Llama 3.2 1B — Hardware Requirements & GPU Compatibility
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Meta Llama 3.2 1B is a 1.2-billion parameter base (pretrained) model from Meta's Llama 3.2 release. It is the smallest model in the Llama 3.2 family and is designed for research, fine-tuning, and embedding into resource-constrained environments. It supports a 128K token context window. As a base model, it is not optimized for conversational use without further fine-tuning. Its minimal resource requirements make it suitable for experimentation, edge deployment, and as a starting point for domain-specific fine-tuning. Released under the Llama 3.2 Community License.
1.8M downloads
2.3K likesSpecifications
- Publisher
- Meta
- Family
- Llama 3
- Parameters
- 1.2B
- Release Date
- 2024-10-24
- License
- llama3.2
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HuggingFace
How Much VRAM Does Llama 3.2 1B Need?
Select a quantization to see compatible GPUs below.
| Quantization | Bits | VRAM | + Context | File Size | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IQ3_M | 3.60 | 0.6 GB | — | 0.56 GB | Importance-weighted 3-bit, medium |
| Q4_0 | 4.00 | 0.7 GB | — | 0.62 GB | 4-bit legacy quantization |
| Q3_K_L | 4.10 | 0.7 GB | — | 0.63 GB | 3-bit large quantization |
| IQ4_XS | 4.30 | 0.7 GB | — | 0.66 GB | Importance-weighted 4-bit, compact |
| Q4_K_S | 4.50 | 0.8 GB | — | 0.70 GB | 4-bit small quantization |
| Q4_K_M | 4.80 | 0.8 GB | — | 0.74 GB | 4-bit medium quantization — most popular sweet spot |
| Q4_K_L | 4.90 | 0.8 GB | — | 0.76 GB | 4-bit large quantization |
| Q5_K_S | 5.50 | 0.9 GB | — | 0.85 GB | 5-bit small quantization |
| Q5_K_M | 5.70 | 1.0 GB | — | 0.88 GB | 5-bit medium quantization — good quality/size tradeoff |
| Q5_K_L | 5.80 | 1.0 GB | — | 0.90 GB | 5-bit large quantization |
| Q6_K | 6.60 | 1.1 GB | — | 1.02 GB | 6-bit quantization, very good quality |
| Q8_0 | 8.00 | 1.4 GB | — | 1.24 GB | 8-bit quantization, near-lossless |
Which GPUs Can Run Llama 3.2 1B?
Q4_K_M · 0.8 GBLlama 3.2 1B (Q4_K_M) requires 0.8 GB of VRAM to load the model weights. For comfortable inference with headroom for KV cache and system overhead, 2+ GB is recommended. 35 GPUs can run it, including NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti.
Runs great
— Plenty of headroomWhich Devices Can Run Llama 3.2 1B?
Q4_K_M · 0.8 GB33 devices with unified memory can run Llama 3.2 1B, including NVIDIA DGX H100, NVIDIA DGX A100 640GB.
Runs great
— Plenty of headroomRelated Models
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much VRAM does Llama 3.2 1B need?
Llama 3.2 1B requires 0.8 GB of VRAM at Q4_K_M, or 1.4 GB at Q8_0.
VRAM = Weights + KV Cache + Overhead
Weights = 1.2B × 4.8 bits ÷ 8 = 0.7 GB
KV Cache + Overhead ≈ 0.1 GB (at 2K context + ~0.3 GB framework)
VRAM usage by quantization
Q4_K_M0.8 GB- What's the best quantization for Llama 3.2 1B?
For Llama 3.2 1B, Q4_K_M (0.8 GB) offers the best balance of quality and VRAM usage. Q4_K_L (0.8 GB) provides better quality if you have the VRAM. The smallest option is IQ3_M at 0.6 GB.
VRAM requirement by quantization
IQ3_M0.6 GB~78%IQ4_XS0.7 GB~87%Q4_K_M ★0.8 GB~89%Q4_K_L0.8 GB~90%Q5_K_M1.0 GB~92%Q8_01.4 GB~99%★ Recommended — best balance of quality and VRAM usage.
- Can I run Llama 3.2 1B on a Mac?
Llama 3.2 1B requires at least 0.6 GB at IQ3_M, which exceeds the unified memory of most consumer Macs. You would need a Mac Studio or Mac Pro with a high-memory configuration.
- Can I run Llama 3.2 1B locally?
Yes — Llama 3.2 1B can run locally on consumer hardware. At Q4_K_M quantization it needs 0.8 GB of VRAM. Popular tools include Ollama, LM Studio, and llama.cpp.
- How fast is Llama 3.2 1B?
At Q4_K_M, Llama 3.2 1B can reach ~3555 tok/s on AMD Instinct MI300X. On NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090: ~799 tok/s. Speed depends mainly on GPU memory bandwidth. Real-world results typically within ±20%.
tok/s = (bandwidth GB/s ÷ model GB) × efficiency
Example: AMD Instinct MI300X → 5300 ÷ 0.8 × 0.55 = ~3555 tok/s
Estimated speed at Q4_K_M (0.8 GB)
AMD Instinct MI300X~3555 tok/sNVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090~799 tok/sNVIDIA H100 SXM~2657 tok/sAMD Instinct MI250X~2198 tok/sReal-world results typically within ±20%. Speed depends on batch size, quantization kernel, and software stack.
- What's the download size of Llama 3.2 1B?
At Q4_K_M, the download is about 0.74 GB. The full-precision Q8_0 version is 1.24 GB. The smallest option (IQ3_M) is 0.56 GB.