opencl: add bin kernels kernel_gemm_moe_q4_0_q8_1_dp4a_bin, kernel_gemm_moe_mxfp4_q8_1_dp4a_bin (#27768)

ggml/src/ggml-opencl/ggml-opencl.cpp

@@ -903,6 +903,8 @@ struct ggml_backend_opencl_context {
     cl_kernel kernel_gemv_moe_mxfp4_f32_ns_wimg = nullptr;      // weight-as-texture MoE decode GEMV
     cl_kernel kernel_gemm_moe_mxfp4_q8_1_dp4a = nullptr;   // dp4a (int8) mxfp4 MoE prefill GEMM
     cl_kernel kernel_gemm_moe_q4_0_q8_1_dp4a = nullptr;    // dp4a (int8) q4_0 MoE prefill GEMM
+    cl_kernel kernel_gemm_moe_mxfp4_q8_1_dp4a_bin = nullptr;   // binary dp4a (int8) mxfp4 MoE prefill GEMM
+    cl_kernel kernel_gemm_moe_q4_0_q8_1_dp4a_bin = nullptr;    // binary dp4a (int8) q4_0 MoE prefill GEMM
     cl_kernel kernel_moe_reorder_b;
     cl_kernel kernel_moe_histogram, kernel_moe_scan, kernel_moe_fill, kernel_moe_scatter;
     cl_kernel kernel_moe_scatter_stable = nullptr;   // deterministic slot assignment
@@ -4248,6 +4250,24 @@ static void load_cl_kernels(ggml_backend_opencl_context *backend_ctx) {
         GGML_LOG_CONT(".");
     }
 
+    // gemm_moe_mxfp4_q8_1_dp4a_bin (dp4a prefill GEMM)
+    if (backend_ctx->has_integer_dot) {
+        size_t bin_size = 0;
+        backend_ctx->kernel_gemm_moe_mxfp4_q8_1_dp4a_bin = nullptr;
+
+        if (use_adreno_bin_kernels(backend_ctx)) {
+            const char * kernel_bin = (const char *)backend_ctx->get_adreno_bin_kernel("gemm_moe_mxfp4_q8_1_dp4a_ila", &bin_size);
+            if (kernel_bin && bin_size > 0) {
+                cl_program prog =
+                    build_program_from_binary(backend_ctx->context, backend_ctx->device, kernel_bin, CL_moe_compile_opts, bin_size);
+
+                CL_CHECK((backend_ctx->kernel_gemm_moe_mxfp4_q8_1_dp4a_bin = clCreateKernel(prog, "kernel_gemm_moe_mxfp4_q8_1_dp4a_ila", &err), err));
+                CL_CHECK(clReleaseProgram(prog));
+                GGML_LOG_CONT(".");
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     // gemm_moe_q4_0_q8_1_dp4a (dp4a prefill GEMM)
     if (backend_ctx->has_integer_dot) {
 #ifdef GGML_OPENCL_EMBED_KERNELS
@@ -4265,6 +4285,24 @@ static void load_cl_kernels(ggml_backend_opencl_context *backend_ctx) {
         GGML_LOG_CONT(".");
     }
 
