Can Llama 4 Scout 17B 16E run on AMD Instinct MI250X 128GB?

YES — Runs Great

A84Great

Estimated from fit model

Llama 4 Scout 17B 16E needs ~83.1 GB VRAM. AMD Instinct MI250X 128GB has 128.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~88 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

Q4_K_M (Medium quality) — 83.1 GB, 95.4 tok/s, Runs well

83.1 GB required128.0 GB available

65% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

95.4 tok/s

TTFT

2028 ms

Safe context

261K

Memory

83.1 GB / 128.0 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights66.5 GB

KV Cache2.9 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom12.8 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsLlama 4 Scout 17B 16E on AMD Instinct MI250X 128GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>Solve: If a train travels at 60 mph for 2.5 hours, how far does it go?
Let me work through this step by step.

Given information:
  - Speed = 60 mph (miles per hour)
  - Time  = 2.5 hours

Formula: Distance = Speed x Time

Calculation:
  Distance = 60 mph x 2.5 h
           = 150 miles

The train travels 150 miles.

Double-check: at 60 mph the train covers 60 miles each hour. In half an hour it covers 30 miles. So in 2.5 hours: 60 + 60 + 30 = 150 miles. Confirmed.
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>What if the train stops for 20 minutes halfway?
The stop doesn't change the total distance covered while moving, but it affects total trip time.

Breakdown:
  - First half: 1.25 hours at 60 mph = 75 miles
  - Stop: 20 minutes (no distance)
  - Second half: 1.25 hours at 60 mph = 75 miles

Total distance: 150 miles (same)
Total time: 2.5 h + 0.33 h = 2.83 hours
Average speed: 150 / 2.83 = 53 mph

The distance stays the same but average speed drops to 53 mph because of the stop.
Estimated: 95.4 tok/s decode · 2.0s TTFT (warm) · 239 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	95.4 tok/s	1106 ms	261K
Coding	A	Runs well	88.4 tok/s	2191 ms	261K
Agentic Coding	A	Runs well	95.4 tok/s	2950 ms	261K
Reasoning	A	Runs well	95.4 tok/s	2397 ms	261K
RAG	A	Runs well	95.4 tok/s	3688 ms	261K

Inference speed

Llama 4 Scout 17B 16E inference speed — tokens per second by GPU & Mac

Estimated decode speed (tokens/sec) for Llama 4 Scout 17B 16E at Q4_K_M across popular GPUs and Apple Silicon, including multi-GPU rigs, using the fastest local runtime per device. Fastest is Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB at ~21 tok/s. Speed is memory-bandwidth bound, so cards that fit the whole model in VRAM run far faster than ones that offload to system RAM.

GPU / Mac	Memory	Quant	Speed (tok/s)	Fits?
Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB	256 GB	Q4_K_M	21.3	Fits

Quantization options

How Llama 4 Scout 17B 16E (109B params) fits at each quantization level on AMD Instinct MI250X 128GB (128.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	42.5 GB	Low	A71
Q3_K_S	3	53.4 GB	Low	A73
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Llama 4 Scout 17B 16E on your machine.

Run

lms load Llama-4-Scout-17B-16E-Instruct && lms server start

Your hardware

More models your AMD Instinct MI250X 128GB can run

Model	Params	Grade	Decode	Capabilities
Devstral 2 123B Instruct	123B	S	36.2 tok/s
Qwen 3.5 122B A10B	122B	S

Frequently asked questions

Can AMD Instinct MI250X 128GB run Llama 4 Scout 17B 16E?

Yes, AMD Instinct MI250X 128GB can run Llama 4 Scout 17B 16E with a A grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 88.4 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Llama 4 Scout 17B 16E need?

Llama 4 Scout 17B 16E (109B parameters) requires approximately 83.1 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Llama 4 Scout 17B 16E?

The recommended quantization for Llama 4 Scout 17B 16E is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Llama 4 Scout 17B 16E run at on AMD Instinct MI250X 128GB?

On AMD Instinct MI250X 128GB, Llama 4 Scout 17B 16E achieves approximately 88.4 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 2191ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can AMD Instinct MI250X 128GB run Llama 4 Scout 17B 16E for coding?

For coding workloads, Llama 4 Scout 17B 16E on AMD Instinct MI250X 128GB receives a A grade with 88.4 tok/s and 261K context.

What context window can Llama 4 Scout 17B 16E use on AMD Instinct MI250X 128GB?

On AMD Instinct MI250X 128GB, Llama 4 Scout 17B 16E can safely use up to 261K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 10.5M, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

See all results for AMD Instinct MI250X 128GB See all hardware for Llama 4 Scout 17B 16E

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