How much VRAM does Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct need?

Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct (8B parameters) requires approximately 7.7 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct?

The recommended quantization for Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

Can it run?

No, Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct requires more memory than GTX 1650 4GB provides.

FWon't run

Too heavy

Using Q4_K_M in Ollama

Capabilities:

Fit status

Too heavy

Decode

18.9 tok/s

TTFT

10251 ms

Safe context

Memory

7.7 GB / 4.0 GB

Weights4.9 GB

KV Cache1.3 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom0.4 GB

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Agentic Coding	F	Too heavy	13.1 tok/s	21472 ms	14K
Chat	F	Too heavy	13.1 tok/s	8052 ms	4K
Coding	F	Too heavy	18.9 tok/s	10251 ms	8K
RAG	F	Too heavy	13.1 tok/s	26840 ms	14K
Reasoning	F	Too heavy	13.1 tok/s	17446 ms	8K

How Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct (8B params) fits at each quantization level on GTX 1650 4GB (4.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	3.1 GB	Low	C44
Q3_K_S	3	3.9 GB	Low	C44
NVFP4	4

Upgrade options

Intel Arc B580 12GBBudget pick

C44.9 tok/s decode

~$249 MSRP

RX 7600 8GBBest value

C33.8 tok/s decode

~$269 MSRP

RTX 3080 12GBBiggest leap

B142 tok/s decode

~$799 MSRP

RTX 3080 Ti 12GBNVIDIA upgrade