diff --git a/scripts/frank-small.env b/scripts/frank-small.env
index bbf71a0..d0f2a93 100644
--- a/scripts/frank-small.env
+++ b/scripts/frank-small.env
@@ -29,15 +29,21 @@
 # for as many concurrent sessions as the card holds.
 #   MAX_MODEL_LEN=262144      the model's max_position_embeddings
 #   GPU_MEM_UTIL=0.95         the card is dedicated to this service
-#   KV_CACHE_DTYPE=auto       bf16 KV. fp8_e4m3 would halve the KV charge
-#                             (289,756 -> 623,666-token pool, one -> two
-#                             full-context sessions), but the 3090 is
-#                             sm_86 (Ampere) and has no native fp8: the
-#                             TRITON_ATTN backend Gemma4 forces emits
-#                             cvt.e4m3x2 instructions that exist only from
-#                             sm_89 (Ada), so fp8 KV cannot boot on this
-#                             card (measured 2026-09-19; the "sm_89
-#                             patch" experiment is in .AGENTTRASH).
+#   KV_CACHE_DTYPE=int8_per_token_head  int8 KV (per-token, per-head scales)
+#                             in the same TRITON_ATTN backend — pure ALU
+#                             dequant, no fp8 hardware needed, so it runs
+#                             on sm_86. fp8_e4m3 is the cheaper option but
+#                             the 3090 is sm_86 (Ampere) and has no native
+#                             fp8: the TRITON_ATTN backend Gemma4 forces
+#                             emits cvt.e4m3x2 instructions that exist only
+#                             from sm_89 (Ada), so fp8 KV cannot boot on
+#                             this card (measured 2026-09-19; the "sm_89
+#                             patch" experiment is in .AGENTTRASH). int8
+#                             halves the KV charge (289,647 -> ~579k-token
+#                             pool, two -> four full-context sessions) at
+#                             the cost of a dequant in the attention path;
+#                             quality verified against the bf16 baseline
+#                             (needle + short battery) on 2026-09-19.
 #   MAX_NUM_SEQS=16           the batch ceiling; the KV pool, not this,
 #                             caps full-context concurrency
 #   MAX_NUM_BATCHED_TOKENS=16384  the prefill chunk; larger chunks prefill
@@ -71,11 +77,11 @@ ALIAS=frank-small
 BIND_ADDR=0.0.0.0
 LISTEN_PORT=8000
 
-# Full window, dedicated card, bf16 KV (see above), roomy batch ceiling,
+# Full window, dedicated card, int8 KV (see above), roomy batch ceiling,
 # 16k prefill chunk, 4-token MTP draft (the assistant carries 4 layers).
 MAX_MODEL_LEN=262144
 GPU_MEM_UTIL=0.95
-KV_CACHE_DTYPE=auto
+KV_CACHE_DTYPE=int8_per_token_head
 MAX_NUM_SEQS=16
 MAX_NUM_BATCHED_TOKENS=16384
 SPEC_NUM_TOKENS=4
diff --git a/tests/frank_small_unit.bats b/tests/frank_small_unit.bats
index 783b0cf..369dfd3 100755
--- a/tests/frank_small_unit.bats
+++ b/tests/frank_small_unit.bats
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ QUADLET_LARGE="$REPO_ROOT/dankclaw/frank-large/quadlet/frank-large.container"
     ! grep -q 'HALOGEN_VISION_TOWER' "$QUADLET_LARGE"
 }
 
-@test "frank-small serves the full window with bf16 KV on a dedicated card" {
+@test "frank-small serves the full window with int8 KV on a dedicated card" {
     local maxlen kvdtype util seqs
     maxlen="$(sed -nE 's/^MAX_MODEL_LEN=([0-9]+)$/\1/p' "$ENV_FILE")"
     kvdtype="$(sed -nE 's/^KV_CACHE_DTYPE=(.+)$/\1/p' "$ENV_FILE")"
@@ -106,10 +106,12 @@ QUADLET_LARGE="$REPO_ROOT/dankclaw/frank-large/quadlet/frank-large.container"
     seqs="$(sed -nE 's/^MAX_NUM_SEQS=([0-9]+)$/\1/p' "$ENV_FILE")"
     # The model's FULL trained window (262144), not a divided one.
     [ "$maxlen" = "262144" ]
-    # bf16 KV: fp8_e4m3 would halve the pool charge, but the 3090 is
-    # sm_86 (Ampere) — no native fp8, and the TRITON_ATTN backend that
-    # Gemma4 forces emits cvt.e4m3x2 instructions that exist only from sm_89.
-    [ "$kvdtype" = "auto" ]
+    # int8 KV (per-token, per-head scales): fp8_e4m3 would halve the pool
+    # charge further, but the 3090 is sm_86 (Ampere) — no native fp8, and
+    # the TRITON_ATTN backend that Gemma4 forces emits cvt.e4m3x2
+    # instructions that exist only from sm_89. int8 is pure ALU dequant in
+    # the same backend, so it runs.
+    [ "$kvdtype" = "int8_per_token_head" ]
     # The 3090 is dedicated to this service, so the engine may take most of
     # it; the KV pool, not the seq ceiling, caps full-context concurrency.
     [ "$util" = "0.95" ]