Question 1

Can MacBook Pro M3 Pro 36GB run Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?

Accepted Answer

Yes, MacBook Pro M3 Pro 36GB can run Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct with a C grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 20.0 tok/s.

Question 2

How much VRAM does Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct need?

Accepted Answer

Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct (8B parameters) requires approximately 11.2 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

Question 3

What is the best quantization for Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?

Accepted Answer

The recommended quantization for Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Agentic Coding	C	Runs well	22.4 tok/s	12550 ms	67K
Chat	C	Runs well	22.4 tok/s	4706 ms	19K
Coding	C	Runs well	20.0 tok/s	9690 ms	37K
RAG	C	Runs well	22.4 tok/s	15687 ms	67K
Reasoning	C	Runs well	22.4 tok/s	10197 ms	37K

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	3.1 GB	Low	D32
Q3_K_S	3	3.9 GB	Low	D33
NVFP4	4

Can MacBook Pro M3 Pro 36GB run Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?

Memory breakdown