Can NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 run Llama 3.1 8B?
8B parameter LLM model on 24GB GDDR6X
VRAM Requirements
Llama 3.1 8B is a 8B parameter model. At full precision (FP16), it requires 16GB of VRAM. Your NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 has 24GB — enough to run it without any quantization.
Maximum quality, no quantization
Near-lossless, ~50% size reduction
Good quality, ~75% size reduction
Recommended system RAM: 48GB DDR5 (2x GPU VRAM minimum for model overflow)
What This Means in Practice
With NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 running Llama 3.1 8B at full precision, you get the highest quality responses with no quantization artifacts. This is ideal for tasks requiring nuanced reasoning, creative writing, and complex analysis. You'll have the best possible experience with this model.
How to Set It Up
Step 1: Install Ollama
curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | shOllama is the easiest way to run local LLMs. Works on Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Step 2: Download and run Llama 3.1 8B
ollama run llama3.1:8bThis downloads the model (~16GB). First run takes a few minutes.
Step 3: Verify GPU is being used
nvidia-smiCheck that VRAM usage increases when the model loads. You should see ~16GB used.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Specs
Other GPUs That Run Llama 3.1 8B
Other LLM Models on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090
About Llama 3.1 8B
Great entry point. Runs well on 8GB+ GPUs at Q4.