12 GB VRAM (+1)672 GB/s (+188)
B
Raises estimated decode speed by about 48%.93.3 tok/s decode
Raises estimated decode speed by about 48%.
~$549 MSRP
Can Dolphin 2.9 8B run on GTX 1080 Ti 11GB?
YES — Runs Great
B56Good
○Estimated from fit model
Dolphin 2.9 8B needs ~8.8 GB VRAM. GTX 1080 Ti 11GB has 11.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~63 tok/s.
Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: MediumStack: StandardBottleneck: Balanced
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Operating mode
Choose the run profile you care about
Interactive favors responsiveness, while light API and scale-out lean harder on serving readiness. The fit stays the same, but the recommendation lens changes.
Current mode
Balanced
Balanced for general local use. Keeps the ranking neutral across personal and serving workflows.
Select quantization to explore
Q4_K_M (Medium quality) — 8.8 GB, 62.9 tok/s, Runs well
8.8 GB required11.0 GB available
80% VRAM used
Fit status
Runs well
Decode
62.9 tok/s
TTFT
3078 ms
Safe context
33K
Memory
8.8 GB / 11.0 GB
Memory breakdown
Weights4.9 GB
KV Cache2.0 GB
Runtime0.9 GB
Headroom1.1 GB
See how fast it feels
See how fast it feelsDolphin 2.9 8B on GTX 1080 Ti 11GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>What is local AI inference?
Local AI inference means running an AI language model directly on your own hardware — your laptop, desktop, or server — instead of sending requests to a remote cloud API.
When you run inference locally the model weights are loaded into your GPU or unified memory. Each token you generate requires reading those weights from memory, so memory bandwidth is the main bottleneck for decode speed.
Key benefits of running locally:
- Full privacy: your prompts never leave your machine
- No per-token cost or rate limits
- Works offline once the model is downloaded
- Latency depends only on your hardware
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>How much VRAM do I need?
It depends on the model size and quantization level. A rough rule of thumb:
Model size Q4 (4-bit) Q8 (8-bit) FP16
7B params ~4.3 GB ~7.5 GB ~14 GB
13B params ~7.9 GB ~13.9 GB ~26 GB
70B params ~42.7 GB ~74.9 GB ~140 GB
Most people use 4-bit quantization (Q4_K_M) which gives 90-95% of full quality at a fraction of the memory. A 24 GB GPU can comfortably run most 7B-13B models.
Estimated: 62.9 tok/s decode · 3.1s TTFT (warm) · 157 tok/s prefill
What limits this setup
This setup is broadly balanced for this model.
Older PCIe generation
PCIe 3.0 is workable, but it compounds the penalty when you offload heavily or try to scale across multiple cards.
Best improvement path
Performance by workload
| Workload | Grade | Fit | Decode | TTFT | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chat | B | Runs well | 62.9 tok/s | 1679 ms | 33K |
| Coding | B | Runs well | 62.9 tok/s | 3078 ms | 33K |
| Agentic Coding | C | Runs with offload | 62.9 tok/s | 4477 ms | 33K |
| Reasoning | B | Runs well | 62.9 tok/s | 3637 ms | 33K |
| RAG | C | Runs with offload | 62.9 tok/s | 5596 ms | 33K |
Quantization options
How Dolphin 2.9 8B (8B params) fits at each quantization level on GTX 1080 Ti 11GB (11.0 GB usable).
| Quant | Bits | VRAM | Quality | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Q2_K | 2 | 3.1 GB | Low | C51 |
Q3_K_S | 3 | 3.9 GB | Low | C52 |
NVFP4 | 4 | 4.5 GB | Medium | C53 |
Q4_K_M | 4 | 4.9 GB | Medium | C53 |
Q5_K_M | 5 | 5.8 GB | High | C53 |
Q6_KBest for your GPU | 6 | 6.6 GB | High | C53 |
Q8_0 | 8 | 8.6 GB | Very High | F0 |
F16 | 16 | 16.4 GB | Maximum | F0 |
Get started
Copy-paste commands to run Dolphin 2.9 8B on your machine.
Run
ollama run dolphin-llama3Upgrade options