Can Dolphin 2.9 8B run on NVIDIA A100 40GB?

YES — Runs Great

C49Usable

Estimated from fit model

Dolphin 2.9 8B needs ~12.0 GB VRAM. NVIDIA A100 40GB has 40.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~112 tok/s.

Runtime: OllamaCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: HighStack: BasicBottleneck: Balanced

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.

Capabilities:

Select quantization to explore

Q4_K_M (Medium quality) — 12.0 GB, 112.0 tok/s, Runs well

12.0 GB required40.0 GB available

30% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

112.0 tok/s

TTFT

1729 ms

Safe context

33K

Memory

12.0 GB / 40.0 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights4.9 GB

KV Cache2.0 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom4.0 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsDolphin 2.9 8B on NVIDIA A100 40GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>What is local AI inference?
Local AI inference means running an AI language model directly on your own hardware — your laptop, desktop, or server — instead of sending requests to a remote cloud API.

When you run inference locally the model weights are loaded into your GPU or unified memory. Each token you generate requires reading those weights from memory, so memory bandwidth is the main bottleneck for decode speed.

Key benefits of running locally:
  - Full privacy: your prompts never leave your machine
  - No per-token cost or rate limits
  - Works offline once the model is downloaded
  - Latency depends only on your hardware
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>How much VRAM do I need?
It depends on the model size and quantization level. A rough rule of thumb:

  Model size     Q4 (4-bit)    Q8 (8-bit)    FP16
  7B params      ~4.3 GB       ~7.5 GB       ~14 GB
  13B params     ~7.9 GB       ~13.9 GB      ~26 GB
  70B params     ~42.7 GB      ~74.9 GB      ~140 GB

Most people use 4-bit quantization (Q4_K_M) which gives 90-95% of full quality at a fraction of the memory. A 24 GB GPU can comfortably run most 7B-13B models.
Estimated: 112.0 tok/s decode · 1.7s TTFT (warm) · 280 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

This setup is broadly balanced for this model.

No major red flags

This recommendation has enough memory headroom and acceptable estimated speed for the selected workload.

Best improvement path

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	C	Runs well	112.0 tok/s	943 ms	33K
Coding	C	Runs well	112.0 tok/s	1729 ms	33K
Agentic Coding	C	Runs well	112.0 tok/s	2514 ms	33K
Reasoning	C	Runs well	112.0 tok/s	2043 ms	33K
RAG	C	Runs well	112.0 tok/s	3143 ms	33K

Quantization options

How Dolphin 2.9 8B (8B params) fits at each quantization level on NVIDIA A100 40GB (40.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	3.1 GB	Low	C43
Q3_K_S	3	3.9 GB	Low	C43
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Dolphin 2.9 8B on your machine.

Run

ollama run dolphin-llama3

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs Dolphin 2.9 8B well

Mac Studio M2 Ultra 64GBBudget pick

64 GB Unified (+24)

This setup is broadly balanced for this model.102.2 tok/s decode

~$3,999 MSRP

Mac Studio M1 Ultra 64GBBest value

64 GB Unified (+24)

This setup is broadly balanced for this model.96.9 tok/s decode

~$3,999 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can NVIDIA A100 40GB run Dolphin 2.9 8B?

Yes, NVIDIA A100 40GB can run Dolphin 2.9 8B with a C grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 112.0 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Dolphin 2.9 8B need?

Dolphin 2.9 8B (8B parameters) requires approximately 12.0 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Dolphin 2.9 8B?

The recommended quantization for Dolphin 2.9 8B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Dolphin 2.9 8B run at on NVIDIA A100 40GB?

On NVIDIA A100 40GB, Dolphin 2.9 8B achieves approximately 112.0 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 1729ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can NVIDIA A100 40GB run Dolphin 2.9 8B for coding?

For coding workloads, Dolphin 2.9 8B on NVIDIA A100 40GB receives a C grade with 112.0 tok/s and 33K context.

What context window can Dolphin 2.9 8B use on NVIDIA A100 40GB?

On NVIDIA A100 40GB, Dolphin 2.9 8B can safely use up to 33K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 33K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

See all results for NVIDIA A100 40GB See all hardware for Dolphin 2.9 8B

Embed this result▼

Paste this snippet into any page to show a live fit card.

<iframe src="https://willitrunai.com/embed/dolphin-2.9-8b-on-a100-40gb" width="400" height="180" frameborder="0" style="border:none;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;" title="Will It Run AI — fit result"></iframe>

Preview: