Can Llama 2 7B Chat run on GTX 1080 8GB?

YES — Tight Fit

C52Usable

Estimated from fit model

Llama 2 7B Chat needs ~7.1 GB VRAM. GTX 1080 8GB has 8.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~44 tok/s.

Runtime: OllamaCapacity: TightBandwidth: LowStack: 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

Q4_K_M (Medium quality) — 7.1 GB, 44.2 tok/s, Tight fit

7.1 GB required8.0 GB available

89% VRAM used

Fit status

Tight fit

Decode

44.2 tok/s

TTFT

4379 ms

Safe context

34K

Memory

7.1 GB / 8.0 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights4.3 GB

KV Cache0.8 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom0.8 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsLlama 2 7B Chat on GTX 1080 8GB
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: 44.2 tok/s decode · 4.4s TTFT (warm) · 111 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

This setup is broadly balanced for this model.

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

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	C	Tight fit	44.2 tok/s	2388 ms	34K
Coding	C	Tight fit	44.2 tok/s	4379 ms	34K
Agentic Coding	C	Runs with offload	44.2 tok/s	6369 ms	34K
Reasoning	C	Tight fit	44.2 tok/s	5175 ms	34K
RAG	C	Runs with offload	44.2 tok/s	7961 ms	34K

Quantization options

How Llama 2 7B Chat (7B params) fits at each quantization level on GTX 1080 8GB (8.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	2.7 GB	Low	C54
Q3_K_S	3	3.4 GB	Low	C54
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Llama 2 7B Chat on your machine.

Run

lms load hf-thebloke--llama-2-7b-chat-gguf && lms server start

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs Llama 2 7B Chat well

RTX 3060 12GBBudget pick

12 GB VRAM (+4)360 GB/s (+40)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 26%.55.6 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 26%.

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

~$329 MSRP

RTX 5070 12GBBest value

12 GB VRAM (+4)672 GB/s (+352)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 122%.98 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 122%.

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

~$549 MSRP

RTX 4070 Super 12GBNVIDIA upgrade

12 GB VRAM (+4)504 GB/s (+184)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 106%.90.9 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 106%.

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

~$599 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can GTX 1080 8GB run Llama 2 7B Chat?

Yes, GTX 1080 8GB can run Llama 2 7B Chat with a C grade (Tight fit). Expected decode speed: 44.2 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Llama 2 7B Chat need?

Llama 2 7B Chat (7B parameters) requires approximately 7.1 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Llama 2 7B Chat?

The recommended quantization for Llama 2 7B Chat is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Llama 2 7B Chat run at on GTX 1080 8GB?

On GTX 1080 8GB, Llama 2 7B Chat achieves approximately 44.2 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 4379ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can GTX 1080 8GB run Llama 2 7B Chat for coding?

For coding workloads, Llama 2 7B Chat on GTX 1080 8GB receives a C grade with 44.2 tok/s and 34K context.

What context window can Llama 2 7B Chat use on GTX 1080 8GB?

On GTX 1080 8GB, Llama 2 7B Chat can safely use up to 34K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is —, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

See all results for GTX 1080 8GB See all hardware for Llama 2 7B Chat

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