+    // gemm_moe_q4_0_q8_1_dp4a_bin (dp4a prefill GEMM)
+    if (backend_ctx->has_integer_dot) {
+        size_t bin_size = 0;
+        backend_ctx->kernel_gemm_moe_q4_0_q8_1_dp4a_bin = nullptr;
+
+        if (use_adreno_bin_kernels(backend_ctx)) {
+            const char * kernel_bin = (const char *)backend_ctx->get_adreno_bin_kernel("gemm_moe_q4_0_q8_1_dp4a_ila", &bin_size);
+            if (kernel_bin && bin_size > 0) {
+                cl_program prog =
+                    build_program_from_binary(backend_ctx->context, backend_ctx->device, kernel_bin, CL_moe_compile_opts, bin_size);
+
+                CL_CHECK((backend_ctx->kernel_gemm_moe_q4_0_q8_1_dp4a_bin = clCreateKernel(prog, "kernel_gemm_moe_q4_0_q8_1_dp4a_ila", &err), err));
+                CL_CHECK(clReleaseProgram(prog));
+                GGML_LOG_CONT(".");
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     // gemm_moe_q8_1_dp4a (generic dp4a MoE GEMM; MOE_QT=80 -> q8_0 expert variant)
     if (backend_ctx->has_integer_dot) {
 #ifdef GGML_OPENCL_EMBED_KERNELS
@@ -21519,7 +21557,9 @@ static void ggml_cl_mul_mat_id(ggml_backend_t backend, const ggml_tensor * src0,
                     // dot prod has to be available
                     use_moe_dp4a = backend_ctx->has_integer_dot && use_moe_dp4a;
                     // bin kernel takes precedence
-                    use_moe_dp4a = use_moe_dp4a && backend_ctx->kernel_gemm_moe_q4_0_f32_ns_bin == nullptr;
+                    if (backend_ctx->kernel_gemm_moe_q4_0_q8_1_dp4a_bin == nullptr) {
+                        use_moe_dp4a = use_moe_dp4a && backend_ctx->kernel_gemm_moe_q4_0_f32_ns_bin == nullptr;
+                    }
 
                     cl_buffer_region region;
                     region.origin = 0;
@@ -21625,6 +21665,10 @@ static void ggml_cl_mul_mat_id(ggml_backend_t backend, const ggml_tensor * src0,
 
                         // dp4a GEMM
                         cl_kernel dk = backend_ctx->kernel_gemm_moe_q4_0_q8_1_dp4a;
+                        if (backend_ctx->kernel_gemm_moe_q4_0_q8_1_dp4a_bin) {
+                            dk = backend_ctx->kernel_gemm_moe_q4_0_q8_1_dp4a_bin;
+                        }
+
                         int aidx = 0;
                         CL_CHECK(clSetKernelArg(dk, aidx++, sizeof(cl_mem), &extra0_q4_0->q_img));
                         CL_CHECK(clSetKernelArg(dk, aidx++, sizeof(cl_mem), &extra0_q4_0->d));
@@ -23463,8 +23507,10 @@ static void ggml_cl_mul_mat_id(ggml_backend_t backend, const ggml_tensor * src0,
                         : (backend_ctx->adreno_gen == ADRENO_GPU_GEN::X2E);
                     // dot prod has to be available
                     use_moe_dp4a = backend_ctx->has_integer_dot && use_moe_dp4a;
-                    // bin kernel takes precedence
-                    use_moe_dp4a = use_moe_dp4a && backend_ctx->kernel_gemm_moe_mxfp4_f32_ns_bin == nullptr;
+                    // bin kernel takes precedence, dp4a bin kernel has higher priority than normal bin kernel
+                    if (backend_ctx->kernel_gemm_moe_mxfp4_q8_1_dp4a_bin == nullptr) {
+                        use_moe_dp4a = use_moe_dp4a && backend_ctx->kernel_gemm_moe_mxfp4_f32_ns_bin == nullptr;
+                    }
 
                     cl_buffer_region region;
                     region.origin = 0;
@@ -23573,6 +23619,10 @@ static void ggml_cl_mul_mat_id(ggml_backend_t backend, const ggml_tensor * src0,
 
                         // dp4a GEMM
                         cl_kernel dk = backend_ctx->kernel_gemm_moe_mxfp4_q8_1_dp4a;
+                        if (backend_ctx->kernel_gemm_moe_mxfp4_q8_1_dp4a_bin) {
+                            dk = backend_ctx->kernel_gemm_moe_mxfp4_q8_1_dp4a_bin;
+                        }
+
                         int aidx = 0;
                         CL_CHECK(clSetKernelArg(dk, aidx++, sizeof(cl_mem), &extra0_mxfp4->q_img));
                         CL_CHECK(clSetKernelArg(dk, aidx++, sizeof(cl_mem), &extra0_mxfp4->e));

