Question 1

How much VRAM does Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct need?

Accepted Answer

Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct (70.6B) requires approximately 157.69982299804687 GB of VRAM at full precision (FP16), 78.8 GB at 8-bit quantization (Q8), and 39.4 GB at 4-bit quantization (Q4). The actual VRAM usage may be slightly higher due to KV cache and runtime overhead.

Question 2

What GPUs can run Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct?

Accepted Answer

We have 5 compatible GPUs indexed for Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct, including MI300X, B200, B100, MI325X, MI350X. Compatibility is determined by whether the GPU's VRAM can fit the model's memory footprint, potentially using quantization to reduce memory usage.

Question 3

What is the cheapest GPU to run Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct?

Accepted Answer

The cheapest GPU to run Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct in the cloud is the MI300X at $1.99/hr. Other affordable options include B200 ($5.49/hr). Prices reflect the lowest on-demand rate across cloud providers.

Question 4

Can Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct run on consumer hardware?

Accepted Answer

Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct requires approximately 157.69982299804687 GB of VRAM at FP16, and even with 4-bit quantization (Q4) it needs about 39.4 GB. This exceeds the 24 GB available on the highest-end consumer GPU (RTX 4090), so Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct requires datacenter or cloud GPUs.

Question 5

What quantization options are available for Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct?

Accepted Answer

Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct supports the following quantization levels: FP16 (full precision): ~157.69982299804687 GB, Q8 (8-bit): ~78.8 GB, Q6 (6-bit): ~59.1 GB, Q4 (4-bit): ~39.4 GB. Lower quantization reduces VRAM usage at the cost of some quality loss. Q8 offers a good balance between quality and memory savings, while Q4 provides maximum compression.

Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct

VRAM Requirements

Compatible GPUs

Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct FAQ

GPU	VRAM	Best Quant	From	Rent
MI300X	192 GB	FP16	$1.99/hr	Rent
B200	192 GB	FP16	$5.49/hr	Rent
B100	192 GB	FP16	—
MI325X	256 GB	FP16	—
MI350X	288 GB	FP16	—

VRAM requirements for Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct at different quantization levels
Quantization	VRAM Required
FP16	157.7 GB
Q8	78.8 GB
Q6	59.1 GB
Q4	39.4 GB