diff --git a/app/worker.py b/app/worker.py
index 202191a..008dde0 100644
--- a/app/worker.py
+++ b/app/worker.py
@@ -73,6 +73,12 @@ WHISPER_LANGUAGE = os.getenv("WHISPER_LANGUAGE", "auto").strip()
 WHISPER_DEVICE = os.getenv("WHISPER_DEVICE", "auto").strip()
 WHISPER_DEVICE_INDEX = int(os.getenv("WHISPER_DEVICE_INDEX", "0"))
 WHISPER_CPU_THREADS = int(os.getenv("WHISPER_CPU_THREADS", "4"))
+# Decoding beam size (higher = more memory and quality). On GPU, 1 is typically fine.
+try:
+    _beam_env = os.getenv("WHISPER_BEAM_SIZE", "")
+    WHISPER_BEAM_SIZE = int(_beam_env) if _beam_env.strip() else (1 if (os.getenv("WHISPER_DEVICE", "auto").strip().lower() == "cuda") else 2)
+except Exception:
+    WHISPER_BEAM_SIZE = 1
 
 # --- Host load guards / thread limits ---
 # Limit ffmpeg threads (helps keep CPU in check when multiple workers run)
@@ -192,16 +198,17 @@ def get_model():
     return _model
 
 # --- Helper: Reset model with new device and device_index ---
-def reset_model(device: str, device_index: int | None = None):
+def reset_model(device: str, device_index: int | None = None, compute_type: str | None = None):
     """Reset the global _model to a new WhisperModel with the given device and device_index."""
     global _model
     idx = device_index if device_index is not None else WHISPER_DEVICE_INDEX
-    print(f"[whisper] resetting model='{MODEL_NAME}' device='{device}' idx={idx} compute='{COMPUTE}' threads={WHISPER_CPU_THREADS}", flush=True)
+    ctype = compute_type or COMPUTE
+    print(f"[whisper] resetting model='{MODEL_NAME}' device='{device}' idx={idx} compute='{ctype}' threads={WHISPER_CPU_THREADS}", flush=True)
     _model = WhisperModel(
         MODEL_NAME,
         device=device,
         device_index=idx,
-        compute_type=COMPUTE,
+        compute_type=ctype,
         cpu_threads=WHISPER_CPU_THREADS,
     )
 
@@ -211,23 +218,48 @@ def run_transcribe_with_fallback(wav_path: Path, lang):
     Try to transcribe with current model; on GPU/CUDA/HIP/ROCm/OOM errors, reset to CPU and retry once.
     Returns (segments, info) or raises exception.
     """
+    # First attempt with current settings
     try:
         model = get_model()
-        return model.transcribe(str(wav_path), vad_filter=True, language=lang)
+        return model.transcribe(str(wav_path), vad_filter=True, language=lang, beam_size=WHISPER_BEAM_SIZE)
     except Exception as e:
         msg = str(e)
-        gpu_errs = [
-            "CUDA", "cublas", "out of memory", "HIP", "ROCm", "device-side assert", "CUDNN", "cudaError", "cuda runtime", "cudaMalloc"
-        ]
-        if any(err.lower() in msg.lower() for err in gpu_errs):
-            print(f"[whisper] GPU error detected: '{msg}'. Retrying on CPU...", flush=True)
-            reset_model("cpu", 0)
+        lower_msg = msg.lower()
+        oom_markers = ["out of memory", "cudaerrormemoryallocation", "cublas", "cuda", "cudnn"]
+        # If we encountered a GPU-related error, attempt progressive fallbacks on GPU before CPU
+        if any(m in lower_msg for m in oom_markers):
+            # Decide GPU compute fallback ladder
+            compute_chain = []
+            base = (COMPUTE or "float16").lower()
+            if base not in compute_chain:
+                compute_chain.append(base)
+            for c in ("int8_float16", "int8"):
+                if c not in compute_chain:
+                    compute_chain.append(c)
+
+            for ctype in compute_chain[1:]:  # skip the first (already tried via get_model())
+                try:
+                    print(f"[whisper] GPU error '{msg}'. Retrying with compute_type='{ctype}' and beam_size=1...", flush=True)
+                    reset_model("cuda", WHISPER_DEVICE_INDEX, compute_type=ctype)
+                    model = get_model()
+                    return model.transcribe(str(wav_path), vad_filter=True, language=lang, beam_size=1)
+                except Exception as e2:
+                    emsg = str(e2).lower()
+                    if not any(m in emsg for m in oom_markers):
+                        # Non-GPU/oom error — rethrow
+                        print(f"[whisper] GPU retry failed: {e2}", flush=True)
+                        raise
+                    # else continue to next fallback
+            # Fall back to CPU if all GPU fallbacks failed
+            print(f"[whisper] GPU attempts exhausted ('{msg}'); falling back to CPU int8", flush=True)
+            reset_model("cpu", 0, compute_type="int8")
             try:
                 model = get_model()
-                return model.transcribe(str(wav_path), vad_filter=True, language=lang)
-            except Exception as e2:
-                print(f"[whisper] CPU fallback also failed: {e2}", flush=True)
+                return model.transcribe(str(wav_path), vad_filter=True, language=lang, beam_size=1)
+            except Exception as e3:
+                print(f"[whisper] CPU fallback also failed: {e3}", flush=True)
                 raise
+        # Non-GPU error — rethrow
         raise