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// RUN — FITS
Can the Apple M4 Max 36GB run NeMO Megatron GPT 20B?
Yes — here's how fast and up to what context, with real measured numbers.
NeMO Megatron GPT 20B on the Apple M4 Max 36GB
| Quant | Fits? | Max context | Speed | Beyond context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FP16 | no | — | — | — |
| Q8 | yes | 42k | 18.6-22.4 t/s | ~0.3-0.4 (slow) |
| Q4 | yes | 75k | 33.2-40 t/s | ~0.6-0.7 (slow) |
Estimate (memory-bound). Beyond "max context" the KV cache spills to SSD swap and speed drops to the "beyond" figure.
FAQ
Can the Apple M4 Max 36GB run NeMO Megatron GPT 20B?▶
Yes. At Q4 it generates ~33.2-40 tok/s and fits up to 75k context; beyond that it spills to SSD swap and slows to ~0.6-0.7 tok/s.
How much context fits?▶
At Q4, up to about 75k tokens stay in fast memory; longer context spills to SSD swap and throughput collapses.