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

Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct (8B parameters) requires approximately 8.1 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?

Yes, RTX 5060 8GB can run Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct with a C grade (Runs with offload). Expected decode speed: 65.2 tok/s.

CUsable

Runs with offload

Using Q4_K_M in Ollama

Capabilities:

Fit status

Runs with offload

Decode

65.2 tok/s

TTFT

2969 ms

Safe context

16K

Memory

8.1 GB / 8.0 GB

Weights4.9 GB

KV Cache1.3 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom0.8 GB

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Agentic Coding	C	Very compromised (needs ~0.7 GB host RAM)	49.4 tok/s	5699 ms	27K
Chat	C	Runs with offload	56.0 tok/s	1886 ms	8K
Coding	C	Runs with offload	65.2 tok/s	2969 ms	16K
RAG	C	Very compromised (needs ~0.7 GB host RAM)	49.4 tok/s	7124 ms	27K
Reasoning	C	Runs with offload (needs ~0.1 GB host RAM)	55.3 tok/s	4139 ms

How Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct (8B params) fits at each quantization level on RTX 5060 8GB (8.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	3.1 GB	Low	D38
Q3_K_S	3	3.9 GB	Low	D40
NVFP4	4

Upgrade options

Intel Arc B580 12GBBudget pick

C44.9 tok/s decode

~$249 MSRP

RTX 3060 12GBBest value

B48.7 tok/s decode

~$329 MSRP

RTX 3080 12GBBiggest leap

B142 tok/s decode

~$799 MSRP

RTX 3080 Ti 12GBNVIDIA upgrade

B138.3 tok/s decode

~$1,199 MSRP