Model reference · open weights
Llama-3.1 is an open-weight language model from Meta. Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct (BF16) weighs 16.1 GB; the smallest configuration that runs it is 2× RTX 3060 12 GB.
For self-hosting, compare this build's requirements below with the GPU you plan to rent.
AxForge offerings: Llama 3.1
Summary of the meta-llama/Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct model card, 2026-10-01
What it is
| Released by | Meta |
|---|---|
| Released | 2024-07-18 |
| Parameters | 8.0B |
| VRAM | 16.1 GB for the weights |
What it runs on
| Card | Requests at once | Context max | Memory | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8K each | 32K each | |||
| RTX 3060 12 GB … RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB 2 smaller cards | ||||
| RTX 3090 24 GB | 6 | 1 | 49K | 23.4 GB |
| RTX 4090 24 GB | 6 | 1 | 48K | 23.4 GB |
| RTX 5090 32 GB | 13 | 3 | 105K | 31.0 GB |
| L40S 48 GB | 25 | 6 | all 128K | 44.0 GB |
| A100 80 GB | 57 | 14 | all 128K | 78.2 GB |
| H100 80 GB | 53 | 13 | all 128K | 78.1 GB |
| RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell 96 GB | 67 | 16 | all 128K | 93.8 GB |
| DGX Spark (GB10) 128 GB unified | 80 | 20 | all 128K | 107 GB |
| H200 141 GB | 109 | 27 | all 128K | 138 GB |
| B200 180 GB | 143 | 35 | all 128K | 176 GB |
| 2× RTX 3060 12 GB tensor parallel | 5 | 1 | 42K | 11.6 GB a card |
| 2× RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB tensor parallel | 12 | 3 | 98K | 15.4 GB a card |
| 2× RTX 4090 24 GB tensor parallel | 27 | 6 | all 128K | 23.4 GB a card |
| 2× RTX 3090 24 GB tensor parallel | 27 | 6 | all 128K | 23.4 GB a card |
| Requests at once | 8K tokens each | 32K tokens each |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17.9 GB | 21.1 GB |
| 5 | 22.2 GB | 38.3 GB |
| 8 | 25.4 GB | 51.2 GB |
| 16 | 34.0 GB | 85.5 GB |
| 32 | 51.2 GB | 154 GB |
| 64 | 85.5 GB | 292 GB |
One card, with vLLM's small-card settings.
Builds
| Build | Params | Precision | Weights | Smallest setup |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct (above) ↗ | 8.0B | BF16 | 16.1 GB | 2× RTX 3060 12 GB |
| Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct ↗ | 70.6B | BF16 | 141 GB | 4× L40S 48 GB |
| Llama-3.1-405B-FP8 ↗ | 405.9B | FP8 | 487 GB | none of the reference configurations |
| Llama-3.1-405B ↗ | 405.9B | BF16 | 812 GB | none of the reference configurations |
| Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct ↗ packaged by unsloth |
8.0B | BF16 | 16.1 GB | 2× RTX 3060 12 GB |
| Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct-FP8 ↗ packaged by nvidia |
70.6B | FP8 | 72.7 GB | A100 80 GB |
| Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct-FP8 ↗ packaged by nvidia |
8.0B | FP8 | 9.1 GB | RTX 3060 12 GB |
| Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct-GGUF ↗ packaged by unsloth 25 builds: IQ1_S 2.2 GB … BF16 16.1 GB |
GGUF | 4.9 GB | RTX 3060 12 GB |
From the model card
The Meta Llama 3.1 collection of multilingual large language models (LLMs) is a collection of pretrained and instruction tuned generative models in 8B, 70B and 405B sizes (text in/text out). The Llama 3.1 instruction tuned text only models (8B, 70B, 405B) are optimized for multilingual dialogue use cases and outperform many of the available open source and closed chat models on common industry benchmarks.
Model developer: Meta
Model Architecture: Llama 3.1 is an auto-regressive language model that uses an optimized transformer architecture. The tuned versions use supervised fine-tuning (SFT) and reinforcement learning with human feedback (RLHF) to align with human preferences for helpfulness and safety.