include/llama.h

@@ -445,6 +445,7 @@ extern "C" {
         const struct llama_model_kv_override * kv_overrides;        // pointer to kv overrides
         const struct llama_model_tensor_override * tt_overrides;    // pointer to tensor overrides
         const int32_t * prune_layers;                               // pointer to layer indices to prune
+        size_t max_buf_size;                                        // max bytes of tensor rows kept in memory at once, 0 = default (8 GiB)
     } llama_model_quantize_params;
 
     typedef struct llama_logit_bias {

src/llama-model-loader.cpp

@@ -1418,27 +1418,26 @@ void llama_model_loader::unmap_weight(const llama_tensor_weight & w) const {
     mappings.at(w.idx)->unmap_fragment(w.offs, w.offs + ggml_nbytes(w.tensor));
 }
 
-void llama_model_loader::load_data_for(struct ggml_tensor * cur) const {
-    const auto & w = require_weight(ggml_get_name(cur));
+const void * llama_model_loader::load_data_range(const llama_tensor_weight & w, size_t offs, size_t size, void * buf) const {
+    GGML_ASSERT(offs + size <= ggml_nbytes(w.tensor));
+
+    const void * data = buf;
 
     if (use_mmap) {
-        const auto & mapping = mappings.at(w.idx);
-        if (cur->data == nullptr) {
-            cur->data = (uint8_t *)mapping->addr() + w.offs;
-        } else {
-            memcpy(cur->data, (uint8_t *)mapping->addr() + w.offs, ggml_nbytes(cur));
-        }
+        data = (const uint8_t *) mappings.at(w.idx)->addr() + w.offs + offs;
     } else {
-        GGML_ASSERT(cur->data != nullptr);
+        GGML_ASSERT(buf != nullptr);
         GGML_ASSERT(w.idx < files.size());
         const auto & file = files.at(w.idx);
-        file->seek(w.offs, SEEK_SET);
-        file->read_raw(cur->data, ggml_nbytes(cur));
+        file->seek(w.offs + offs, SEEK_SET);
+        file->read_raw(buf, size);
     }
 
-    if (check_tensors && !ggml_validate_row_data(cur->type, cur->data, ggml_nbytes(cur))) {
-        throw std::runtime_error(format("tensor '%s' has invalid data", ggml_get_name(cur)));
+    if (check_tensors && !ggml_validate_row_data(w.tensor->type, data, size)) {
+        throw std::runtime_error(format("tensor '%s' has invalid data", ggml_get_name(w.tensor)));
     }
+
+    return data;
 }
 
 bool llama_model_loader::load_all_data(

src/llama-model-loader.h

@@ -204,8 +204,9 @@ struct llama_model_loader {
     // release a weight's mmap pages
     void unmap_weight(const llama_tensor_weight & w) const;
 
-    // for backwards compatibility, does not support ggml-backend
-    void load_data_for(struct ggml_tensor * cur) const;
+    // read a byte range of a weight's data
+    // with mmap, returns a pointer into the mapping, otherwise reads into buf and returns buf
+    const void * load_data_range(const llama_tensor_weight & w, size_t offs, size_t size, void * buf) const;
 
     // Returns false if cancelled by progress_callback
     bool load_all_data(

src/llama-quant.cpp

@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ enum class tensor_category {
     OTHER
 };
 
+// max amount of tensor data kept in memory while quantizing a single tensor
+static const size_t LLAMA_QUANT_MAX_BUF_SIZE = 8ull*1024*1024*1024;
+
 static void zeros(std::ofstream & file, size_t n) {
     char zero = 0;
     for (size_t i = 0; i < n; ++i) {
@@ -211,31 +214,26 @@ struct tensor_metadata {
 //
 
