RigFit › Models › Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Best GPU for Llama 3.1 8B Instruct (2026)

The cheapest GPU that runs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct at 4-bit (Q4) is the Arc B580 (12 GB), currently about $330 (new, VideoCardPrices (Newegg), 2026-11-12). Llama 3.1 8B Instruct needs roughly 6.5 GB of VRAM at Q4 with an 8K-token context. Don't want to buy? Rent a GeForce RTX 3060 12GB that fits it from $0.056/hr (Vast.ai).

Prices updated Nov 12, 2026 · model on Hugging Face

Cheapest card that fits, by quantization

Quant	VRAM needed	Cheapest GPU that fits	Price	Est. speed*	Shop
Q4	6.5 GB	Arc B58012 GB	$330 newVideoCardPrices (Newegg) · 2026-11-12	~46 tok/s	Check pricenew · Amazon or used on eBay
Q8	9.9 GB	Arc B58012 GB	$330 newVideoCardPrices (Newegg) · 2026-11-12	~28 tok/s	Check pricenew · Amazon or used on eBay
FP16	17.0 GB	Radeon RX 7900 XT20 GB	$770 usedGPU Sold · 2026-11-10	~28 tok/s	Check priceused · eBay or new on Amazon

*Rough estimate from memory bandwidth, single user. Context for text models: 8K tokens. Model specs: 8.0B parameters; 32 layers, 8 KV heads × 128 head dim (from Hugging Face metadata, fetched 2026-10-18).

Or rent a GPU for Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Quant	VRAM needed	Cheapest rentable GPU that fits	Price	Est. speed*
Q4	6.5 GB	GeForce RTX 3060 12GB12 GB	$0.056/hrVast.ai · marketplace	~36 tok/s	Rent
Q8	9.9 GB	GeForce RTX 3060 12GB12 GB	$0.056/hrVast.ai · marketplace	~22 tok/s	Rent
FP16	17.0 GB	GeForce RTX 309024 GB	$0.14/hrVast.ai · marketplace	~32 tok/s	Rent

Cheapest on-demand hourly prices found 2026-11-12 05:55 ET. Marketplace prices move by the minute. Compare all rental prices and the buy-vs-rent break-even →

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FAQ

How much VRAM does Llama 3.1 8B Instruct need?

About 7 GB at Q4, 10 GB at Q8, 17 GB at FP16 (including a 8K-token KV cache and ~1 GB runtime overhead).

What is the best budget GPU for Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?

Arc B580 is the cheapest card in our tracker that fits it at Q4.

Can I rent a GPU to run Llama 3.1 8B Instruct instead?

Yes. The cheapest single rented GPU with enough VRAM for Q4 we found was a GeForce RTX 3060 12GB at $0.06/hour on Vast.ai (2026-11-12). Marketplace prices change constantly.

How fast will it run?

Token generation on a single GPU is limited mostly by memory bandwidth. Our tokens/sec figures are estimates (0.6 × bandwidth ÷ bytes read per token) and real results vary by backend and settings.

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