Can Llama 3.1 8B run on RTX 3060 12GB?

YES — Runs Great

A76Great

Estimated from fit model

Llama 3.1 8B needs ~9.2 GB VRAM. RTX 3060 12GB has 12.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~52 tok/s.

Runtime: OllamaCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: 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) — 9.2 GB, 52.3 tok/s, Runs well

9.2 GB required12.0 GB available

77% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

52.3 tok/s

TTFT

3699 ms

Safe context

39K

Memory

9.2 GB / 12.0 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights4.9 GB

KV Cache2.0 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom1.2 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsLlama 3.1 8B on RTX 3060 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: 52.3 tok/s decode · 3.7s TTFT (warm) · 131 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	A	Runs well	52.3 tok/s	2018 ms	39K
Coding	A	Runs well	52.3 tok/s	3699 ms	39K
Agentic Coding	A	Tight fit	52.3 tok/s	5380 ms	39K
Reasoning	A	Runs well	52.3 tok/s	4371 ms	39K
RAG	A	Tight fit	52.3 tok/s	6725 ms	39K

Quantization options

How Llama 3.1 8B (8B params) fits at each quantization level on RTX 3060 12GB (12.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	3.1 GB	Low	A70
Q3_K_S	3	3.9 GB	Low	A72
NVFP4	4	4.5 GB	Medium	A72
Q4_K_M	4	4.9 GB	Medium	A73
Q5_K_M	5	5.8 GB	High	A73
Q6_K	6	6.6 GB	High	A73
Q8_0Best for your GPU	8	8.6 GB	Very High	A73
F16	16	16.4 GB	Maximum	F0

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Llama 3.1 8B on your machine.

Run

ollama run llama3.1

Your hardware

More models your RTX 3060 12GB can run

Model	Params	Grade	Decode
Qwen 3.5 9B	9B	S	46.5 tok/s
Qwen 3 14B	14B	A	17.9 tok/s
Ministral 3 14B	14B	A	17.8 tok/s
Phi-4 14B	14B	B	16.2 tok/s
Qwen 2.5 14B	14B	B	16.6 tok/s

Frequently asked questions

Can RTX 3060 12GB run Llama 3.1 8B?

Yes, RTX 3060 12GB can run Llama 3.1 8B with a A grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 52.3 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Llama 3.1 8B need?

Llama 3.1 8B (8B parameters) requires approximately 9.2 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Llama 3.1 8B?

The recommended quantization for Llama 3.1 8B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Llama 3.1 8B run at on RTX 3060 12GB?

On RTX 3060 12GB, Llama 3.1 8B achieves approximately 52.3 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 3699ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can RTX 3060 12GB run Llama 3.1 8B for coding?

For coding workloads, Llama 3.1 8B on RTX 3060 12GB receives a A grade with 52.3 tok/s and 39K context.

What context window can Llama 3.1 8B use on RTX 3060 12GB?

On RTX 3060 12GB, Llama 3.1 8B can safely use up to 39K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 128K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

See all results for RTX 3060 12GB See all hardware for Llama 3.1 8B

Embed this result▼

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

<iframe src="https://willitrunai.com/embed/llama-3.1-8b-on-rtx-3060-12gb" width="400" height="180" frameborder="0" style="border:none;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;" title="Will It Run AI — fit result"></iframe>

Preview:

Workload

Grade

Fit

Decode

TTFT

Context

Chat

Runs well

52.3 tok/s

2018 ms

39K

Coding

Runs well

52.3 tok/s

3699 ms

39K

Agentic Coding

Tight fit

52.3 tok/s

5380 ms

39K

Reasoning

Runs well

52.3 tok/s

4371 ms

39K

RAG

Tight fit

52.3 tok/s

6725 ms

39K

Quant

Bits

VRAM

Quality

Fit

Q2_K

3.1 GB

Low

A70

Q3_K_S

3.9 GB

Low

A72

NVFP4

4.5 GB

Medium

A72

Q4_K_M

4.9 GB

Medium

A73

Q5_K_M

5.8 GB

High

A73

Q6_K

6.6 GB

High

A73

Q8_0Best for your GPU

8.6 GB

Very High

A73

F16

16.4 GB

Maximum

Model

Params

Grade

Decode

Capabilities

Qwen 3.5 9B

46.5 tok/s

Qwen 3 14B

14B

17.9 tok/s

Ministral 3 14B

14B

17.8 tok/s

Phi-4 14B

14B

16.2 tok/s

Qwen 2.5 14B

14B

16.6 tok/s

Frequently asked questions

Can RTX 3060 12GB run Llama 3.1 8B?

Yes, RTX 3060 12GB can run Llama 3.1 8B with a A grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 52.3 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Llama 3.1 8B need?

Llama 3.1 8B (8B parameters) requires approximately 9.2 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Llama 3.1 8B?

The recommended quantization for Llama 3.1 8B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Llama 3.1 8B run at on RTX 3060 12GB?

On RTX 3060 12GB, Llama 3.1 8B achieves approximately 52.3 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 3699ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can RTX 3060 12GB run Llama 3.1 8B for coding?

For coding workloads, Llama 3.1 8B on RTX 3060 12GB receives a A grade with 52.3 tok/s and 39K context.

What context window can Llama 3.1 8B use on RTX 3060 12GB?

On RTX 3060 12GB, Llama 3.1 8B can safely use up to 39K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 128K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.