Using Bartowski's Q6_K quantization of MiniMax M2.1 on llama.cpp's server led to difficulties in generating accurate unit tests for a function called interval2short(), which formats time intervals into short strings. The Q6 quantization struggled to correctly identify the output format, often engaging in extensive and redundant processing without arriving at the correct result. In contrast, upgrading to Q8 quantization resolved these issues efficiently, achieving correct results with fewer tokens. Despite the advantage of Q6 fitting entirely in VRAM, the performance of Q8 suggests it may be worth the extra effort to manage GPU allocations for better accuracy. This matters because choosing the right model quantization can significantly impact the efficiency and accuracy of coding tasks.