 static void llama_tensor_dequantize_impl(
-    ggml_tensor * tensor, std::vector<no_init<float>> & output, std::vector<std::thread> & workers,
+    ggml_type type, const void * data, float * f32_output, std::vector<std::thread> & workers,
     const size_t nelements, const int nthread
 ) {
-    if (output.size() < nelements) {
-        output.resize(nelements);
-    }
-    float * f32_output = (float *) output.data();
-
-    const ggml_type_traits * qtype = ggml_get_type_traits(tensor->type);
-    if (ggml_is_quantized(tensor->type)) {
+    const ggml_type_traits * qtype = ggml_get_type_traits(type);
+    if (ggml_is_quantized(type)) {
         if (qtype->to_float == NULL) {
-            throw std::runtime_error(format("type %s unsupported for integer quantization: no dequantization available", ggml_type_name(tensor->type)));
+            throw std::runtime_error(format("type %s unsupported for integer quantization: no dequantization available", ggml_type_name(type)));
         }
-    } else if (tensor->type != GGML_TYPE_F16 &&
-               tensor->type != GGML_TYPE_BF16) {
-        throw std::runtime_error(format("cannot dequantize/convert tensor type %s", ggml_type_name(tensor->type)));
+    } else if (type != GGML_TYPE_F16 &&
+               type != GGML_TYPE_BF16) {
+        throw std::runtime_error(format("cannot dequantize/convert tensor type %s", ggml_type_name(type)));
     }
 
     if (nthread < 2) {
-        if (tensor->type == GGML_TYPE_F16) {
-            ggml_fp16_to_fp32_row((ggml_fp16_t *)tensor->data, f32_output, nelements);
-        } else if (tensor->type == GGML_TYPE_BF16) {
-            ggml_bf16_to_fp32_row((ggml_bf16_t *)tensor->data, f32_output, nelements);
-        } else if (ggml_is_quantized(tensor->type)) {
-            qtype->to_float(tensor->data, f32_output, nelements);
+        if (type == GGML_TYPE_F16) {
+            ggml_fp16_to_fp32_row((const ggml_fp16_t *)data, f32_output, nelements);
+        } else if (type == GGML_TYPE_BF16) {
+            ggml_bf16_to_fp32_row((const ggml_bf16_t *)data, f32_output, nelements);
+        } else if (ggml_is_quantized(type)) {
+            qtype->to_float(data, f32_output, nelements);
         } else {
             GGML_ABORT("fatal error"); // unreachable
         }
@@ -243,14 +241,14 @@ static void llama_tensor_dequantize_impl(
     }
 
     size_t block_size;
-    if (tensor->type == GGML_TYPE_F16 ||
-        tensor->type == GGML_TYPE_BF16) {
+    if (type == GGML_TYPE_F16 ||
+        type == GGML_TYPE_BF16) {
         block_size = 1;
     } else {
-        block_size = (size_t)ggml_blck_size(tensor->type);
+        block_size = (size_t)ggml_blck_size(type);
     }
 
-    size_t block_size_bytes = ggml_type_size(tensor->type);
+    size_t block_size_bytes = ggml_type_size(type);
 
     GGML_ASSERT(nelements % block_size == 0);
     size_t nblocks = nelements / block_size;
@@ -265,16 +263,16 @@ static void llama_tensor_dequantize_impl(
         size_t thr_elems = thr_blocks * block_size; // number of elements for this thread
         size_t thr_block_bytes = thr_blocks * block_size_bytes; // number of input bytes for this thread
 
