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URL: https://willitrunai.com/can-run/starcoder2-15b-on-a4000-16gb


Can StarCoder2 15B run on RTX A4000 16GB?

YES — Tight Fit

C52Usable
Estimated from fit model

StarCoder2 15B needs ~14.8 GB VRAM. RTX A4000 16GB has 16.0 GB. With Q5_K_M quantization, expect ~30 tok/s.

Runtime: OllamaCapacity: TightBandwidth: LowStack: 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

Q5_K_M (High quality) — 14.8 GB, 32.3 tok/s, Tight fit
14.8 GB required16.0 GB available
93% VRAM used

Fit status

Tight fit

Decode

32.3 tok/s

TTFT

5988 ms

Safe context

16K

Memory

14.8 GB / 16.0 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights10.8 GB
KV Cache1.2 GB
Runtime1.2 GB
Headroom1.6 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsStarCoder2 15B on RTX A4000 16GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>Write a Python function to sort a list
Here's a Python function that sorts a list using quicksort: def quicksort(arr): if len(arr) <= 1: return arr pivot = arr[len(arr) // 2] left = [x for x in arr if x < pivot] middle = [x for x in arr if x == pivot] right = [x for x in arr if x > pivot] return quicksort(left) + middle + quicksort(right) # Example usage numbers = [3, 6, 8, 10, 1, 2, 1] print(quicksort(numbers)) # [1, 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 10] The algorithm picks a pivot, partitions the list into smaller, equal, and larger elements, then recursively sorts each partition and concatenates the results.
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>Now add type hints and a docstring
def quicksort(arr: list[int]) -> list[int]: """Sort a list using the quicksort algorithm. Args: arr: List of integers to sort. Returns: A new sorted list. """ if len(arr) <= 1: return arr pivot = arr[len(arr) // 2] left = [x for x in arr if x < pivot] middle = [x for x in arr if x == pivot] right = [x for x in arr if x > pivot] return quicksort(left) + middle + quicksort(right) Added type hints for the input and return type, plus a Google-style docstring.
Estimated: 32.3 tok/s decode · 6.0s TTFT (warm) · 81 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

This setup is broadly balanced for this model.

Very little memory headroom

You can run the model, but there is not much room left for longer context, bigger batches, extra apps, or future model updates.

Best improvement path

Buy headroom, not only minimum fit

A slightly larger memory tier gives you safer context growth and makes the recommendation more future-proof.

Performance by workload

WorkloadGradeFitDecodeTTFTContext
ChatCTight fit29.6 tok/s3565 ms16K
CodingCTight fit29.6 tok/s6537 ms16K
Agentic CodingCRuns with offload22.1 tok/s12746 ms16K
ReasoningCTight fit29.6 tok/s7725 ms16K
RAGCRuns with offload22.1 tok/s15933 ms16K

Quantization options

How StarCoder2 15B (15B params) fits at each quantization level on RTX A4000 16GB (16.0 GB usable).

QuantBitsVRAMQualityFit
Q2_K
2
5.9 GB
LowC51
Q3_K_S
3
7.4 GB
LowC53
NVFP4
4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run StarCoder2 15B on your machine.

Run

docker run --rm -it ghcr.io/ggerganov/llama.cpp:full \ --hf-repo "bigcode/starcoder2-15b" \ --hf-file "starcoder2-15b-Q5_K_M.gguf" \ -c 4096 -ngl 99

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs StarCoder2 15B well

👁 NVIDIA
RTX 4000 Ada 20GBBudget pick
20 GB VRAM (+4)
C
Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.29 tok/s decode

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

~$1,250 MSRP

👁 NVIDIA
RTX 3090 24GBBest value
24 GB VRAM (+8)936 GB/s (+488)
B
Raises estimated decode speed by about 109%.67.6 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 109%.

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

~$1,499 MSRP

👁 NVIDIA
RTX 4090 24GBNVIDIA upgrade
24 GB VRAM (+8)1008 GB/s (+560)
B
Raises estimated decode speed by about 145%.79 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 145%.

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

~$1,599 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

See all results for RTX A4000 16GBSee all hardware for StarCoder2 15B
8.4 GB
Medium
C53
Q4_K_M
4
9.2 GB
MediumC53
Q5_K_M
5
10.8 GB
HighC52
Q6_KBest for your GPU
6
12.3 GB
HighC52
Q8_0
8
16.1 GB
Very HighF0
F16
16
30.7 GB
MaximumF0

Buy headroom, not only minimum fit. A slightly larger memory tier gives you safer context growth and makes the recommendation more future-proof.