Llama 3.3 70B Instruct GGUF — Hardware Requirements & GPU Compatibility
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19.1K downloads
100 likesSpecifications
- Publisher
- Unsloth
- Family
- Llama 3
- Parameters
- 70B
- Architecture
- LlamaForCausalLM
- Context Length
- 131,072 tokens
- Vocabulary Size
- 128,256
- Release Date
- 2025-05-10
- License
- llama3.3
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HuggingFace
How Much VRAM Does Llama 3.3 70B Instruct GGUF Need?
Select a quantization to see compatible GPUs below.
| Quantization | Bits | VRAM | + Context | File Size | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q2_K | 3.40 | 30.7 GB | 73 GB | 29.75 GB | 2-bit quantization with K-quant improvements |
| Q3_K_S | 3.50 | 31.6 GB | 73.9 GB | 30.63 GB | 3-bit small quantization |
| Q3_K_M | 3.90 | 35.1 GB | 77.4 GB | 34.13 GB | 3-bit medium quantization |
| Q4_0 | 4.00 | 36.0 GB | 78.3 GB | 35.00 GB | 4-bit legacy quantization |
| Q4_K_M | 4.80 | 43.0 GB | 85.3 GB | 42.00 GB | 4-bit medium quantization — most popular sweet spot |
| Q5_K_M | 5.70 | 50.9 GB | 93.1 GB | 49.88 GB | 5-bit medium quantization — good quality/size tradeoff |
| Q6_K | 6.60 | 58.7 GB | 101 GB | 57.75 GB | 6-bit quantization, very good quality |
| Q8_0 | 8.00 | 71.0 GB | 113.3 GB | 70.00 GB | 8-bit quantization, near-lossless |
Which GPUs Can Run Llama 3.3 70B Instruct GGUF?
Q4_K_M · 43.0 GBLlama 3.3 70B Instruct GGUF (Q4_K_M) requires 43.0 GB of VRAM to load the model weights. For comfortable inference with headroom for KV cache and system overhead, 56+ GB is recommended. Using the full 131K context window can add up to 42.3 GB, bringing total usage to 85.3 GB. No single GPU has enough memory — multi-GPU or cluster setups are needed.
Which Devices Can Run Llama 3.3 70B Instruct GGUF?
Q4_K_M · 43.0 GB11 devices with unified memory can run Llama 3.3 70B Instruct GGUF, including NVIDIA DGX H100, NVIDIA DGX A100 640GB, Mac Studio M4 Max (64 GB).
Runs great
— Plenty of headroom
Related Models
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much VRAM does Llama 3.3 70B Instruct GGUF need?
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct GGUF requires 43.0 GB of VRAM at Q4_K_M, or 71.0 GB at Q8_0. Full 131K context adds up to 42.3 GB (85.3 GB total).
VRAM = Weights + KV Cache + Overhead
Weights = 70B × 4.8 bits ÷ 8 = 42 GB
KV Cache + Overhead ≈ 1 GB (at 2K context + ~0.3 GB framework)
KV Cache + Overhead ≈ 43.3 GB (at full 131K context)
VRAM usage by quantization
Q4_K_M43.0 GBQ4_K_M + full context85.3 GB- Can NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 run Llama 3.3 70B Instruct GGUF?
Yes, at IQ2_XXS (20.2 GB) or lower. Higher quantizations like IQ2_M (24.6 GB) exceed the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090's 24 GB.
- What's the best quantization for Llama 3.3 70B Instruct GGUF?
For Llama 3.3 70B Instruct GGUF, Q4_K_M (43.0 GB) offers the best balance of quality and VRAM usage. Q5_K_S (49.1 GB) provides better quality if you have the VRAM. The smallest option is IQ2_XXS at 20.2 GB.
VRAM requirement by quantization
IQ2_XXS20.2 GB~53%Q3_K_S31.6 GB~77%Q4_140.4 GB~88%Q4_K_M ★43.0 GB~89%Q5_K_S49.1 GB~92%Q8_071.0 GB~99%★ Recommended — best balance of quality and VRAM usage.
- Can I run Llama 3.3 70B Instruct GGUF on a Mac?
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct GGUF requires at least 20.2 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 3.3 70B Instruct GGUF locally?
Yes — Llama 3.3 70B Instruct GGUF can run locally on consumer hardware. At Q4_K_M quantization it needs 43.0 GB of VRAM. Popular tools include Ollama, LM Studio, and llama.cpp.
- How fast is Llama 3.3 70B Instruct GGUF?
At Q4_K_M, Llama 3.3 70B Instruct GGUF can reach ~68 tok/s on AMD Instinct MI300X. 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 ÷ 43.0 × 0.55 = ~68 tok/s
Estimated speed at Q4_K_M (43.0 GB)
AMD Instinct MI300X~68 tok/sNVIDIA H100 SXM~51 tok/sAMD Instinct MI250X~42 tok/sReal-world results typically within ±20%. Speed depends on batch size, quantization kernel, and software stack.
- What's the download size of Llama 3.3 70B Instruct GGUF?
At Q4_K_M, the download is about 42.00 GB. The full-precision Q8_0 version is 70.00 GB. The smallest option (IQ2_XXS) is 19.25 GB.
- Which GPUs can run Llama 3.3 70B Instruct GGUF?
No single consumer GPU has enough VRAM to run Llama 3.3 70B Instruct GGUF at Q4_K_M (43.0 GB). Multi-GPU or professional hardware is required.
- Which devices can run Llama 3.3 70B Instruct GGUF?
11 devices with unified memory can run Llama 3.3 70B Instruct GGUF at Q4_K_M (43.0 GB), including Mac Mini M4 Pro (48 GB), Mac Pro M2 Ultra (192 GB), Mac Studio M2 Ultra (192 GB), Mac Studio M4 Max (128 GB). Apple Silicon Macs use unified memory shared between CPU and GPU, making them well-suited for local LLM inference.