-        auto compute = [qtype] (ggml_type typ, uint8_t * inbuf, float * outbuf, int nels) {
+        auto compute = [qtype] (ggml_type typ, const uint8_t * inbuf, float * outbuf, int nels) {
             if (typ == GGML_TYPE_F16) {
-                ggml_fp16_to_fp32_row((ggml_fp16_t *)inbuf, outbuf, nels);
+                ggml_fp16_to_fp32_row((const ggml_fp16_t *)inbuf, outbuf, nels);
             } else if (typ == GGML_TYPE_BF16) {
-                ggml_bf16_to_fp32_row((ggml_bf16_t *)inbuf, outbuf, nels);
+                ggml_bf16_to_fp32_row((const ggml_bf16_t *)inbuf, outbuf, nels);
             } else {
                 qtype->to_float(inbuf, outbuf, nels);
             }
         };
-        workers.emplace_back(compute, tensor->type, (uint8_t *) tensor->data + in_buff_offs, f32_output + out_buff_offs, thr_elems);
+        workers.emplace_back(compute, type, (const uint8_t *) data + in_buff_offs, f32_output + out_buff_offs, thr_elems);
         in_buff_offs += thr_block_bytes;
         out_buff_offs += thr_elems;
     }
@@ -1093,6 +1091,8 @@ static void llama_model_quantize_impl(const std::string & fname_inp, const std::
     std::vector<no_init<uint8_t>> work;
     std::vector<no_init<float>> f32_conv_buf;
 
+    const size_t max_buf_size = params->max_buf_size ? params->max_buf_size : LLAMA_QUANT_MAX_BUF_SIZE;
+
     int cur_split = -1;
     std::ofstream fout;
     auto close_ofstream = [&]() {
@@ -1143,15 +1143,13 @@ static void llama_model_quantize_impl(const std::string & fname_inp, const std::
 
         const size_t tensor_size = ggml_nbytes(tensor);
 
-        if (!params->dry_run) {
-            if (!ml.use_mmap) {
-                if (read_data.size() < tensor_size) {
-                    read_data.resize(tensor_size);
-                }
-                tensor->data = read_data.data();
+        // read a byte range of the current tensor
+        auto load_range = [&](size_t offs, size_t size) -> const void * {
+            if (!ml.use_mmap && read_data.size() < size) {
+                read_data.resize(size);
             }
-            ml.load_data_for(tensor);
-        }
+            return ml.load_data_range(weight, offs, size, read_data.data());
+        };
 
         LLAMA_LOG_INFO("[%4d/%4d] %-36s - [%s], type = %6s, ",
                ++idx, ml.n_tensors,
@@ -1166,7 +1164,6 @@ static void llama_model_quantize_impl(const std::string & fname_inp, const std::
         // in then there's nothing to do.
         bool quantize = cur_type != new_type;
 
-        void * new_data;
         size_t new_size;
 
         if (params->dry_run) {
@@ -1190,12 +1187,18 @@ static void llama_model_quantize_impl(const std::string & fname_inp, const std::
         } else {
             // no --dry-run, perform quantization
             if (!quantize) {
-                new_data = tensor->data;
                 new_size = tensor_size;
                 LLAMA_LOG_INFO("size = %8.3f MiB\n", tensor_size/1024.0/1024.0);
-            } else {
-                const int64_t nelements = ggml_nelements(tensor);
 
+                // copy in slabs of whole rows, so that each slab can be validated
+                const size_t row_size   = ggml_row_size(tensor->type, tensor->ne[0]);
+                const size_t slab_size  = std::max<size_t>(row_size, (max_buf_size/row_size)*row_size);
+
+                for (size_t offs = 0; offs < tensor_size; offs += slab_size) {
+                    const size_t size = std::min(slab_size, tensor_size - offs);
+                    fout.write((const char *) load_range(offs, size), size);
+                }
+            } else {
                 const float * imatrix = nullptr;
                 if (imatrix_data) {
                     auto it = imatrix_data->find(tm.remapped_imatrix_name);
@@ -1227,43 +1230,60 @@ static void llama_model_quantize_impl(const std::string & fname_inp, const std::
                     throw std::runtime_error(format("Missing importance matrix for tensor %s in a very low-bit quantization", tensor->name));
                 }
 
-                float * f32_data;
-
-                if (tensor->type == GGML_TYPE_F32) {
-                    f32_data = (float *) tensor->data;
-                } else if (ggml_is_quantized(tensor->type) && !params->allow_requantize) {
+                if (ggml_is_quantized(tensor->type) && !params->allow_requantize) {
                     throw std::runtime_error(format("requantizing from type %s is disabled", ggml_type_name(tensor->type)));
-                } else {
-                    llama_tensor_dequantize_impl(tensor, f32_conv_buf, workers, nelements, nthread);
-                    f32_data = (float *) f32_conv_buf.data();
                 }
 
