Best AI Models for NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti (12 GB)

Runs 7–9B models well; 14B only just fits.

12 GB GDDR6X912 GB/s68 TFLOPS FP16350 WAmpere 2021

What LLMs can the RTX 3080 Ti run?

#	Model	Speed	Quant · VRAM
1	Qwen3.5 9BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB · 93.2 t/s	93.2 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB
2	Qwen3.5 4BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB · 182 t/s	182 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB
3	Gemma 3 12B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 10.9 GB · 73.8 t/s	73.8 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 10.9 GB
4	Gemma 2 9B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 7.3 GB · 97.2 t/s	97.2 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 7.3 GB
5	MiMo V2.6 Distill Qwen 9BXiaomi Q4_K_M · 6.5 GB · 95.5 t/s	95.5 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 6.5 GB

#	Model	Speed	Coding Score	Quant · VRAM
1	Llama 3.1 8B InstructMetaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 7.9 GB · 112 t/s	112 tok/s		Q4_K_M · 7.9 GB
2	Qwen3.5 9BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB · 93.2 t/s	93.2 tok/s	overall	Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB
3	Qwen3.5 4BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB · 182 t/s	182 tok/s	overall	Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB
4	Gemma 4 12B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 9.0 GB · 72.1 t/s	72.1 tok/s		Q4_K_M · 9.0 GB
5	MiMo V2.6 Distill Qwen 9BXiaomi Q4_K_M · 6.5 GB · 95.5 t/s	95.5 tok/s		Q4_K_M · 6.5 GB

#	Model	Speed	Quant · VRAM
1	Qwen3.5 9BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB · 93.2 t/s	93.2 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB
2	Qwen3 8BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 7.6 GB · 107 t/s	107 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 7.6 GB
3	Llama 3.1 8B InstructMeta Q4_K_M · 7.9 GB · 112 t/s	112 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 7.9 GB
4	Gemma 3 4B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 5.0 GB · 209 t/s	209 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 5.0 GB
5	Gemma 4 12B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 9.0 GB · 72.1 t/s	72.1 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 9.0 GB

#	Model	Speed	Quant · VRAM
1	Qwen3.5 9BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB · 93.2 t/s	93.2 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB
2	Qwen3.5 4BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB · 182 t/s	182 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB
3	Llama 3.1 8B InstructMeta Q4_K_M · 7.9 GB · 112 t/s	112 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 7.9 GB
4	Mistral Nemo Instruct 2407Mistral AI Q4_K_M · 11.0 GB · 73.5 t/s	73.5 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 11.0 GB
5	Gemma 4 12B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 9.0 GB · 72.1 t/s	72.1 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 9.0 GB

#	Model	Speed ↓	Quant · VRAM
1	Qwen3.5 4BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB · 182 t/s	182 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB
2	Qwen3 8BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 7.6 GB · 107 t/s	107 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 7.6 GB
3	MiMo V2.6 Distill Qwen 9BXiaomi Q4_K_M · 6.5 GB · 95.5 t/s	95.5 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 6.5 GB
4	Qwen3.5 9BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB · 93.2 t/s	93.2 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB
5	Gemma 4 12B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 9.0 GB · 72.1 t/s	72.1 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 9.0 GB

#	Model	Speed	Quant · VRAM
1	Qwen3.5 9BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB · 93.2 t/s	93.2 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB
2	Qwen3.5 4BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB · 182 t/s	182 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB
3	Gemma 3 12B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 10.9 GB · 73.8 t/s	73.8 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 10.9 GB
4	Gemma 3 4B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 5.0 GB · 209 t/s	209 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 5.0 GB
5	MiMo V2.6 Distill Qwen 9BXiaomi Q4_K_M · 6.5 GB · 95.5 t/s	95.5 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 6.5 GB

See all 276 models on the RTX 3080 Ti →Best quant that fits · speeds estimated on this card

About the RTX 3080 Ti

The RTX 3080 Ti is the quickest card in the 12 GB class: it runs 7–9B models well. It is among the most efficient per watt in its tier, and at its $1,199 MSRP it cost more per token than most of the cards compared. Ampere generation, released 2021.

