NVIDIA · Ada Lovelace · 16 GB VRAM tier
Best AI Models for NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 (16 GB)
Runs 14B models well; 27–31B only just fits.
| # | Model | Speed | llmrun Score | Quant · VRAM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Qwen3.5 9BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB · 73.3 t/s | 73.3 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB | |
| 2 | Qwen3.5 4BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB · 143 t/s | 143 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB | |
| 3 | GPT OSS 20BOpenAI Q4_K_M · 13.1 GB · 145 t/s | 145 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 13.1 GB | |
| 4 | Phi 4Microsoft Q4_K_M · 12.5 GB · 48.9 t/s | 48.9 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 12.5 GB | |
| 5 | Gemma 4 12B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 9.0 GB · 56.6 t/s | 56.6 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 9.0 GB |
| # | Model | Speed | Coding Score | Quant · VRAM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GPT OSS 20BOpenAIHow to run → Q4_K_M · 13.1 GB · 145 t/s | 145 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 13.1 GB | |
| 2 | Q4_K_M · 7.9 GB · 87.9 t/s | 87.9 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 7.9 GB | |
| 3 | Qwen3.5 9BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB · 73.3 t/s | 73.3 tok/s | overall | Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB |
| 4 | Gemma 4 12B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 9.0 GB · 56.6 t/s | 56.6 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 9.0 GB | |
| 5 | Ling 3.0 TinyInclusion AI Q4_K_M · 5.5 GB · 301 t/s | 301 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 5.5 GB |
| # | Model | Speed | Reasoning Score | Quant · VRAM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Qwen3.5 9BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB · 73.3 t/s | 73.3 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB | |
| 2 | GPT OSS 20BOpenAI Q4_K_M · 13.1 GB · 145 t/s | 145 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 13.1 GB | |
| 3 | Qwen3 8BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 7.6 GB · 84.4 t/s | 84.4 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 7.6 GB | |
| 4 | Q4_K_M · 7.9 GB · 87.9 t/s | 87.9 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 7.9 GB | |
| 5 | Gemma 4 12B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 9.0 GB · 56.6 t/s | 56.6 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 9.0 GB |
| # | Model | Speed | Long context Score | Quant · VRAM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Qwen3.5 9BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB · 73.3 t/s | 73.3 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB | |
| 2 | Qwen3.5 4BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB · 143 t/s | 143 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB | |
| 3 | Mistral Nemo Instruct 2407Mistral AI Q4_K_M · 11.0 GB · 57.7 t/s | 57.7 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 11.0 GB | |
| 4 | Q4_K_M · 7.9 GB · 87.9 t/s | 87.9 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 7.9 GB | |
| 5 | Gemma 4 12B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 9.0 GB · 56.6 t/s | 56.6 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 9.0 GB |
| # | Model | Speed ↓ | llmrun Score | Quant · VRAM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GPT OSS 20BOpenAIHow to run → Q4_K_M · 13.1 GB · 145 t/s | 145 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 13.1 GB | |
| 2 | Qwen3.5 4BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB · 143 t/s | 143 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB | |
| 3 | Qwen3.5 9BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB · 73.3 t/s | 73.3 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB | |
| 4 | Gemma 4 12B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 9.0 GB · 56.6 t/s | 56.6 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 9.0 GB | |
| 5 | Phi 4Microsoft Q4_K_M · 12.5 GB · 48.9 t/s | 48.9 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 12.5 GB |
| # | Model | Speed | Vision Score | Quant · VRAM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Qwen3.5 9BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB · 73.3 t/s | 73.3 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB | |
| 2 | Qwen3.5 4BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB · 143 t/s | 143 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB | |
| 3 | Gemma 3 12B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 10.9 GB · 58.0 t/s | 58.0 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 10.9 GB | |
| 4 | Gemma 3 4B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 5.0 GB · 164 t/s | 164 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 5.0 GB | |
| 5 | Q4_K_M · 6.5 GB · 75.0 t/s | 75.0 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 6.5 GB |
The RTX 4080 is a solid mid-range card in the 16 GB class: it runs 14B models well. It is more efficient per watt than most 16 GB cards, and pricier per token than most of the cards compared at ≈$1,100 used. Ada Lovelace generation, released 2022.
RTX 4080 strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
- Runs 35B MoE models: Qwen3.6 35B A3B at 151 tok/s in 15.7 GB
- Reads long prompts fast: A 4K-token prompt on Qwen3.5 9B starts answering in 1.8 s
Weaknesses
- 70B models don't fit: Llama 3.3 70B Instruct needs 51.3 GB at Q4 vs 16 GB here
- Used prices still near MSRP: ≈$1,100 used vs its $1,199 MSRP
Speed per dollar and per watt
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 4080 has no new price, so the New view shows it at its MSRP.
| Card | New price | tok/s | tok/s per $100 | tok/s per 100 W |
|---|---|---|---|---|
RTX 507012 GB | about $840 | 68.7 | 8.2 | 27.5 |
RX 7900 XTX24 GB | about $1,130 | 90.6 | 8.0 | 25.5 |
RTX 5070 Ti16 GBBest new value | about $1,170 | 91.6 | 7.8 | 30.5 |
RX 907016 GB | about $800 | 60.4 | 7.6 | 27.5 |
RX 9070 XT16 GB | about $815 | 60.4 | 7.4 | 19.9 |
RTX 408016 GB | about $1,199 | 73.3 | 6.1 | 22.9 |
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 |
| Card | Used price | tok/s | tok/s per $100 | tok/s per 100 W |
|---|---|---|---|---|
RTX 3060 12GB12 GBBest used value | about $329 | 36.8 | 11.2 | 21.6 |
RX 907016 GB | about $650 | 60.4 | 9.3 | 27.5 |
RX 7900 XTX24 GB | about $1,000 | 90.6 | 9.1 | 25.5 |
RTX 5070 Ti16 GB | about $1,100 | 91.6 | 8.3 | 30.5 |
RTX 4070 Ti SUPER16 GB | about $900 | 68.7 | 7.6 | 24.1 |
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 |
RX 9060 XT 16GB16 GB | about $480 | 30.2 | 6.3 | 18.9 |
Cost per token: the RTX 4080 against 12–32 GB cards
On Qwen3.5 9B (9B params, Q4_K_M, 4K context). Speed, cost per token and power per token depend on the model.
