Can Solar 7B run on RTX 3070 8GB?

BARELY — Tight on Memory

B62Good

Estimated from fit model

Solar 7B needs ~9.2 GB VRAM. RTX 3070 8GB has 8.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~44 tok/s.

Runtime: OllamaCapacity: OffloadBandwidth: LowStack: BasicBottleneck: 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) — 9.2 GB, 44.1 tok/s, Very compromised (needs ~0.6 GB host RAM)

9.2 GB required8.0 GB available

115% VRAM needed

1.2 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization

Fit status

Very compromised (needs ~0.6 GB host RAM)

Decode

44.1 tok/s

TTFT

4388 ms

Safe context

Memory

9.2 GB / 8.0 GB

Offload

10%

Memory breakdown

Weights4.3 GB

KV Cache2.9 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom0.8 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsSolar 7B on RTX 3070 8GB
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: 44.1 tok/s decode · 4.4s TTFT (warm) · 110 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

It fits through host-memory offload, and offload is the main reason performance drops.

CPU or host-memory offload is active

About 10% of the working set spills out of accelerator memory, which usually hurts latency and sustained decode throughput.

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

Remove offload with more accelerator memory

Prioritize a GPU or unified-memory tier that fits the whole model natively. Removing offload usually helps more than small compute gains.

Buy headroom, not only minimum fit

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

Increase host RAM if you keep offloading

This setup may need roughly 0.6 GB of extra host RAM just for the offloaded portion, before OS and other tools.

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	A	Runs with offload	79.0 tok/s	1338 ms	8K
Coding	B	Very compromised (needs ~0.6 GB host RAM)	44.1 tok/s	4388 ms	8K
Agentic Coding	F	Too heavy	24.7 tok/s	11421 ms	8K
Reasoning	B	Very compromised (needs ~0.6 GB host RAM)	44.1 tok/s	5185 ms	8K
RAG	F	Too heavy	24.7 tok/s	14276 ms

Quantization options

How Solar 7B (7B params) fits at each quantization level on RTX 3070 8GB (8.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	2.7 GB	Low	A74
Q3_K_S	3	3.4 GB	Low	A74
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Solar 7B on your machine.

Run

lms load Solar-7B && lms server start

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs Solar 7B well

RTX 3060 12GBBudget pick

12 GB VRAM (+4)

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.59.8 tok/s decode

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.

Raises estimated decode speed by about 36%.

~$329 MSRP

RTX 5060 Ti 16GBBest value

16 GB VRAM (+8)

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.69.9 tok/s decode

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.

Raises estimated decode speed by about 59%.

~$449 MSRP

RTX 4060 Ti 16GBNVIDIA upgrade

16 GB VRAM (+8)

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.52.9 tok/s decode

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.

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

~$499 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can RTX 3070 8GB run Solar 7B?

Yes, RTX 3070 8GB can run Solar 7B with a B grade (Very compromised (needs ~0.6 GB host RAM)). Expected decode speed: 44.1 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Solar 7B need?

Solar 7B (7B parameters) requires approximately 9.2 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Solar 7B?

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

What speed will Solar 7B run at on RTX 3070 8GB?

On RTX 3070 8GB, Solar 7B achieves approximately 44.1 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 4388ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can RTX 3070 8GB run Solar 7B for coding?

For coding workloads, Solar 7B on RTX 3070 8GB receives a B grade with 44.1 tok/s and 8K context.

What context window can Solar 7B use on RTX 3070 8GB?

On RTX 3070 8GB, Solar 7B can safely use up to 8K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 8K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

What should I upgrade first if Solar 7B feels slow on RTX 3070 8GB?

Remove offload with more accelerator memory. Prioritize a GPU or unified-memory tier that fits the whole model natively. Removing offload usually helps more than small compute gains.

See all results for RTX 3070 8GB See all hardware for Solar 7B

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