Can NousResearch Hermes 4 14B run on RTX 3080 12GB?

Q: What should I upgrade first if NousResearch Hermes 4 14B feels slow on RTX 3080 12GB?

Buy headroom, not only minimum fit. A slightly larger memory tier gives you safer context growth and makes the recommendation more future-proof.

YES — With Offload

C52Usable

Estimated from fit model

NousResearch Hermes 4 14B needs ~12.3 GB VRAM. RTX 3080 12GB has 12.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~58 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: OffloadBandwidth: HighStack: StandardBottleneck: 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) — 12.3 GB, 56.8 tok/s, Runs with offload (needs ~0.2 GB host RAM)

12.3 GB required12.0 GB available

103% VRAM needed

0.3 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization

Fit status

Runs with offload (needs ~0.2 GB host RAM)

Decode

56.8 tok/s

TTFT

3407 ms

Safe context

13K

Memory

12.3 GB / 12.0 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights8.5 GB

KV Cache1.6 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom1.2 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsNousResearch Hermes 4 14B on RTX 3080 12GB
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: 56.8 tok/s decode · 3.4s TTFT (warm) · 142 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

This setup is broadly balanced for this model.

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

Buy headroom, not only minimum fit

A slightly larger memory tier gives you safer context growth and makes the recommendation more future-proof.

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	C	Runs with offload	81.2 tok/s	1301 ms	13K
Coding	C	Runs with offload	58.0 tok/s	3339 ms	13K
Agentic Coding	C	Very compromised	44.5 tok/s	6324 ms	13K
Reasoning	C	Runs with offload	58.0 tok/s	3946 ms	13K
RAG	C	Very compromised	44.5 tok/s	7905 ms	13K

Quantization options

How NousResearch Hermes 4 14B (14B params) fits at each quantization level on RTX 3080 12GB (12.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	5.5 GB	Low	C52
Q3_K_S	3	6.9 GB	Low	C52
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run NousResearch Hermes 4 14B on your machine.

Run

lms load hf-bartowski--nousresearch-hermes-4-14b-gguf && lms server start

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs NousResearch Hermes 4 14B well

RTX 5060 Ti 16GBBudget pick

16 GB VRAM (+4)

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.31.5 tok/s decode

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

~$449 MSRP

RTX 4060 Ti 16GBBest value

16 GB VRAM (+4)

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.25.8 tok/s decode

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

~$499 MSRP

RTX 2000 Ada 16GBNVIDIA upgrade

16 GB VRAM (+4)

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.25.6 tok/s decode

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

~$625 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can RTX 3080 12GB run NousResearch Hermes 4 14B?

Yes, RTX 3080 12GB can run NousResearch Hermes 4 14B with a C grade (Runs with offload). Expected decode speed: 58.0 tok/s.

How much VRAM does NousResearch Hermes 4 14B need?

NousResearch Hermes 4 14B (14B parameters) requires approximately 12.3 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for NousResearch Hermes 4 14B?

The recommended quantization for NousResearch Hermes 4 14B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will NousResearch Hermes 4 14B run at on RTX 3080 12GB?

On RTX 3080 12GB, NousResearch Hermes 4 14B achieves approximately 58.0 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 3339ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can RTX 3080 12GB run NousResearch Hermes 4 14B for coding?

For coding workloads, NousResearch Hermes 4 14B on RTX 3080 12GB receives a C grade with 58.0 tok/s and 13K context.

What context window can NousResearch Hermes 4 14B use on RTX 3080 12GB?

On RTX 3080 12GB, NousResearch Hermes 4 14B can safely use up to 13K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is —, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

See all results for RTX 3080 12GB See all hardware for NousResearch Hermes 4 14B

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