Can StarCoder2 15B run on RTX 4070 12GB?

BARELY — Tight on Memory

D35Poor

Estimated from fit model

StarCoder2 15B needs ~14.1 GB VRAM. RTX 4070 12GB has 12.0 GB. With Q5_K_M quantization, expect ~21 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: OffloadBandwidth: MediumStack: StandardBottleneck: 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

Q5_K_M (High quality) — 14.1 GB, 21.2 tok/s, Very compromised (needs ~1.6 GB host RAM)

14.1 GB required12.0 GB available

118% VRAM needed

2.1 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization

Fit status

Very compromised (needs ~1.6 GB host RAM)

Decode

21.2 tok/s

TTFT

9122 ms

Safe context

Memory

14.1 GB / 12.0 GB

Offload

20%

Memory breakdown

Weights10.8 GB

KV Cache1.2 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom1.2 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsStarCoder2 15B on RTX 4070 12GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>Write a Python function to sort a list
Here's a Python function that sorts a list using quicksort:

def quicksort(arr):
    if len(arr) <= 1:
        return arr
    pivot = arr[len(arr) // 2]
    left   = [x for x in arr if x < pivot]
    middle = [x for x in arr if x == pivot]
    right  = [x for x in arr if x > pivot]
    return quicksort(left) + middle + quicksort(right)

# Example usage
numbers = [3, 6, 8, 10, 1, 2, 1]
print(quicksort(numbers))  # [1, 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 10]

The algorithm picks a pivot, partitions the list into smaller, equal, and larger elements, then recursively sorts each partition and concatenates the results.
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>Now add type hints and a docstring
def quicksort(arr: list[int]) -> list[int]:
    """Sort a list using the quicksort algorithm.

    Args:
        arr: List of integers to sort.

    Returns:
        A new sorted list.
    """
    if len(arr) <= 1:
        return arr
    pivot = arr[len(arr) // 2]
    left   = [x for x in arr if x < pivot]
    middle = [x for x in arr if x == pivot]
    right  = [x for x in arr if x > pivot]
    return quicksort(left) + middle + quicksort(right)

Added type hints for the input and return type, plus a Google-style docstring.
Estimated: 21.2 tok/s decode · 9.1s TTFT (warm) · 53 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 20% 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 1.6 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	C	Very compromised (needs ~1.2 GB host RAM)	23.3 tok/s	4534 ms	4K
Coding	D	Very compromised (needs ~1.6 GB host RAM)	21.2 tok/s	9122 ms	4K
Agentic Coding	F	Too heavy	17.8 tok/s	15799 ms	4K
Reasoning	D	Very compromised (needs ~1.6 GB host RAM)	21.2 tok/s	10781 ms	4K
RAG	F	Too heavy	17.8 tok/s	19749 ms	4K

Quantization options

How StarCoder2 15B (15B params) fits at each quantization level on RTX 4070 12GB (12.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	5.9 GB	Low	C54
Q3_K_S	3	7.4 GB	Low	C53
NVFP4Best for your GPU	4	8.4 GB	Medium	C53
Q4_K_M	4	9.2 GB	Medium	F0
Q5_K_M	5	10.8 GB	High	F0
Q6_K	6	12.3 GB	High	F0
Q8_0	8	16.1 GB	Very High	F0
F16	16	30.7 GB	Maximum	F0

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run StarCoder2 15B on your machine.

Run

docker run --rm -it ghcr.io/ggerganov/llama.cpp:full \
  --hf-repo "bigcode/starcoder2-15b" \
  --hf-file "starcoder2-15b-Q5_K_M.gguf" \
  -c 4096 -ngl 99

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs StarCoder2 15B well

RTX 5060 Ti 16GBBudget pick

16 GB VRAM (+4)

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.27.1 tok/s decode

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

Raises estimated decode speed by about 28%.

~$449 MSRP

RTX 4060 Ti 16GBBest value

16 GB VRAM (+4)

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.22.2 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

RTX 2000 Ada 16GBNVIDIA upgrade

16 GB VRAM (+4)

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.22.6 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.

~$625 MSRP

RTX 4090 24GBBiggest leap

24 GB VRAM (+12)1008 GB/s (+504)

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.80.8 tok/s decode

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

Raises estimated decode speed by about 281%.

~$1,599 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can RTX 4070 12GB run StarCoder2 15B?

Yes, RTX 4070 12GB can run StarCoder2 15B with a D grade (Very compromised (needs ~1.6 GB host RAM)). Expected decode speed: 21.2 tok/s.

How much VRAM does StarCoder2 15B need?

StarCoder2 15B (15B parameters) requires approximately 14.1 GB of memory with Q5_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for StarCoder2 15B?

The recommended quantization for StarCoder2 15B is Q5_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will StarCoder2 15B run at on RTX 4070 12GB?

On RTX 4070 12GB, StarCoder2 15B achieves approximately 21.2 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 9122ms using Q5_K_M quantization.

Can RTX 4070 12GB run StarCoder2 15B for coding?

For coding workloads, StarCoder2 15B on RTX 4070 12GB receives a D grade with 21.2 tok/s and 4K context.

What context window can StarCoder2 15B use on RTX 4070 12GB?

On RTX 4070 12GB, StarCoder2 15B can safely use up to 4K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 16K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

What should I upgrade first if StarCoder2 15B feels slow on RTX 4070 12GB?

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 4070 12GB See all hardware for StarCoder2 15B

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Preview:

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 20% 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 1.6 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	C	Very compromised (needs ~1.2 GB host RAM)	23.3 tok/s	4534 ms	4K
Coding	D	Very compromised (needs ~1.6 GB host RAM)	21.2 tok/s	9122 ms	4K
Agentic Coding	F	Too heavy	17.8 tok/s	15799 ms	4K
Reasoning	D	Very compromised (needs ~1.6 GB host RAM)	21.2 tok/s	10781 ms	4K
RAG	F	Too heavy	17.8 tok/s	19749 ms	4K

Quant

Bits

VRAM

Quality

Fit

Q2_K

5.9 GB

Low

C54

Q3_K_S

7.4 GB

Low

C53

NVFP4Best for your GPU

8.4 GB

Medium

C53

Q4_K_M

9.2 GB

Medium

Q5_K_M

10.8 GB

High

Q6_K

12.3 GB

High

Q8_0

16.1 GB

Very High

F16

30.7 GB

Maximum

Frequently asked questions

Can RTX 4070 12GB run StarCoder2 15B?

Yes, RTX 4070 12GB can run StarCoder2 15B with a D grade (Very compromised (needs ~1.6 GB host RAM)). Expected decode speed: 21.2 tok/s.

How much VRAM does StarCoder2 15B need?

StarCoder2 15B (15B parameters) requires approximately 14.1 GB of memory with Q5_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for StarCoder2 15B?

The recommended quantization for StarCoder2 15B is Q5_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will StarCoder2 15B run at on RTX 4070 12GB?

On RTX 4070 12GB, StarCoder2 15B achieves approximately 21.2 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 9122ms using Q5_K_M quantization.

Can RTX 4070 12GB run StarCoder2 15B for coding?

For coding workloads, StarCoder2 15B on RTX 4070 12GB receives a D grade with 21.2 tok/s and 4K context.

What context window can StarCoder2 15B use on RTX 4070 12GB?

On RTX 4070 12GB, StarCoder2 15B can safely use up to 4K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 16K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

What should I upgrade first if StarCoder2 15B feels slow on RTX 4070 12GB?

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.