Llama 3.1 8B needs ~9.6 GB VRAM. NVIDIA T4 16GB has 16.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~43 tok/s.
Operating mode
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.
Select quantization to explore
Fit status
Runs well
Decode
45.8 tok/s
TTFT
4225 ms
Safe context
68K
Memory
9.6 GB / 16.0 GB
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.
| Workload | Grade | Fit | Decode | TTFT | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chat | A | Runs well | 42.6 tok/s | 2478 ms | 68K |
| Coding | A | Runs well | 42.6 tok/s | 4542 ms | 68K |
| Agentic Coding | A | Runs well | 42.6 tok/s | 6607 ms | 68K |
| Reasoning | A | Runs well | 42.6 tok/s | 5368 ms | 68K |
| RAG | A | Runs well | 42.6 tok/s | 8258 ms | 68K |
How Llama 3.1 8B (8B params) fits at each quantization level on NVIDIA T4 16GB (16.0 GB usable).
| Quant | Bits | VRAM | Quality | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Q2_K | 2 | 3.1 GB | Low | B68 |
Q3_K_S | 3 | 3.9 GB | Low | B69 |
NVFP4 | 4 |
Copy-paste commands to run Llama 3.1 8B on your machine.
Run
ollama run llama3.1Your hardware
| Model | Params | Grade | Decode | Capabilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9B | S | 40.7 tok/s | ||
| 14B | S | 26.3 tok/s |
Yes, NVIDIA T4 16GB can run Llama 3.1 8B with a A grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 42.6 tok/s.
Llama 3.1 8B (8B parameters) requires approximately 9.6 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.
The recommended quantization for Llama 3.1 8B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.
On NVIDIA T4 16GB, Llama 3.1 8B achieves approximately 42.6 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 4542ms using Q4_K_M quantization.
For coding workloads, Llama 3.1 8B on NVIDIA T4 16GB receives a A grade with 42.6 tok/s and 68K context.
On NVIDIA T4 16GB, Llama 3.1 8B can safely use up to 68K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 128K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.
Paste this snippet into any page to show a live fit card.
<iframe src="https://willitrunai.com/embed/llama-3.1-8b-on-t4-16gb" width="400" height="180" frameborder="0" style="border:none;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;" title="Will It Run AI — fit result"></iframe>
Preview:
4.5 GB |
| Medium |
| B69 |
Q4_K_M | 4 | 4.9 GB | Medium | B70 |
Q5_K_M | 5 | 5.8 GB | High | A71 |
Q6_K | 6 | 6.6 GB | High | A71 |
Q8_0Best for your GPU | 8 | 8.6 GB | Very High | A72 |
F16 | 16 | 16.4 GB | Maximum | F0 |
| 14.7B | S | 24.9 tok/s |
| 21B | A | 22.3 tok/s |
| 14B | A | 26.2 tok/s |