Llama 4 Scout 17B — VRAM, Speed & Local Setup

Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated April 5, 2025

Model library → Llama 4 → Llama 4 Scout 17B

The most accessible Llama 4 model. 17B active parameters in a 109B MoE architecture with a massive 10M token context window. All 109B parameters must be resident in memory even though only 17B activate per token, so it needs roughly 67 GB at Q4_K_M — an 80 GB datacentre card, a 96 GB+ unified-memory machine, or multi-GPU. Meta states it fits a single H100 at int4.

Llama 4 Scout 17B needs about 67 GB of VRAM at Q4_K_M — quantized weights plus framework overhead, before any KV cache. On Apple Silicon that figure comes out of unified memory.

Specifications

Parameters109 Billion (17B active)
Context window10,000,000
ArchitectureMoE (16 experts)
ProviderMeta
LicenceLlama 4 Community
Specified atQ4_K_M
System RAM16 GB
Record updated2025-04-05

Licence

Llama Community — commercial use permitted. Weights are downloadable and commercial use is permitted, subject to the licence’s acceptable-use terms.

VRAM and Speed by Quantization

Modelled on a reference NVIDIA RTX 4090 (24 GB), at 8K context. Speed figures are ESTIMATES from the memory-bandwidth roofline described on the methodology page, not benchmarks we ran — rows marked measured come from published or reader-submitted runs. VRAM here includes the KV cache, so it reads higher than the headline figure above, which does not.

QuantWeightsVRAM neededEst. speedFit on 24 GB
Q2_K35.8 GB38.2 GB~14 tok/s (est.)Offloads to system RAM (slow)
Q3_K_M46.5 GB48.9 GB~12 tok/s (est.)Offloads to system RAM (slow)
Q4_K_M65.8 GB68.2 GB—Won't fit
Q5_K_M77.3 GB79.7 GB—Won't fit
Q6_K89.4 GB91.8 GB—Won't fit
Q8_0115.8 GB118.2 GB—Won't fit
F16218.0 GB220.4 GB—Won't fit

Want the memory numbers alone, at every quantization level and your own context length? Use the Llama 4 Scout 17B VRAM calculator.

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Recommended GPU

The cheapest catalogued GPU that runs Llama 4 Scout 17B is the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 (96 GB).

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Ryzen AI Max+ 395 Laptop (Strix Halo, up to 128GB)
96 GB VRAM · 120 W board power
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How to Run Llama 4 Scout 17B

Install Ollama, then run:

ollama run llama4:scout

Weights on Hugging Face: meta-llama/Llama-4-Scout-17B-16E-Instruct.

Best for: chat, rag, long context, reasoning.

Can I Run Llama 4 Scout 17B on My GPU?

Other Llama 4 Sizes

Llama 4 Scout 17B — Frequently Asked Questions

How much VRAM does Llama 4 Scout 17B need?
About 67 GB at Q4_K_M — quantized weights plus framework overhead, before any KV cache. The cache grows with context length and is added on top; the table above folds it in. Apple Silicon counts unified memory toward the same figure.
Does Llama 4 Scout 17B run on an RTX 4090 (24 GB)?
No. Llama 4 Scout 17B needs about 67 GB at Q4_K_M, more than a single RTX 4090's 24 GB. It needs a larger card, several GPUs, or Apple Silicon with enough unified memory — or it runs with part of the weights offloaded to system RAM, which is much slower.
How do I run Llama 4 Scout 17B locally?
Install Ollama and run `ollama run llama4:scout`. That pulls the weights and starts a local OpenAI-compatible endpoint; after the download nothing leaves the machine.
What other sizes does Llama 4 come in?
Llama 4 Scout 17B (67 GB), Llama 4 Maverick 17B (242 GB). Every size shares the family's training and licence; the larger ones score higher and need proportionally more memory.

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