Llama 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct — Hardware Requirements & GPU Compatibility
Vision
Llama 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct is a 401.6B-parameter open language model from Meta in the Llama 4 family. At Q4_K_M it needs about 265.05 GB of VRAM — see which GPUs and Macs can run it below.
67.8K downloads
503 likesSpecifications
- Publisher
- Meta
- Family
- Llama 4
- Parameters
- 401.6B
- Release Date
- 2025-04-01
- License
- Other
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How Much VRAM Does Llama 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct Need?
Select a quantization to see compatible GPUs below.
| Quantization | Bits | VRAM | + Context | File Size | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q2_K | 3.40 | 187.7 GB | — | 170.67 GB | 2-bit quantization with K-quant improvements |
| Q3_K_S | 3.50 | 193.3 GB | — | 175.69 GB | 3-bit small quantization |
| Q3_K_M | 3.90 | 215.3 GB | — | 195.77 GB | 3-bit medium quantization |
| Q4_0 | 4.00 | 220.9 GB | — | 200.79 GB | 4-bit legacy quantization |
| Q4_K_M | 4.80 | 265.1 GB | — | 240.95 GB | 4-bit medium quantization — most popular sweet spot |
| Q5_K_M | 5.70 | 314.7 GB | — | 286.13 GB | 5-bit medium quantization — good quality/size tradeoff |
| Q6_K | 6.60 | 364.4 GB | — | 331.31 GB | 6-bit quantization, very good quality |
| Q8_0 | 8.00 | 441.7 GB | — | 401.58 GB | 8-bit quantization, near-lossless |
Which GPUs Can Run Llama 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct?
Q4_K_M · 265.1 GBLlama 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct (Q4_K_M) requires 265.1 GB of VRAM to load the model weights. For comfortable inference with headroom for KV cache and system overhead, 345+ GB is recommended. No single GPU has enough memory — multi-GPU or cluster setups are needed.
Which Devices Can Run Llama 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct?
Q4_K_M · 265.1 GB3 devices with unified memory can run Llama 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct, including NVIDIA DGX H100, NVIDIA DGX A100 640GB, Mac Studio (M3 Ultra, 512GB).
Runs great
— Plenty of headroom
Decent
— Enough memory, may be tightWhere to Download Llama 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct
Community quantizations of this model — GGUF for llama.cpp, Ollama, and LM Studio, plus AWQ/MLX variants where available.
Benchmarks
Benchmark details →Frequently Asked Questions
- How much VRAM does Llama 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct need?
Llama 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct requires 265.1 GB of VRAM at Q4_K_M, or 883.5 GB at BF16.
VRAM = Weights + KV Cache + Overhead
Weights = 401.6B × 4.8 bits ÷ 8 = 241 GB
KV Cache + Overhead ≈ 24.1 GB (at 2K context + ~0.3 GB framework)
VRAM usage by quantization
Q4_K_M265.1 GB- Can NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 run Llama 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct?
No — Llama 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct requires at least 121.5 GB at IQ2_XXS, which exceeds the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090's 32 GB of VRAM.
- What's the best quantization for Llama 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct?
For Llama 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct, Q4_K_M (265.1 GB) offers the best balance of quality and VRAM usage. Q5_K_S (303.7 GB) provides better quality if you have the VRAM. The smallest option is IQ2_XXS at 121.5 GB.
VRAM requirement by quantization
IQ2_XXS121.5 GBQ3_K_S193.3 GBQ4_1248.5 GBQ4_K_M ★265.1 GBQ5_K_S303.7 GBBF16883.5 GB★ Recommended — best balance of quality and VRAM usage.
- Can I run Llama 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct on a Mac?
Llama 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct requires at least 121.5 GB at IQ2_XXS, 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 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct locally?
Yes — Llama 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct can run locally on consumer hardware. At Q4_K_M quantization it needs 265.1 GB of VRAM. Popular tools include Ollama, LM Studio, and llama.cpp.
- How fast is Llama 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct?
At Q4_K_M, Llama 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct can reach ~17 tok/s on AMD Instinct MI350X. Speed depends mainly on GPU memory bandwidth. Real-world results typically within ±20%.
tok/s = (bandwidth GB/s ÷ model GB) × efficiency
Example: NVIDIA B300 → 8000 ÷ 265.1 × 0.65 = ~20 tok/s
Estimated speed at Q4_K_M (265.1 GB)
~20 tok/s~17 tok/s~17 tok/sReal-world results typically within ±20%. Speed depends on batch size, quantization kernel, and software stack.
- What's the download size of Llama 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct?
At Q4_K_M, the download is about 240.95 GB. The full-precision BF16 version is 803.17 GB. The smallest option (IQ2_XXS) is 110.44 GB.
- Which GPUs can run Llama 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct?
No single consumer GPU has enough VRAM to run Llama 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct at Q4_K_M (265.1 GB). Multi-GPU or professional hardware is required.
- Which devices can run Llama 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct?
3 devices with unified memory can run Llama 4 Maverick 17B 128E Instruct at Q4_K_M (265.1 GB), including Mac Studio (M3 Ultra, 512GB), NVIDIA DGX A100 640GB, NVIDIA DGX H100. Apple Silicon Macs use unified memory shared between CPU and GPU, making them well-suited for local LLM inference.