Question 1

How much VRAM does SmolLM-1.7B need?

Accepted Answer

SmolLM-1.7B (1.7B) requires approximately 3.8252243041992187 GB of VRAM at full precision (FP16), 1.9 GB at 8-bit quantization (Q8), and 1 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 SmolLM-1.7B?

Accepted Answer

We have 10 compatible GPUs indexed for SmolLM-1.7B, including K80, L4, A40, A100 40GB, A10G and 5 more. 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 SmolLM-1.7B?

Accepted Answer

The cheapest GPU to run SmolLM-1.7B in the cloud is the K80 at $0.18/hr. Other affordable options include L4 ($0.20/hr) and A40 ($0.44/hr). Prices reflect the lowest on-demand rate across cloud providers.

Question 4

Can SmolLM-1.7B run on consumer hardware?

Accepted Answer

SmolLM-1.7B may be able to run on high-end consumer GPUs like the RTX 4090 (24 GB) with 4-bit quantization (Q4), which reduces VRAM usage to approximately 1.0 GB. However, performance may be limited compared to datacenter GPUs.

Question 5

What quantization options are available for SmolLM-1.7B?

Accepted Answer

SmolLM-1.7B supports the following quantization levels: FP16 (full precision): ~3.8252243041992187 GB, Q8 (8-bit): ~1.9 GB, Q6 (6-bit): ~1.4 GB, Q4 (4-bit): ~1 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.

GPU	VRAM	Best Quant	From	Rent
K80	12 GB	FP16	$0.18/hr
L4	24 GB	FP16	$0.20/hr
A40	48 GB	FP16	$0.44/hr	Rent
A100 40GB	40 GB	FP16	$0.93/hr	Rent
A10G	24 GB	FP16	$1.01/hr
A10	24 GB	FP16	$1.29/hr
A100 80GB PCIe	80 GB	FP16	$1.39/hr	Rent
A100 80GB	80 GB	FP16	$1.39/hr	Rent
H100 MEGA	80 GB	FP16	$1.80/hr	Rent
H100 SXM	80 GB	FP16	$1.80/hr	Rent

SmolLM-1.7B

VRAM Requirements

Compatible GPUs

SmolLM-1.7B FAQ

VRAM requirements for SmolLM-1.7B at different quantization levels
Quantization	VRAM Required
FP16	3.8 GB
Q8	1.9 GB
Q6	1.4 GB
Q4	1 GB