diff --git a/crates/ml/src/trainers/dqn/config.rs b/crates/ml/src/trainers/dqn/config.rs
index 62bac46b1..6ddd3c26a 100644
--- a/crates/ml/src/trainers/dqn/config.rs
+++ b/crates/ml/src/trainers/dqn/config.rs
@@ -1739,7 +1739,7 @@ pub(crate) fn dqn_default_config() -> DQNConfig {
 
         // CQL + IQN (2026 modernization)
         cql_alpha: 1.0,
-        iqn_num_quantiles: 64,
+        iqn_num_quantiles: 32, // 64→32: saves 4.3GB VRAM, halves IQN GEMMs, diminishing returns past 32
         iqn_kappa: 1.0,
         iqn_embedding_dim: 64,
         cvar_alpha: 0.05,