Cheapest box to run Qwen3.5-35B-A3B at Q8_0
Alibaba’s Qwen3.5-35B-A3B is 35B parameters, 3B of them read per token. The number below is computed from that and each vendor’s published specs, not asserted. Switch the quant or the context and it recomputes in place.
Qwen3.5-35B-A3B at Q8_0 needs 39GB.
Cheapest Config that fits: Mac mini, M5 Pro, 48GB. Fits, 6GB headroom. Est. 48.2 tok/s.
Best offer today: $2,499 at Apple — in stock, checked 32 minutes ago.
Price history: 34 days recorded.
A hybrid: only 10 of 40 layers are full attention. The Gated DeltaNet layers keep a constant-size state and cache nothing per token, so the K/V figure counts the full-attention layers alone.
Offers — Mac mini, M5 Pro, 48GB, 512GB
- Applelist pricein stockchecked 32 minutes ago$2,499
- Mac mini, M6, 16GB$1,099Won't fit−26GB headroom
- Mac mini, M6, 24GB$1,299Won't fit−18GB headroom
- Mac mini, M6, 32GB$1,499Won't fit−10GB headroom
- Mac mini, M5 Pro, 24GB$1,699Won't fit−18GB headroom
- Mac mini, M5 Pro, 48GB$2,499Fits6GB headroomest. 48.2 tok/s
- Mac Studio, M5 Max, 36GB$2,499Won't fit−6GB headroom
- Mac mini, M5 Pro, 64GB$2,899Fits20GB headroomest. 48.2 tok/s
- GeForce RTX 5090, 32GB$2,999.99+hostWon't fit−8GB headroom
- Fits20GB headroomest. 85.6 tok/s
- Mac Studio, M5 Max, 48GB$3,099Fits6GB headroomest. 96.3 tok/s
- Mac Studio, M5 Max, 64GB$3,499Fits20GB headroomest. 96.3 tok/s
- Fits82GB headroomest. 42.8 tok/s
- Fits50GB headroomest. 128 tok/s
- Fits81GB headroomest. 85.6 tok/s
- Fits82GB headroomest. 42.8 tok/s
- Fits81GB headroomest. 96.3 tok/s
- Fits50GB headroomest. 188 tok/s
- Fits209GB headroomest. 128 tok/s
- Fits209GB headroomest. 188 tok/s
- Fits465GB headroomest. 188 tok/s
| Config | Memory | Price | $/GB | Fit | Headroom | Est. speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mac mini, M6 | 16GB | $1,099 | $69 | Won't fit | −26GB | — |
| Mac mini, M6 | 24GB | $1,299 | $54 | Won't fit | −18GB | — |
| Mac mini, M6 | 32GB | $1,499 | $47 | Won't fit | −10GB | — |
| Mac mini, M5 Pro | 24GB | $1,699 | $71 | Won't fit | −18GB | — |
| Mac mini, M5 Pro | 48GB | $2,499 | $52 | Fits | 6GB | 48.2 tok/s |
| Mac Studio, M5 Max | 36GB | $2,499 | $69 | Won't fit | −6GB | — |
| Mac mini, M5 Pro | 64GB | $2,899 | $45 | Fits | 20GB | 48.2 tok/s |
| GeForce RTX 5090 | 32GB | $2,999.99+host | $94 | Won't fit | −8GB | — |
| Mac Studio, M4 Max, refurb | 64GB | $3,049 | $48 | Fits | 20GB | 85.6 tok/s |
| Mac Studio, M5 Max | 48GB | $3,099 | $65 | Fits | 6GB | 96.3 tok/s |
| Mac Studio, M5 Max | 64GB | $3,499 | $55 | Fits | 20GB | 96.3 tok/s |
| Ascent GX10, GB10 Grace Blackwell | 128GB | $3,999.99 | $31 | Fits | 82GB | 42.8 tok/s |
| Mac Studio, M3 Ultra, refurb | 96GB | $4,329 | $45 | Fits | 50GB | 128 tok/s |
| Mac Studio, M4 Max, refurb | 128GB | $4,409 | $34 | Fits | 81GB | 85.6 tok/s |
| DGX Spark, GB10 Grace Blackwell | 128GB | $4,699 | $37 | Fits | 82GB | 42.8 tok/s |
| Mac Studio, M5 Max | 128GB | $5,099 | $40 | Fits | 81GB | 96.3 tok/s |
| Mac Studio, M5 Ultra | 96GB | $5,499 | $57 | Fits | 50GB | 188 tok/s |
| Mac Studio, M3 Ultra, refurb | 256GB | $7,729 | $30 | Fits | 209GB | 128 tok/s |
| Mac Studio, M5 Ultra | 256GB | $9,499 | $37 | Fits | 209GB | 188 tok/s |
| Mac Studio, M5 Ultra | 512GB | — | — | Fits | 465GB | 188 tok/s |
GeForce RTX 5090 is a card, not a computer: every price shown for it is the cheapest listing we found plus $1,000 for the minimum host machine.
memory = 35B × 1.063 B/param (8.5 bits) + 0.021 GB/1K × 8K K/V + 1.2 GB runtime
speed = bandwidth × 0.5 ÷ (3B active × 1.063 B/param) = 3.2 GB read per token
usable = memory − operating system reserve (8% on a Mac, 6% on a DGX Spark, 4% on a card)
Bandwidth is the vendor’s published figure. Every speed is an estimate and says so. Methodology.
What else Mac mini M5 Pro 48GB runs
- Qwen3-Coder-NextQ3_K_M, est. 105 tok/s
- Llama-3.3-70BQ3_K_M, est. 5.8 tok/s
- Qwen3.5-35B-A3BQ8_0, est. 48.2 tok/s
- Qwen3-32BQ8_0, est. 5.9 tok/s
- Gemma-4-31BQ8_0, est. 6.1 tok/s
- Qwen3-30B-A3BQ8_0, est. 43.8 tok/s
Best quant that still fits at 8K context, largest model first. Full list on the Config page.
Bandwidth 307GB/s, usable memory 44GB of 48GB.