Can Granite 4.1 8B run on RTX 3070 8GB?

Q: What should I upgrade first if Granite 4.1 8B feels slow on RTX 3070 8GB?

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.

BARELY — Tight on Memory

B65Good

Estimated from fit model

Granite 4.1 8B needs ~9.3 GB VRAM. RTX 3070 8GB has 8.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~35 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.

Capabilities:

Select quantization to explore

Q4_K_M (Medium quality) — 9.3 GB, 37.6 tok/s, Very compromised (needs ~0.7 GB host RAM)

9.3 GB required8.0 GB available

116% VRAM needed

1.3 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization

Fit status

Very compromised (needs ~0.7 GB host RAM)

Decode

37.6 tok/s

TTFT

5155 ms

Safe context

Memory

9.3 GB / 8.0 GB

Offload

10%

Memory breakdown

Weights4.9 GB

KV Cache2.4 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom0.8 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsGranite 4.1 8B on RTX 3070 8GB
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: 37.6 tok/s decode · 5.2s TTFT (warm) · 94 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 {ram} 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	Runs with offload (needs ~0.1 GB host RAM)	50.5 tok/s	2093 ms	7K
Coding	B	Very compromised	34.9 tok/s	5542 ms	7K
Agentic Coding	F	Too heavy	23.0 tok/s	12236 ms	7K
Reasoning	B	Very compromised (needs ~0.7 GB host RAM)	37.6 tok/s	6092 ms	7K
RAG	F	Too heavy	23.0 tok/s	15295 ms

Quantization options

How Granite 4.1 8B (8B params) fits at each quantization level on RTX 3070 8GB (8.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	3.1 GB	Low	A78
Q3_K_S	3	3.9 GB	Low	A78
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Granite 4.1 8B on your machine.

Run

ollama run granite4.1:8b

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs Granite 4.1 8B well

RTX 3060 12GBBudget pick

12 GB VRAM (+4)

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.52.3 tok/s decode

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

Raises estimated decode speed by about 39%.

~$329 MSRP

RTX 5060 Ti 16GBBest value

16 GB VRAM (+8)

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.61.2 tok/s decode

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

Raises estimated decode speed by about 63%.

~$449 MSRP

RTX 4060 Ti 16GBNVIDIA upgrade

16 GB VRAM (+8)

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.46.3 tok/s decode

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

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

~$499 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can RTX 3070 8GB run Granite 4.1 8B?

Yes, RTX 3070 8GB can run Granite 4.1 8B with a B grade (Very compromised). Expected decode speed: 34.9 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Granite 4.1 8B need?

Granite 4.1 8B (8B parameters) requires approximately 9.3 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Granite 4.1 8B?

The recommended quantization for Granite 4.1 8B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Granite 4.1 8B run at on RTX 3070 8GB?

On RTX 3070 8GB, Granite 4.1 8B achieves approximately 34.9 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 5542ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can RTX 3070 8GB run Granite 4.1 8B for coding?

For coding workloads, Granite 4.1 8B on RTX 3070 8GB receives a B grade with 34.9 tok/s and 7K context.

What context window can Granite 4.1 8B use on RTX 3070 8GB?

On RTX 3070 8GB, Granite 4.1 8B can safely use up to 7K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 131K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

What should I upgrade first if Granite 4.1 8B feels slow on RTX 3070 8GB?

See all results for RTX 3070 8GB See all hardware for Granite 4.1 8B

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