Can Falcon 40B Instruct run on NVIDIA A16 64GB?

YES — Runs Great

B70Good

Estimated from fit model

Falcon 40B Instruct needs ~38.2 GB VRAM. NVIDIA A16 64GB has 64.0 GB. With Q5_K_M quantization, expect ~17 tok/s.

Runtime: OllamaCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: MediumStack: 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

Q5_K_M (High quality) — 38.2 GB, 18.0 tok/s, Runs well

38.2 GB required64.0 GB available

60% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

18.0 tok/s

TTFT

10740 ms

Safe context

Memory

38.2 GB / 64.0 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights28.8 GB

KV Cache1.8 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom6.4 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsFalcon 40B Instruct on NVIDIA A16 64GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>Solve: If a train travels at 60 mph for 2.5 hours, how far does it go?
Let me work through this step by step.

Given information:
  - Speed = 60 mph (miles per hour)
  - Time  = 2.5 hours

Formula: Distance = Speed x Time

Calculation:
  Distance = 60 mph x 2.5 h
           = 150 miles

The train travels 150 miles.

Double-check: at 60 mph the train covers 60 miles each hour. In half an hour it covers 30 miles. So in 2.5 hours: 60 + 60 + 30 = 150 miles. Confirmed.
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>What if the train stops for 20 minutes halfway?
The stop doesn't change the total distance covered while moving, but it affects total trip time.

Breakdown:
  - First half: 1.25 hours at 60 mph = 75 miles
  - Stop: 20 minutes (no distance)
  - Second half: 1.25 hours at 60 mph = 75 miles

Total distance: 150 miles (same)
Total time: 2.5 h + 0.33 h = 2.83 hours
Average speed: 150 / 2.83 = 53 mph

The distance stays the same but average speed drops to 53 mph because of the stop.
Estimated: 18.0 tok/s decode · 10.7s TTFT (warm) · 45 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	B	Runs well	18.0 tok/s	5858 ms	8K
Coding	B	Runs well	16.6 tok/s	11680 ms	8K
Agentic Coding	A	Runs well	18.0 tok/s	15622 ms	8K
Reasoning	A	Runs well	18.0 tok/s	12693 ms	8K
RAG	A	Runs well	18.0 tok/s	19528 ms	8K

Quantization options

How Falcon 40B Instruct (40B params) fits at each quantization level on NVIDIA A16 64GB (64.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	15.6 GB	Low	B63
Q3_K_S	3	19.6 GB	Low	B64
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Falcon 40B Instruct on your machine.

Run

docker run --rm -it ghcr.io/ggerganov/llama.cpp:full \
  --hf-repo "tiiuae/falcon-40b-instruct" \
  --hf-file "falcon-40b-instruct-Q5_K_M.gguf" \
  -c 4096 -ngl 99

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs Falcon 40B Instruct well

RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Workstation Edition 96GBBudget pick

96 GB VRAM (+32)1792 GB/s (+1192)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 222%.58 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 222%.

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

~$9,999 MSRP

NVIDIA H20 96GBBest value

96 GB VRAM (+32)4000 GB/s (+3400)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 593%.124.8 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 593%.

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

~$12,000 MSRP

NVIDIA A100 80GBNVIDIA upgrade

80 GB VRAM (+16)2039 GB/s (+1439)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 267%.66 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 267%.

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

~$15,000 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can NVIDIA A16 64GB run Falcon 40B Instruct?

Yes, NVIDIA A16 64GB can run Falcon 40B Instruct with a B grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 16.6 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Falcon 40B Instruct need?

Falcon 40B Instruct (40B parameters) requires approximately 38.2 GB of memory with Q5_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Falcon 40B Instruct?

The recommended quantization for Falcon 40B Instruct is Q5_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Falcon 40B Instruct run at on NVIDIA A16 64GB?

On NVIDIA A16 64GB, Falcon 40B Instruct achieves approximately 16.6 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 11680ms using Q5_K_M quantization.

Can NVIDIA A16 64GB run Falcon 40B Instruct for coding?

For coding workloads, Falcon 40B Instruct on NVIDIA A16 64GB receives a B grade with 16.6 tok/s and 8K context.

What context window can Falcon 40B Instruct use on NVIDIA A16 64GB?

On NVIDIA A16 64GB, Falcon 40B Instruct can safely use up to 8K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 8K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

See all results for NVIDIA A16 64GB See all hardware for Falcon 40B Instruct

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