Can Llama 3.2 3B Instruct run on NVIDIA L40 48GB?

YES — Runs Great

C44Usable

Estimated from fit model

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct needs ~8.2 GB VRAM. NVIDIA L40 48GB has 48.0 GB. With Q5_K_M quantization, expect ~48 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: HighStack: StandardBottleneck: 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) — 8.2 GB, 48.0 tok/s, Runs well

8.2 GB required48.0 GB available

17% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

48.0 tok/s

TTFT

4033 ms

Safe context

1.8M

Memory

8.2 GB / 48.0 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights2.2 GB

KV Cache0.4 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom4.8 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsLlama 3.2 3B Instruct on NVIDIA L40 48GB
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: 48.0 tok/s decode · 4.0s TTFT (warm) · 120 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	48.0 tok/s	2200 ms	1.8M
Coding	C	Runs well	48.0 tok/s	4033 ms	1.8M
Agentic Coding	C	Runs well	48.0 tok/s	5867 ms	1.8M
Reasoning	C	Runs well	48.0 tok/s	4767 ms	1.8M
RAG	C	Runs well	48.0 tok/s	7333 ms	1.8M

Quantization options

How Llama 3.2 3B Instruct (3B params) fits at each quantization level on NVIDIA L40 48GB (48.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	1.2 GB	Low	C42
Q3_K_S	3	1.5 GB	Low	C42
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Llama 3.2 3B Instruct on your machine.

Run

docker run --rm -it ghcr.io/ggerganov/llama.cpp:full \
  --hf-repo "bartowski/Llama-3.2-3B-Instruct-GGUF" \
  --hf-file "Llama-3.2-3B-Instruct-GGUF-Q5_K_M.gguf" \
  -c 4096 -ngl 99

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs Llama 3.2 3B Instruct well

MacBook Pro M4 Max 96GBBudget pick

96 GB Unified (+48)

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.42 tok/s decode

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

~$2,499 MSRP

MacBook Pro M2 Max 96GBBest value

96 GB Unified (+48)

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.42 tok/s decode

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

~$3,199 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can NVIDIA L40 48GB run Llama 3.2 3B Instruct?

Yes, NVIDIA L40 48GB can run Llama 3.2 3B Instruct with a C grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 48.0 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Llama 3.2 3B Instruct need?

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct (3B parameters) requires approximately 8.2 GB of memory with Q5_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Llama 3.2 3B Instruct?

The recommended quantization for Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is Q5_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Llama 3.2 3B Instruct run at on NVIDIA L40 48GB?

On NVIDIA L40 48GB, Llama 3.2 3B Instruct achieves approximately 48.0 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 4033ms using Q5_K_M quantization.

Can NVIDIA L40 48GB run Llama 3.2 3B Instruct for coding?

For coding workloads, Llama 3.2 3B Instruct on NVIDIA L40 48GB receives a C grade with 48.0 tok/s and 1.8M context.

What context window can Llama 3.2 3B Instruct use on NVIDIA L40 48GB?

On NVIDIA L40 48GB, Llama 3.2 3B Instruct can safely use up to 1.8M tokens of context. The model's official context limit is —, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

See all results for NVIDIA L40 48GB See all hardware for Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

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