Speed in 12 GB#1912 GB/s

Per watt#20.27 tok/s per W on Qwen3.5 9B (9B params)

Per dollar#47.8 tok/s per $100 on Qwen3.5 9B (9B params)

GenerationAmperereleased 2021

RTX 3080 Ti strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

Runs 14B models: Qwen3 14B at 62.4 tok/s in 11.9 GB

Weaknesses

27–31B models don't fit: Qwen3.8 27B needs 17.9 GB at Q4 vs 12 GB here
Little room for context: Qwen3 14B uses 11.9 of 12 GB, 0.1 GB left
No FP8 or NVFP4: Ampere predates both; use GGUF, AWQ or GPTQ builds

Speed per dollar and per watt

NewUsed

On Qwen3.5 9B (9B params) at Q4_K_M. New prices are compared with new, used with used. The last two columns are the speed you get per $100 of price and per 100 W of board power; higher is better. The RTX 3080 Ti has no current price, so it is shown at its MSRP.

Card	New price	tok/s	tok/s per $100	tok/s per 100 W
RTX 50608 GBBest new value	about $460	45.8	10.0	31.6
RTX 507012 GB	about $840	68.7	8.2	27.5
RTX 5070 Ti16 GB	about $1,170	91.6	7.8	30.5
RTX 3080 Ti12 GB	about $1,199	93.2	7.8	26.6
RX 907016 GB	about $800	60.4	7.6	27.5
RTX 508016 GB	about $1,690	98.1	5.8	27.3
RX 9060 XT 16GB16 GB	about $590	30.2	5.1	18.9
RTX 509032 GB	about $5,376	183	3.4	31.8

Card	Used price	tok/s	tok/s per $100	tok/s per 100 W
RTX 50608 GBBest used value	about $388	45.8	11.8	31.6
RTX 5070 Ti16 GB	about $1,100	91.6	8.3	30.5
RTX 408016 GB	about $1,100	73.3	6.7	22.9
RTX 4080 SUPER16 GB	about $1,155	75.2	6.5	23.5
RTX 3090 Ti24 GB	about $1,600	103	6.4	22.9
RX 9060 XT 16GB16 GB	about $480	30.2	6.3	18.9
RTX 508016 GB	about $1,640	98.1	6.0	27.3
RTX 509032 GB	about $6,400	183	2.9	31.8

Similar GPUs

Cards people weigh against the RTX 3080 Ti, each with the one reason it is worth a look. Speeds on Qwen3.5 9B.

12 GB more and 11% fasterRTX 3090 TiNVIDIA · 24 GB · Ampere

▲ 11% speed▲ 12 GB$1,999rent $0.31/hr

20 GB more and nearly 2× the speedRTX 5090NVIDIA · 32 GB · Blackwell

▲ 97% speed▲ 20 GB$5,376rent $0.50/hr

4 GB more, but slowerRX 9060 XT 16GBAMD · 16 GB · RDNA 4

▼ 68% speed▲ 4 GB$590

More efficient per wattRTX 5090 Laptop GPUNVIDIA · 24 GB · Blackwell

same speed▲ 12 GB

4 GB more for bigger modelsRTX 5070 TiNVIDIA · 16 GB · Blackwell

same speed▲ 4 GB$1,170rent $0.19/hr

12 GB more for bigger modelsRTX 3090NVIDIA · 24 GB · Ampere

same speed▲ 12 GB$1,499rent $0.19/hr

RTX 3080 Ti tokens per second by model size

Output speed depends on memory bandwidth (912 GB/s). Grey rows need more than 12 GB.

9BQwen3.5 9B · Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB
93.2tok/s
14BQwen3 14B · Q4_K_M · 11.9 GB tight · Q4_K_M
62.4tok/s
27–31BQwen3.8 27B · not at 4-bit
needs 17.9 GB
35B MoEQwen3.6 35B A3B · not at 4-bit
needs 22.0 GB
70BLlama 3.3 70B Instruct · not at 4-bit
needs 51.3 GB
120B MoEGPT OSS 120B · not at 4-bit
needs 70.8 GB

Estimated speeds: Q4_K_M, 4K context, one user. How we estimate

All 956 models on the RTX 3080 Ti

Featured only

Best quant that fits, ordered by llmrun Score. Fit grades how well it runs here, S best. How ranking works

