Can Vicuna 7B run on RTX 5080 16GB?

YES — Tight Fit

C54Usable

Estimated from fit model

Vicuna 7B needs ~14.9 GB VRAM. RTX 5080 16GB has 16.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~98 tok/s.

Runtime: OllamaCapacity: TightBandwidth: HighStack: BasicBottleneck: 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) — 14.9 GB, 98.0 tok/s, Tight fit

14.9 GB required16.0 GB available

93% VRAM used

Fit status

Tight fit

Decode

98.0 tok/s

TTFT

1976 ms

Safe context

Memory

14.9 GB / 16.0 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights4.3 GB

KV Cache7.8 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom1.6 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsVicuna 7B on RTX 5080 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: 98.0 tok/s decode · 2.0s TTFT (warm) · 245 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

This setup is broadly balanced for this model.

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

Buy headroom, not only minimum fit

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

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	B	Runs well	98.0 tok/s	1078 ms	4K
Coding	C	Tight fit	98.0 tok/s	1976 ms	4K
Agentic Coding	F	Too heavy	54.8 tok/s	5141 ms	4K
Reasoning	C	Tight fit	98.0 tok/s	2335 ms	4K
RAG	F	Too heavy	54.8 tok/s	6427 ms	4K

Quantization options

How Vicuna 7B (7B params) fits at each quantization level on RTX 5080 16GB (16.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	2.7 GB	Low	C47
Q3_K_S	3	3.4 GB	Low	C48
NVFP4	4

Get started

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

Run

ollama run vicuna

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs Vicuna 7B well

RTX 4000 Ada 20GBBudget pick

20 GB VRAM (+4)

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.65.8 tok/s decode

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

~$1,250 MSRP

RTX 3090 24GBBest value

24 GB VRAM (+8)

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.98 tok/s decode

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

~$1,499 MSRP

RTX 4090 24GBNVIDIA upgrade

24 GB VRAM (+8)1008 GB/s (+48)

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.98 tok/s decode

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

~$1,599 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can RTX 5080 16GB run Vicuna 7B?

Yes, RTX 5080 16GB can run Vicuna 7B with a C grade (Tight fit). Expected decode speed: 98.0 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Vicuna 7B need?

Vicuna 7B (7B parameters) requires approximately 14.9 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Vicuna 7B?

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

What speed will Vicuna 7B run at on RTX 5080 16GB?

On RTX 5080 16GB, Vicuna 7B achieves approximately 98.0 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 1976ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can RTX 5080 16GB run Vicuna 7B for coding?

For coding workloads, Vicuna 7B on RTX 5080 16GB receives a C grade with 98.0 tok/s and 4K context.

What context window can Vicuna 7B use on RTX 5080 16GB?

On RTX 5080 16GB, Vicuna 7B 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 7B feels slow on RTX 5080 16GB?

Buy headroom, not only minimum fit. A slightly larger memory tier gives you safer context growth and makes the recommendation more future-proof.

See all results for RTX 5080 16GB See all hardware for Vicuna 7B

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<iframe src="https://willitrunai.com/embed/vicuna-7b-on-rtx-5080-16gb" width="400" height="180" frameborder="0" style="border:none;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;" title="Will It Run AI — fit result"></iframe>

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