Supported languages: English, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Hindi, Spanish, and Thai.
Llama 3.1 family of models. Token counts refer to pretraining data only. All model versions use Grouped-Query Attention (GQA) for improved inference scalability.
Model Release Date: July 23, 2024.
Status: This is a static model trained on an offline dataset. Future versions of the tuned models will be released as we improve model safety with community feedback.
License: A custom commercial license, the Llama 3.1 Community License, is available at: https://github.com/meta-llama/llama-models/blob/main/models/llama3_1/LICENSE
Where to send questions or comments about the model Instructions on how to provide feedback or comments on the model can be found in the model README. For more technical information about generation parameters and recipes for how to use Llama 3.1 in applications, please go here.
Intended Use Cases Llama 3.1 is intended for commercial and research use in multiple languages. Instruction tuned text only models are intended for assistant-like chat, whereas pretrained models can be adapted for a variety of natural language generation tasks. The Llama 3.1 model collection also supports the ability to leverage the outputs of its models to improve other models including synthetic data generation and distillation. The Llama 3.1 Community License allows for these use cases.
Out-of-scope Use in any manner that violates applicable laws or regulations (including trade compliance laws). Use in any other way that is prohibited by the Acceptable Use Policy and Llama 3.1 Community License. Use in languages beyond those explicitly referenced as supported in this model card**.
**Note: Llama 3.1 has been trained on a broader collection of languages than the 8 supported languages. Developers may fine-tune Llama 3.1 models for languages beyond the 8 supported languages provided they comply with the Llama 3.1 Community License and the Acceptable Use Policy and in such cases are responsible for ensuring that any uses of Llama 3.1 in additional languages is done in a safe and responsible manner.
This repository contains two versions of Meta-Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct, for use with transformers and with the original llama codebase.
Starting with transformers >= 4.43.0 onward, you can run conversational inference using the Transformers pipeline abstraction or by leveraging the Auto classes with the generate() function.
Make sure to update your transformers installation via pip install --upgrade transformers.
import transformers
import torch
model_id = "meta-llama/Meta-Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct"
pipeline = transformers.pipeline(
"text-generation",
model=model_id,
model_kwargs={"torch_dtype": torch.bfloat16},
device_map="auto",
)
messages = [
{"role": "system", "content": "You are a pirate chatbot who always responds in pirate speak!"},
{"role": "user", "content": "Who are you?"},
]
outputs = pipeline(
messages,
max_new_tokens=256,
)
print(outputs[0]["generated_text"][-1])
Note: You can also find detailed recipes on how to use the model locally, with torch.compile(), assisted generations, quantised and more at huggingface-llama-recipes
LLaMA-3.1 supports multiple tool use formats. You can see a full guide to prompt formatting here.
Tool use is also supported through chat templates in Transformers. Here is a quick example showing a single simple tool:
# First, define a tool
def get_current_temperature(location: str) -> float:
"""
Get the current temperature at a location.
Args:
location: The location to get the temperature for, in the format "City, Country"
Returns:
The current temperature at the specified location in the specified units, as a float.
"""
return 22. # A real function should probably actually get the temperature!
# Next, create a chat and apply the chat template
messages = [
{"role": "system", "content": "You are a bot that responds to weather queries."},
{"role": "user", "content": "Hey, what's the temperature in Paris right now?"}
]
inputs = tokenizer.apply_chat_template(messages, tools=[get_current_temperature], add_generation_prompt=True)
You can then generate text from this input as normal. If the model generates a tool call, you should add it to the chat like so:
tool_call = {"name": "get_current_temperature", "arguments": {"location": "Paris, France"}}
messages.append({"role": "assistant", "tool_calls": [{"type": "function", "function": tool_call}]})
and then call the tool and append the result, with the tool role, like so:
messages.append({"role": "tool", "name": "get_current_temperatQuoted from the model card on Hugging Face. The full card is behind the Hugging Face link above.