Can Vicuna 13B run on RTX 4090 Laptop 16GB?

NO — Won't Fit

F0Won't run

Estimated from fit model

Vicuna 13B needs ~22.9 GB but RTX 4090 Laptop 16GB only has 16.0 GB. Try a smaller quantization or lighter model.

Runtime: OllamaCapacity: No fitBandwidth: MediumStack: BasicBottleneck: Memory capacity

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) — 22.9 GB, exceeds 16.0 GB available

22.9 GB required16.0 GB available

143% VRAM needed

6.9 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization

Fit status

Too heavy

Decode

20.4 tok/s

TTFT

9481 ms

Safe context

Memory

22.9 GB / 16.0 GB

Offload

30%

Memory breakdown

Weights7.9 GB

KV Cache12.2 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom1.6 GB

See how fast it feels

With memory offload — actual speed may be lower

See how fast it feelsVicuna 13B on RTX 4090 Laptop 16GB
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: 20.4 tok/s decode · 9.5s TTFT (warm) · 51 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

Usable VRAM is the main blocker for this model.

Not enough usable memory

The model needs 22.9 GB, but this setup only exposes 16.0 GB of usable VRAM.

Best improvement path

Add more VRAM headroom

The first useful upgrade is more dedicated VRAM so you can fit the model without shrinking context or dropping to a much lower quant.

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	A	Runs with offload (needs ~0.4 GB host RAM)	39.2 tok/s	2696 ms	4K
Coding	F	Too heavy	20.4 tok/s	9481 ms	4K
Agentic Coding	F	Too heavy	8.7 tok/s	32307 ms	4K
Reasoning	F	Too heavy	20.4 tok/s	11205 ms	4K
RAG	F	Too heavy	8.7 tok/s	40384 ms	4K

Quantization options

How Vicuna 13B (13B params) fits at each quantization level on RTX 4090 Laptop 16GB (16.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	5.1 GB	Low	B70
Q3_K_S	3	6.4 GB	Low	A71
NVFP4	4

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs Vicuna 13B well

RTX 4000 Ada 20GBBest value

20 GB VRAM (+4)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.19.2 tok/s decode

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.

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

~$1,250 MSRP

RTX 3090 24GBBudget pick

24 GB VRAM (+8)936 GB/s (+360)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.82.6 tok/s decode

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.

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

~$1,499 MSRP

RTX 4090 24GBNVIDIA upgrade

24 GB VRAM (+8)1008 GB/s (+432)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.96.6 tok/s decode

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.

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

~$1,599 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can RTX 4090 Laptop 16GB run Vicuna 13B?

No, Vicuna 13B requires more memory than RTX 4090 Laptop 16GB provides.

How much VRAM does Vicuna 13B need?

Vicuna 13B (13B parameters) requires approximately 22.9 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Vicuna 13B?

The recommended quantization for Vicuna 13B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Vicuna 13B run at on RTX 4090 Laptop 16GB?

On RTX 4090 Laptop 16GB, Vicuna 13B achieves approximately 20.4 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 9481ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can RTX 4090 Laptop 16GB run Vicuna 13B for coding?

For coding workloads, Vicuna 13B on RTX 4090 Laptop 16GB receives a F grade with 20.4 tok/s and 4K context.

What context window can Vicuna 13B use on RTX 4090 Laptop 16GB?

On RTX 4090 Laptop 16GB, Vicuna 13B can safely use up to 4K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 4K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

What should I upgrade first if Vicuna 13B feels slow on RTX 4090 Laptop 16GB?

Add more VRAM headroom. The first useful upgrade is more dedicated VRAM so you can fit the model without shrinking context or dropping to a much lower quant.

See all results for RTX 4090 Laptop 16GB See all hardware for Vicuna 13B

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