LLM models compatible with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti — ranked by Score, recency and Fit
Model	Quant	VRAM	Speed	Context	Fit
Tiny Random GPT2LMHeadModel83161Chat Q4_K_M·59306.0 t/s	Q4_K_M	0.0 GB0%	59306.0 t/s	1K	S100, Runs great
SmolVLM 256M Instruct256MVision Q4_K_M·1186.1 t/s	Q4_K_M	0.6 GB5%	1186.1 t/s	8K	S100, Runs great
Supra 50M Reasoning52MChatReasoning Q4_K_M·1647.4 t/s	Q4_K_M	0.3 GB3%	1647.4 t/s	1K	S100, Runs great
Moondream21.9BVision Q4_K_M·467.0 t/s	Q4_K_M	3.0 GB25%	467.0 t/s	—	S100, Runs great
GPT X2 125M CIx Long Context126MChat BF16·988.4 t/s	BF16	0.9 GB8%	988.4 t/s	33K	S100, Runs great
Surya Ocr 2686MVision Q4_K_M·780.3 t/s	Q4_K_M	0.8 GB7%	780.3 t/s	262K	S100, Runs great
LLaDA2.0 Mini16.3BChatFunctions Q4_K_M·383.6 t/s	Q4_K_M	10.7 GB89%	383.6 t/s	33K	S88, Runs great
Kimi VL A3B Instruct16.4BVisionFunctions Q4_K_M·194.3 t/s	Q4_K_M	10.7 GB89%	194.3 t/s	131K	S87, Runs great
Opt 125M125MChat FP16·2118.1 t/s	FP16	0.3 GB2%	2118.1 t/s	2K	S100, Runs great
Qwen3 4B4.0BChatFunctions Q4_K_M·204.5 t/s	Q4_K_M	4.2 GB35%	204.5 t/s	41K	S100, Runs great
Claim Extractor 2B Q 26052.3BChat BF16·119.8 t/s	BF16	5.0 GB42%	119.8 t/s	262K	S95, Runs great
Kimi Linear Tiny Random6MChatFunctions BF16·1375.0 t/s	BF16	0.3 GB3%	1375.0 t/s	—	S100, Runs great
AI21 Jamba Reasoning 3B3.2BChatReasoningFunctions Q4_K_M·263.6 t/s	Q4_K_M	2.3 GB19%	263.6 t/s	262K	S100, Runs great
Tiny Random Phi3ForCausalLM2MChat Q4_K_M·1976.9 t/s	Q4_K_M	0.3 GB3%	1976.9 t/s	4K	S100, Runs great
Tiny Random Gpt2111968Chat Q4_K_M·59306.0 t/s	Q4_K_M	0.0 GB0%	59306.0 t/s	1K	S100, Runs great

RTX 3080 Ti specs, power and PSU

Specs

Architecture: Ampere
VRAM: 12 GB GDDR6X
Memory bandwidth: 912.4 GB/s
FP16 (dense): 68.20 TFLOPS
CUDA cores: 10,240
Tensor cores: 320
Compute capability: 8.6
TDP: 350 W
Released: 2021-06-03
MSRP: $1,199

RTX 3080 Ti FAQ

Is the RTX 3080 Ti still worth it in 2026?

At its MSRP of $1,199 you get 7.8 tok/s per $100 on Qwen3.5 9B, which ranks 4th of the 8 cards compared here; it is also the fastest out of 9 cards with 12 GB. It runs 7–9B models well; 14B only just fits.

What is the largest model the RTX 3080 Ti can run?

GPT OSS 20B (20.9B) is the largest at 4-bit or better: at IQ4_XS it uses 11.8 GB of 12 GB, and runs at about 191 tok/s.

Can the RTX 3080 Ti run Qwen3.5 9B?

Yes. Qwen3.5 9B fits at Q4_K_M, using 6.6 GB of 12 GB, and it is the best model that runs well on this card.

Can the RTX 3080 Ti run 27–31B models?

No. Qwen3.8 27B needs 17.9 GB at Q4, more than the 12 GB on this card.

How many tokens per second does the RTX 3080 Ti give?

About 93.2 tok/s on Qwen3.5 9B at Q4_K_M, with the first token after 2.6 s on a 4K-token prompt.

What power supply does the RTX 3080 Ti need?

Plan a 700 W PSU (2× the 350 W TDP).

Is 12 GB enough for coding and agents?

Yes for coding: Llama 3.1 8B Instruct, the only coding-scored model that fits, runs at about 112 tok/s. For agents, not yet: no agent-scored model fits in less than 96 GB.

Is renting cheaper than buying an RTX 3080 Ti?

Rent from $0.12/hr. Renting costs as much as buying after ≈10,000 hours (≈6.8 years at 4 h a day).

Best coding LLMs 12 GB VRAM 16 GB VRAM GPUs with 12 GB or more RTX 4090 RX 7900 XTX