- Card, used price
- $0.95
- Power
- $0.18
Renting costs as much as buying after ≈4,500 hours (≈3.1 years at 4 h a day).
Each dot is a card; hover or tap it for its numbers, click to open it. Cards without a price for the chosen basis are left out. How we calculate cost per token
Cards people weigh against the RTX 4080, each with the one reason it is worth a look. Speeds on Qwen3.5 9B.
Output speed depends on memory bandwidth (717 GB/s). Grey rows need more than 16 GB.
- 9BQwen3.5 9B · Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB73.3tok/s
- 14BQwen3 14B · Q4_K_M · 11.9 GB49.0tok/s
- 31.1tok/s
- 151tok/s
- 70BLlama 3.3 70B Instruct · not at 4-bitneeds 51.3 GB
- 120B MoEGPT OSS 120B · not at 4-bitneeds 70.8 GB
Estimated speeds: Q4_K_M, 4K context, one user. How we estimate
All 1057 models on the RTX 4080
Featured onlyBest quant that fits, ordered by llmrun Score. Fit grades how well it runs here, S best. How ranking works
| Model | Quant | VRAM | Speed | Context | Score | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SmolLM2 1.7BChat | Q4_K_M | 2.9 GB | 269.3 t/s | 8K | S100, Runs great | |
Qwen2.5 Math 1.5BChatMathFunctions | Q4_K_M | 1.3 GB | 364.0 t/s | 4K | S100, Runs great | |
Codegemma 7B ITChatCode | Q4_K_M | 8.2 GB | 82.8 t/s | — | S88, Runs great | |
| Q4_K_M | 0.1 GB | 5176.9 t/s | 1K | S100, Runs great | ||
Yi 1.5 34B ChatChat | IQ3_S | 15.9 GB | 30.2 t/s | 4K | C39, Usable | |
| Q4_K_M | 6.5 GB | 84.6 t/s | 4K | S88, Runs great | ||
Gemma 2B ITChat | Q4_K_M | 3.5 GB | 282.4 t/s | — | S100, Runs great | |
Hermes 4.3 36BChatReasoningRoleplay | IQ2_M | 14.7 GB | 36.5 t/s | 524K | B56, Decent | |
Qwen 14B ChatChat | Q4_K_M | 10.6 GB | 49.8 t/s | 8K | A79, Runs well | |
| Q4_K_M | 0.2 GB | 46592.0 t/s | — | S100, Runs great | ||
| Q4_K_M | 6.2 GB | 86.4 t/s | 8K | S88, Runs great | ||
Deepseek Coder 1.3B InstructChatCode | Q4_K_M | 4.3 GB | 308.6 t/s | 16K | S100, Runs great | |
| Q3_K_M | 15.1 GB | 37.1 t/s | 4K | B53, Decent | ||
Qwen3.6 35B A3B Claude 4.7 Opus Reasoning DistilledChatReasoning | Q2_K | 15.7 GB | 150.7 t/s | 262K | C44, Usable | |
Qwen2.5 Coder 3BChatCodeFunctions | Q4_K_M | 2.8 GB | 208.9 t/s | 33K | S100, Runs great |
Specs
- Architecture
- Ada Lovelace
- VRAM
- 16 GB GDDR6X
- Memory bandwidth
- 716.8 GB/s
- FP16 (dense)
- 97.50 TFLOPS
- CUDA cores
- 9,728
- Tensor cores
- 304
- Compute capability
- 8.9
- TDP
- 320 W
- Released
- 2022-11-16
- MSRP
- $1,199
RTX 4080 FAQ
Is the RTX 4080 still worth it in 2026?
At ≈$1,100 used you get 6.7 tok/s per $100 on Qwen3.5 9B, which ranks 6th of the 8 cards compared here; it is also the 4th fastest out of 17 cards with 16 GB. It runs 14B models well; 27–31B only just fits.
What is the largest model the RTX 4080 can run?
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT (25.8B) is the largest at 4-bit or better: at Q4_K_S it uses 15.5 GB of 16 GB, and runs at about 139 tok/s. At 3-bit, a bigger model fits too: Gemma 2 27B IT (27.2B) at IQ3_M, 15.0 GB.
Can the RTX 4080 run Qwen3.5 9B?
Yes. Qwen3.5 9B fits at Q4_K_M, using 6.6 GB of 16 GB, and it is the best model that runs well on this card.
Can the RTX 4080 run 70B models?
No. Llama 3.3 70B Instruct needs 51.3 GB at Q4, more than the 16 GB on this card.
How many tokens per second does the RTX 4080 give?
About 73.3 tok/s on Qwen3.5 9B at Q4_K_M, with the first token after 1.8 s on a 4K-token prompt.
What power supply does the RTX 4080 need?
Plan a 650 W PSU (2× the 320 W TDP).
Is 16 GB enough for coding and agents?
Yes for coding: GPT OSS 20B, the best of the 2 coding models that fit, runs at about 145 tok/s. For agents, not yet: no agent-scored model fits in less than 96 GB.
Is renting cheaper than buying an RTX 4080?
Rent from $0.24/hr. Renting costs as much as buying after ≈4,500 hours (≈3.1 years at 4 h a day).