Can StarCoder 15B run on NVIDIA A40 48GB?

YES — Runs Great

A79Great

Estimated from fit model

StarCoder 15B needs ~31.4 GB VRAM. NVIDIA A40 48GB has 48.0 GB. With Q5_K_M quantization, expect ~51 tok/s.

Runtime: OllamaCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: MediumStack: 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

Q5_K_M (High quality) — 31.4 GB, 51.3 tok/s, Runs well

31.4 GB required48.0 GB available

65% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

51.3 tok/s

TTFT

3776 ms

Safe context

Memory

31.4 GB / 48.0 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights10.8 GB

KV Cache14.6 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom4.8 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsStarCoder 15B on NVIDIA A40 48GB
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: 51.3 tok/s decode · 3.8s TTFT (warm) · 128 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	51.3 tok/s	2060 ms	8K
Coding	A	Runs well	51.3 tok/s	3776 ms	8K
Agentic Coding	A	Runs with offload	51.3 tok/s	5492 ms	8K
Reasoning	A	Runs well	51.3 tok/s	4462 ms	8K
RAG	A	Runs with offload	51.3 tok/s	6865 ms	8K

Quantization options

How StarCoder 15B (15B params) fits at each quantization level on NVIDIA A40 48GB (48.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	5.9 GB	Low	B67
Q3_K_S	3	7.4 GB	Low	B67
NVFP4	4	8.4 GB	Medium	B68
Q4_K_M	4	9.2 GB	Medium	B68
Q5_K_M	5	10.8 GB	High	B68
Q6_K	6	12.3 GB	High	B69
Q8_0	8	16.1 GB	Very High	B70
F16Best for your GPU	16	30.7 GB	Maximum	A73

Get started

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

Run

lms load starcoder && lms server start

Your hardware

More models your NVIDIA A40 48GB can run

Model	Params	Grade	Decode
Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B Instruct	30.5B	S	82.1 tok/s
Qwen 3.5 27B	27B	S	35.6 tok/s
Qwen 3.6 27B	27B	S	35.7 tok/s
Qwen 3.6 35B A3B	35B	S	69 tok/s
Qwen3-VL 30B A3B Instruct	30B	S	84.9 tok/s

Frequently asked questions

Can NVIDIA A40 48GB run StarCoder 15B?

Yes, NVIDIA A40 48GB can run StarCoder 15B with a A grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 51.3 tok/s.

How much VRAM does StarCoder 15B need?

StarCoder 15B (15B parameters) requires approximately 31.4 GB of memory with Q5_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for StarCoder 15B?

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

What speed will StarCoder 15B run at on NVIDIA A40 48GB?

On NVIDIA A40 48GB, StarCoder 15B achieves approximately 51.3 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 3776ms using Q5_K_M quantization.

Can NVIDIA A40 48GB run StarCoder 15B for coding?

For coding workloads, StarCoder 15B on NVIDIA A40 48GB receives a A grade with 51.3 tok/s and 8K context.

What context window can StarCoder 15B use on NVIDIA A40 48GB?

On NVIDIA A40 48GB, StarCoder 15B can safely use up to 8K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 8K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

See all results for NVIDIA A40 48GB See all hardware for StarCoder 15B

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