                 LLAMA_LOG_INFO("converting to %s .. ", ggml_type_name(new_type));
                 fflush(stdout);
 
-                if (work.size() < (size_t)nelements * 4) {
-                    work.resize(nelements * 4); // upper bound on size
-                }
-                new_data = work.data();
-
                 const int64_t n_per_row = tensor->ne[0];
                 const int64_t nrows = tensor->ne[1];
 
+                const size_t row_size_src = ggml_row_size(tensor->type, n_per_row);
+                const size_t row_size_dst = ggml_row_size(new_type,     n_per_row);
+
+                // process the rows in slabs, so that the buffers stay below max_buf_size
+                const size_t bytes_per_row = row_size_src + row_size_dst + (tensor->type == GGML_TYPE_F32 ? 0 : n_per_row*sizeof(float));
+                const int64_t nrows_slab = std::max<int64_t>(1, std::min<int64_t>(nrows, max_buf_size/bytes_per_row));
+
                 static const int64_t min_chunk_size = 32 * 512;
                 const int64_t chunk_size = (n_per_row >= min_chunk_size ? n_per_row : n_per_row * ((min_chunk_size + n_per_row - 1)/n_per_row));
 
-                const int64_t nelements_matrix = tensor->ne[0] * tensor->ne[1];
-                const int64_t nchunk = (nelements_matrix + chunk_size - 1)/chunk_size;
-                const int64_t nthread_use = nthread > 1 ? std::max((int64_t)1, std::min((int64_t)nthread, nchunk)) : 1;
-
                 // quantize each expert separately since they have different importance matrices
                 new_size = 0;
                 for (int64_t i03 = 0; i03 < tensor->ne[2]; ++i03) {
-                    const float * f32_data_03 = f32_data + i03 * nelements_matrix;
-                    void * new_data_03 = (char *)new_data + ggml_row_size(new_type, n_per_row) * i03 * nrows;
                     const float * imatrix_03 = imatrix ? imatrix + i03 * n_per_row : nullptr;
 
-                    new_size += llama_tensor_quantize_impl(new_type, f32_data_03, new_data_03, chunk_size, nrows, n_per_row, imatrix_03, workers, nthread_use);
+                    for (int64_t ir = 0; ir < nrows; ir += nrows_slab) {
+                        const int64_t nrows_cur = std::min(nrows_slab, nrows - ir);
+                        const int64_t nelements_cur = nrows_cur * n_per_row;
+
+                        const void * src = load_range((i03*nrows + ir)*row_size_src, nrows_cur*row_size_src);
+
+                        const float * f32_data;
+                        if (tensor->type == GGML_TYPE_F32) {
+                            f32_data = (const float *) src;
+                        } else {
+                            if (f32_conv_buf.size() < (size_t) nelements_cur) {
+                                f32_conv_buf.resize(nelements_cur);
+                            }
+                            llama_tensor_dequantize_impl(tensor->type, src, (float *) f32_conv_buf.data(), workers, nelements_cur, nthread);
+                            f32_data = (const float *) f32_conv_buf.data();
+                        }
+
+                        if (work.size() < nrows_cur*row_size_dst) {
+                            work.resize(nrows_cur*row_size_dst);
+                        }
+
+                        const int64_t nchunk = (nelements_cur + chunk_size - 1)/chunk_size;
+                        const int64_t nthread_use = nthread > 1 ? std::max((int64_t)1, std::min((int64_t)nthread, nchunk)) : 1;
+
+                        const size_t size_cur = llama_tensor_quantize_impl(new_type, f32_data, work.data(), chunk_size, nrows_cur, n_per_row, imatrix_03, workers, nthread_use);
+
+                        fout.write((const char *) work.data(), size_cur);
+                        new_size += size_cur;
+                    }
                 }
                 LLAMA_LOG_INFO("size = %8.2f MiB -> %8.2f MiB\n", tensor_size/1024.0/1024.0, new_size/1024.0/1024.0);
             }
@@ -1273,10 +1293,8 @@ static void llama_model_quantize_impl(const std::string & fname_inp, const std::
             // update the gguf metadata as we go
             gguf_set_tensor_type(ctx_outs[cur_split].get(), metadata[i].name.c_str(), new_type);
             GGML_ASSERT(gguf_get_tensor_size(ctx_outs[cur_split].get(), gguf_find_tensor(ctx_outs[cur_split].get(), metadata[i].name.c_str())) == new_size);
-            gguf_set_tensor_data(ctx_outs[cur_split].get(), metadata[i].name.c_str(), new_data);
 
