | 0.75 GiB | 1.91× | 12 / 12 / 0 |
| 32,768 | 0.77 GiB | 1.50 GiB | 1.95× | 12 / 12 / 0 |
| 65,536 | 1.52 GiB | 3.00 GiB | 1.98× | 12 / 12 / 0 |
| 131,072 | 3.02 GiB | 6.00 GiB | 1.99× | 12 / 12 / 0 |
12 of 24 layers cache only a 128-token window rather than the full context, on a period of . Figures assume the default configuration; --swa-full disables the saving entirely.
Compare with
Will it run on your card?
Why other calculators give a different number
A parameters × bits ÷ 8 estimate puts Q4_K_M at roughly 10.96 GiB. The real file is 14.72 GiB, because a quantization is a mixture and some tensors are always kept at higher precision. The larger discrepancy is the cache: a flat formula gives 1.50 GiB at 32K context where the real figure is 0.77 GiB, because most of this model's layers cache a fixed window rather than the whole context.
Architecture
Questions people ask
- How much VRAM does gpt-oss-20b-BF16 need?
- Q4_K_M is exactly 15,805,134,880 bytes (14.72 GiB) in weights. Add the KV cache, which depends on your context length, plus roughly half a gigabyte of runtime overhead.
- How large is gpt-oss-20b-BF16's KV cache?
- 0.77 GiB at 32K context with an f16 cache, computed per layer. Quantizing the cache to q8_0 roughly halves it, which is often the difference between a context length fitting and not.
- Is gpt-oss-20b-BF16 a mixture-of-experts model?
- Yes — 32 experts, 4 routed per token. Every expert must be resident, but only the routed ones are read per token, which is why its memory requirement and its speed behave very differently.
- Which quantization of gpt-oss-20b-BF16 should I use?
- Q4_K_M is the usual default. Pick the largest quantization that fits your card at the context you actually need — the table above gives exact sizes for every one published.