Can DeepSeek Coder V2 16B run on RTX 3080 Ti 12GB?

Q: What should I upgrade first if DeepSeek Coder V2 16B feels slow on RTX 3080 Ti 12GB?

Remove offload with more accelerator memory. Prioritize a GPU or unified-memory tier that fits the whole model natively. Removing offload usually helps more than small compute gains.

YES — With Q3_K_S

A72Great

Estimated from fit model

DeepSeek Coder V2 16B needs ~13.5 GB VRAM. RTX 3080 Ti 12GB has 12.0 GB. With Q3_K_S quantization, expect ~111 tok/s.

Runtime: OllamaCapacity: OffloadBandwidth: HighStack: BasicBottleneck: Host offload

Operating mode

Choose the run profile you care about

Interactive favors responsiveness, while light API and scale-out lean harder on serving readiness. The fit stays the same, but the recommendation lens changes.

Current mode

Balanced

Balanced for general local use. Keeps the ranking neutral across personal and serving workflows.

DeepSeek Coder V2 16B at Q4_K_M needs 15.5 GB — too much for RTX 3080 Ti 12GB (12.0 GB). Runs at Q3_K_S (13.5 GB) with low quality. 2 quantization levels fit.

Capabilities:

Select quantization to explore

Q4_K_M (Medium quality) — 15.5 GB, exceeds 12.0 GB available

15.5 GB required12.0 GB available

129% VRAM needed

3.5 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization

Fit status

Too heavy

Decode

72.5 tok/s

TTFT

2671 ms

Safe context

Memory

15.5 GB / 12.0 GB

Offload

20%

Memory breakdown

Weights9.8 GB

KV Cache3.3 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom1.2 GB

See how fast it feels

With memory offload — actual speed may be lower

See how fast it feelsDeepSeek Coder V2 16B on RTX 3080 Ti 12GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>Write a Python function to sort a list
Here's a Python function that sorts a list using quicksort:

def quicksort(arr):
    if len(arr) <= 1:
        return arr
    pivot = arr[len(arr) // 2]
    left   = [x for x in arr if x < pivot]
    middle = [x for x in arr if x == pivot]
    right  = [x for x in arr if x > pivot]
    return quicksort(left) + middle + quicksort(right)

# Example usage
numbers = [3, 6, 8, 10, 1, 2, 1]
print(quicksort(numbers))  # [1, 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 10]

The algorithm picks a pivot, partitions the list into smaller, equal, and larger elements, then recursively sorts each partition and concatenates the results.
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>Now add type hints and a docstring
def quicksort(arr: list[int]) -> list[int]:
    """Sort a list using the quicksort algorithm.

    Args:
        arr: List of integers to sort.

    Returns:
        A new sorted list.
    """
    if len(arr) <= 1:
        return arr
    pivot = arr[len(arr) // 2]
    left   = [x for x in arr if x < pivot]
    middle = [x for x in arr if x == pivot]
    right  = [x for x in arr if x > pivot]
    return quicksort(left) + middle + quicksort(right)

Added type hints for the input and return type, plus a Google-style docstring.
Estimated: 72.5 tok/s decode · 2.7s TTFT (warm) · 181 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

It fits through host-memory offload, and offload is the main reason performance drops.

CPU or host-memory offload is active

About 10% of the working set spills out of accelerator memory, which usually hurts latency and sustained decode throughput.

Very little memory headroom

You can run the model, but there is not much room left for longer context, bigger batches, extra apps, or future model updates.

Best improvement path

Remove offload with more accelerator memory

Prioritize a GPU or unified-memory tier that fits the whole model natively. Removing offload usually helps more than small compute gains.

Buy headroom, not only minimum fit

A slightly larger memory tier gives you safer context growth and makes the recommendation more future-proof.

Increase host RAM if you keep offloading

This setup may need roughly 0.9 GB of extra host RAM just for the offloaded portion, before OS and other tools.

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	A	Very compromised (needs ~1.3 GB host RAM)	91.9 tok/s	1149 ms	4K
Coding	F	Too heavy	72.5 tok/s	2671 ms	4K
Agentic Coding	F	Too heavy	48.3 tok/s	5836 ms	4K
Reasoning	F	Too heavy	72.5 tok/s	3157 ms	4K
RAG	F	Too heavy	48.3 tok/s	7295 ms	4K

Quantization options

How DeepSeek Coder V2 16B (16B params) fits at each quantization level on RTX 3080 Ti 12GB (12.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	6.2 GB	Low	A81
Q3_K_SBest for your GPU	3	7.8 GB	Low	A80

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run DeepSeek Coder V2 16B on your machine.

Run

lms load DeepSeek-Coder-V2-Lite-Instruct && lms server start

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs DeepSeek Coder V2 16B well

RTX 5060 Ti 16GBBudget pick

16 GB VRAM (+4)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.67.8 tok/s decode

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.

~$449 MSRP

RTX 4060 Ti 16GBBest value

16 GB VRAM (+4)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.51.3 tok/s decode

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.

~$499 MSRP

RTX 2000 Ada 16GBNVIDIA upgrade

16 GB VRAM (+4)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.53.4 tok/s decode

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.

~$625 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can RTX 3080 Ti 12GB run DeepSeek Coder V2 16B?

Yes, RTX 3080 Ti 12GB can run DeepSeek Coder V2 16B at Q3_K_S quantization (Very compromised (needs ~0.9 GB host RAM)). The recommended Q4_K_M requires 15.5 GB which exceeds available memory, but at Q3_K_S it needs only 13.5 GB. Expected decode speed: 110.9 tok/s.

How much VRAM does DeepSeek Coder V2 16B need?

DeepSeek Coder V2 16B (16B parameters) requires approximately 15.5 GB at Q4_K_M quantization. On RTX 3080 Ti 12GB, it fits at Q3_K_S using 13.5 GB.

What is the best quantization for DeepSeek Coder V2 16B?

The recommended quantization is Q4_K_M, but on RTX 3080 Ti 12GB the best fitting quantization is Q3_K_S, which uses 13.5 GB.

What speed will DeepSeek Coder V2 16B run at on RTX 3080 Ti 12GB?

On RTX 3080 Ti 12GB, DeepSeek Coder V2 16B achieves approximately 110.9 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 1745ms using Q3_K_S quantization.

Can RTX 3080 Ti 12GB run DeepSeek Coder V2 16B for coding?

For coding workloads, DeepSeek Coder V2 16B on RTX 3080 Ti 12GB receives a F grade with 72.5 tok/s and 4K context.

What context window can DeepSeek Coder V2 16B use on RTX 3080 Ti 12GB?

On RTX 3080 Ti 12GB, DeepSeek Coder V2 16B can safely use up to 9K tokens of context at Q3_K_S quantization. The model's official context limit is 131K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

See all results for RTX 3080 Ti 12GB See all hardware for DeepSeek Coder V2 16B

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