-            // write tensor data + padding
-            fout.write((const char *) new_data, new_size);
+            // tensor data is already written, add the padding
             zeros(fout, GGML_PAD(new_size, align) - new_size);
 
             // unmap the tensor to free memory
@@ -1323,7 +1341,8 @@ llama_model_quantize_params llama_model_quantize_default_params() {
         /*.imatrix                     =*/ nullptr,
         /*.kv_overrides                =*/ nullptr,
         /*.tensor_type                 =*/ nullptr,
-        /*.prune_layers                =*/ nullptr
+        /*.prune_layers                =*/ nullptr,
+        /*.max_buf_size                =*/ LLAMA_QUANT_MAX_BUF_SIZE
     };
 
     return result;

tools/quantize/quantize.cpp

@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ static bool try_parse_ftype(const std::string & ftype_str_in, llama_ftype & ftyp
 static void usage(const char * executable) {
     printf("usage: %s [--help] [--allow-requantize] [--leave-output-tensor] [--pure] [--imatrix] [--include-weights]\n", executable);
     printf("       [--exclude-weights] [--output-tensor-type] [--token-embedding-type] [--tensor-type] [--tensor-type-file]\n");
-    printf("       [--prune-layers] [--keep-split] [--override-kv] [--dry-run]\n");
+    printf("       [--prune-layers] [--keep-split] [--override-kv] [--dry-run] [--max-buffer-size]\n");
     printf("       model-f32.gguf [model-quant.gguf] type [nthreads]\n\n");
     printf("  --allow-requantize\n");
     printf("                                      allow requantizing tensors that have already been quantized\n");
@@ -161,7 +161,10 @@ static void usage(const char * executable) {
     printf("                                      WARNING: this is an advanced option, use with care.\n");
     printf("  --dry-run\n");
     printf("                                      calculate and show the final quantization size without performing quantization\n");
-    printf("                                      example: llama-quantize --dry-run model-f32.gguf Q4_K\n\n");
+    printf("                                      example: llama-quantize --dry-run model-f32.gguf Q4_K\n");
+    printf("  --max-buffer-size MiB\n");
+    printf("                                      max amount of tensor rows kept in memory while quantizing one tensor (default: 8192)\n");
+    printf("                                      lower it to quantize models with very large tensors on a machine with little RAM\n\n");
     printf("note: --include-weights and --exclude-weights cannot be used together\n\n");
     printf("-----------------------------------------------------------------------------\n");
     printf(" allowed quantization types\n");
@@ -467,6 +470,16 @@ int llama_quantize(int argc, char ** argv) {
             }
         } else if (strcmp(argv[arg_idx], "--keep-split") == 0) {
             params.keep_split = true;
+        } else if (strcmp(argv[arg_idx], "--max-buffer-size") == 0) {
+            if (arg_idx == argc-1) {
+                usage(argv[0]);
+            }
+            const int mib = atoi(argv[++arg_idx]);
+            if (mib <= 0) {
+                fprintf(stderr, "%s: invalid --max-buffer-size '%s'\n", __func__, argv[arg_idx]);
+                return 1;
+            }
+            params.max_buf_size = (size_t) mib * 1024 * 1024;
         } else {
             usage(argv[0]);
         }