Abstract We investigate optimal decay rates for higher–order spatial derivatives of strong solutions to the 3D Cauchy problem of the compressible viscous quantum magnetohydrodynamic model in the H 5 × H 4 × H 4 framework, and the main novelty of this work is three–fold: First, we show that fourth order spatial derivative of the solution converges to zero at the L 2 - rate ( 1 + t ) - 11 4 {L^2} - {\rm{rate}}\,{(1 + t)^{- {{11} \over 4}}} , which is same as one of the heat equation, and particularly faster than the L 2 - rate ( 1 + t ) - 5 4 {L^2} - {\rm{rate}}\,{(1 + t)^{- {5 \over 4}}} in Pu–Xu [Z. Angew. Math. Phys., 68:1, 2017] and the L 2 - rate ( 1 + t ) - 9 4 {L^2} - {\rm{rate}}\,{(1 + t)^{- {9 \over 4}}} , in Xi–Pu–Guo [Z. Angew. Math. Phys., 70:1, 2019]. Second, we prove that fifth–order spatial derivative of density ρ converges to zero at the L 2 - rate ( 1 + t ) - 13 4 {L^2} - {\rm{rate}}\,{(1 + t)^{- {{13} \over 4}}} , which is same as that of the heat equation, and particularly faster than ones of Pu–Xu [Z. Angew. Math. Phys., 68:1, 2017] and Xi–Pu–Guo [Z. Angew. Math. Phys., 70:1, 2019]. Third, we show that the high-frequency part of the fourth order spatial derivatives of the velocity u and magnetic B converge to zero at the L 2 - rate ( 1 + t ) - 13 4 {L^2} - {\rm{rate}}\,{(1 + t)^{- {{13} \over 4}}} , which are faster than ones of themselves, and totally new as compared to Pu–Xu [Z. Angew. Math. Phys., 68:1, 2017] and Xi–Pu–Guo [Z. Angew. Math. Phys., 70:1, 2019].