Can Granite 4.1 30B run on NVIDIA T4 16GB?

Q: What should I upgrade first if Granite 4.1 30B feels slow on NVIDIA T4 16GB?

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 Q2_K

B69Good

Estimated from fit model

Granite 4.1 30B needs ~18.4 GB VRAM. NVIDIA T4 16GB has 16.0 GB. With Q2_K quantization, expect ~9 tok/s.

Runtime: OllamaCapacity: OffloadBandwidth: LowStack: 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.

Granite 4.1 30B at Q4_K_M needs 25.0 GB — too much for NVIDIA T4 16GB (16.0 GB). Runs at Q2_K (18.4 GB) with low quality.

Capabilities:

Select quantization to explore

Q4_K_M (Medium quality) — 25.0 GB, exceeds 16.0 GB available

25.0 GB required16.0 GB available

156% VRAM needed

9.0 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization

Fit status

Too heavy

Decode

3.3 tok/s

TTFT

57913 ms

Safe context

Memory

25.0 GB / 16.0 GB

Offload

40%

Memory breakdown

Weights18.3 GB

KV Cache3.9 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom1.6 GB

See how fast it feels

With memory offload — actual speed may be lower

See how fast it feelsGranite 4.1 30B on NVIDIA T4 16GB
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: 3.3 tok/s decode · 57.9s TTFT (warm) · 8 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.

Older PCIe generation

PCIe 3.0 is workable, but it compounds the penalty when you offload heavily or try to scale across multiple cards.

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 1.5 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	F	Too heavy	4.0 tok/s	26423 ms	4K
Coding	F	Too heavy	3.3 tok/s	57913 ms	4K
Agentic Coding	F	Too heavy	2.4 tok/s	115861 ms	4K
Reasoning	F	Too heavy	3.3 tok/s	68443 ms	4K
RAG	F	Too heavy	2.4 tok/s	144826 ms	4K

Quantization options

How Granite 4.1 30B (30B params) fits at each quantization level on NVIDIA T4 16GB (16.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	11.7 GB	Low	F0
Q3_K_S	3	14.7 GB	Low	F0
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Granite 4.1 30B on your machine.

Run

ollama run granite4.1:30b

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs Granite 4.1 30B well

RTX 3090 24GBBudget pick

24 GB VRAM (+8)936 GB/s (+616)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.24.8 tok/s decode

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

Raises estimated decode speed by about 652%.

~$1,499 MSRP

RTX 4090 24GBBest value

24 GB VRAM (+8)1008 GB/s (+688)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.29 tok/s decode

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

Raises estimated decode speed by about 779%.

~$1,599 MSRP

RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell 24GBNVIDIA upgrade

24 GB VRAM (+8)672 GB/s (+352)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.21.9 tok/s decode

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

Raises estimated decode speed by about 564%.

~$1,599 MSRP

NVIDIA A100 40GBBiggest leap

40 GB VRAM (+24)1555 GB/s (+1235)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.76.7 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.

~$10,000 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can NVIDIA T4 16GB run Granite 4.1 30B?

Yes, NVIDIA T4 16GB can run Granite 4.1 30B at Q2_K quantization (Very compromised (needs ~1.5 GB host RAM)). The recommended Q4_K_M requires 25.0 GB which exceeds available memory, but at Q2_K it needs only 18.4 GB. Expected decode speed: 8.7 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Granite 4.1 30B need?

Granite 4.1 30B (30B parameters) requires approximately 25.0 GB at Q4_K_M quantization. On NVIDIA T4 16GB, it fits at Q2_K using 18.4 GB.

What is the best quantization for Granite 4.1 30B?

The recommended quantization is Q4_K_M, but on NVIDIA T4 16GB the best fitting quantization is Q2_K, which uses 18.4 GB.

What speed will Granite 4.1 30B run at on NVIDIA T4 16GB?

On NVIDIA T4 16GB, Granite 4.1 30B achieves approximately 8.7 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 22225ms using Q2_K quantization.

Can NVIDIA T4 16GB run Granite 4.1 30B for coding?

For coding workloads, Granite 4.1 30B on NVIDIA T4 16GB receives a F grade with 3.3 tok/s and 4K context.

What context window can Granite 4.1 30B use on NVIDIA T4 16GB?

On NVIDIA T4 16GB, Granite 4.1 30B can safely use up to 6K tokens of context at Q2_K quantization. The model's official context limit is 131K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

See all results for NVIDIA T4 16GB See all hardware for Granite 4.1 30B

Embed this result▼

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

<iframe src="https://willitrunai.com/embed/granite-4.1-30b-on-t4-16gb" width="400" height="180" frameborder="0" style="border:none;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;" title="Will It Run AI — fit result"></iframe>

Preview: