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URL: https://willitrunai.com/can-run/qwen-3-8b-on-rtx-2080-ti-11gb


Can Qwen 3 8B run on RTX 2080 Ti 11GB?

YES — Tight Fit

S93Excellent
Estimated from fit model

Qwen 3 8B needs ~9.4 GB VRAM. RTX 2080 Ti 11GB has 11.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~82 tok/s.

Runtime: OllamaCapacity: TightBandwidth: MediumStack: BasicBottleneck: 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.

Capabilities:

Select quantization to explore

Q4_K_M (Medium quality) — 9.4 GB, 88.2 tok/s, Tight fit
9.4 GB required11.0 GB available
85% VRAM used

Fit status

Tight fit

Decode

88.2 tok/s

TTFT

2195 ms

Safe context

28K

Memory

9.4 GB / 11.0 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights4.9 GB
KV Cache2.2 GB
Runtime1.2 GB
Headroom1.1 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsQwen 3 8B on RTX 2080 Ti 11GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>Solve: If a train travels at 60 mph for 2.5 hours, how far does it go?
Let me work through this step by step. Given information: - Speed = 60 mph (miles per hour) - Time = 2.5 hours Formula: Distance = Speed x Time Calculation: Distance = 60 mph x 2.5 h = 150 miles The train travels 150 miles. Double-check: at 60 mph the train covers 60 miles each hour. In half an hour it covers 30 miles. So in 2.5 hours: 60 + 60 + 30 = 150 miles. Confirmed.
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>What if the train stops for 20 minutes halfway?
The stop doesn't change the total distance covered while moving, but it affects total trip time. Breakdown: - First half: 1.25 hours at 60 mph = 75 miles - Stop: 20 minutes (no distance) - Second half: 1.25 hours at 60 mph = 75 miles Total distance: 150 miles (same) Total time: 2.5 h + 0.33 h = 2.83 hours Average speed: 150 / 2.83 = 53 mph The distance stays the same but average speed drops to 53 mph because of the stop.
Estimated: 88.2 tok/s decode · 2.2s TTFT (warm) · 221 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

WorkloadGradeFitDecodeTTFTContext
ChatSRuns well88.2 tok/s1197 ms28K
CodingSTight fit82.0 tok/s2360 ms28K
Agentic CodingSRuns with offload (needs ~0.2 GB host RAM)57.5 tok/s4895 ms28K
ReasoningSTight fit88.2 tok/s2594 ms28K
RAGSRuns with offload (needs ~0.2 GB host RAM)57.5 tok/s6118 ms

Quantization options

How Qwen 3 8B (8B params) fits at each quantization level on RTX 2080 Ti 11GB (11.0 GB usable).

QuantBitsVRAMQualityFit
Q2_K
2
3.1 GB
LowS90
Q3_K_S
3
3.9 GB
LowS91
NVFP4
4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Qwen 3 8B on your machine.

Run

ollama run qwen3:8b

Your hardware

More models your RTX 2080 Ti 11GB can run

ModelParamsGradeDecodeCapabilities
👁 Alibaba
Qwen 3.5 9B
9BS78.4 tok/s

Frequently asked questions

See all results for RTX 2080 Ti 11GBSee all hardware for Qwen 3 8B
28K
4.5 GB
Medium
S92
Q4_K_M
4
4.9 GB
MediumS93
Q5_K_M
5
5.8 GB
HighS92
Q6_KBest for your GPU
6
6.6 GB
HighS92
Q8_0
8
8.6 GB
Very HighF0
F16
16
16.4 GB
MaximumF0