Can Surface Laptop Ultra · RTX Spark N1X (18-core) · 24 GB run Qwen3.6 35B-A3B?
24 GB unified · 300 GB/s memory bandwidth · Qwen3.6 35B-A3B has 36B parameters (3B active per token).
Short answer
No. It doesn't fit in memory.
Needs ≈17 GB but only ≈16 GB is available after the OS, other apps and Open WebUI.
Why it doesn’t fit
Even its smallest practical version (Q3_K_M) needs about 17 GB for the model, its context memory and the runtime. After Windows (≈4.5 GB), a browser with a few tabs (≈3.0 GB) and Open WebUI (≈1.0 GB), Surface Laptop Ultra · RTX Spark N1X (18-core) · 24 GB has about 16 GB left, so it’s 2.0 GB short.
Ways to make it work
Close everything else
With no other apps open, Qwen3.6 35B-A3B runs at Q3_K_M: Acceptable at 75–120 tok/s. Expect the system to feel tight while it’s loaded.
Pick a smaller model from the same family
Get more memory
The same machine with 128 GB handles it: Excellent.
Check your exact setup
These pages assume typical settings. A shorter context or a lighter chat app can change the answer.
Check Surface Laptop Ultra · RTX Spark N1X (18-core) · 24 GB
The same applies to every workload we rate (chat, coding questions, coding in a repository, agentic coding and long documents): they all need at least as much memory as chat.
Other models for Surface Laptop Ultra · RTX Spark N1X (18-core) · 24 GB
The best-rated models for chat on this machine.
- gpt-oss-20b50–85 tok/sExcellent
- MiniCPM5 2B55–90 tok/sExcellent
- Gemma 4 26B-A4B60–95 tok/sExcellent
- Qwen3.5 4B35–55 tok/sExcellent
- Qwen3.5 9B18–30 tok/sExcellent
- Gemma 4 12B20–35 tok/sExcellent
Cheapest machines for Qwen3.6 35B-A3B
Hardware rated comfortable or better for chat, lowest price first.
- Mac mini M4 32 GB$1,399 · 30–45 tok/sExcellent
- Desktop PC · Ryzen 9 9950X (no GPU) · 64 GB DDR5$1,400 · 11–18 tok/sComfortable
- Desktop PC · Intel Arc Pro B60 24GB · 32 GB RAM$1,500 · 70–120 tok/sExcellent
- Ryzen AI Max+ 395 mini PC / Framework Desktop · 64 GB$1,600 · 55–75 tok/sExcellent
- Desktop PC · Intel Arc Pro B60 24GB · 64 GB RAM$1,628 · 70–120 tok/sExcellent
- Mac mini M2 Pro 32 GB$1,699 · 55–75 tok/sExcellent
Same chip, other memory: 128 GB
Different tool, context size or workload?
These pages use typical settings. The full check models your exact setup.