GuideMarch 10, 2026•9 min read
How to Run Llama 3 on the Cheapest GPU Cloud
Running Llama 3 on cloud GPUs can cost as little as $0.40/hour for the 8B model or $2.50/hour for the 70B. Here's exactly how to set it up on the cheapest providers.
GPU Requirements by Model
| Model | Min VRAM | Recommended GPU | Min Price/hr |
|---|---|---|---|
| Llama 3 8B (FP16) | 16GB | RTX 4090 / A10G | $0.35 |
| Llama 3 8B (4-bit) | 6GB | RTX 3080 / A4000 | $0.20 |
| Llama 3 70B (FP16) | 140GB | 2× A100 80GB | $5.50 |
| Llama 3 70B (4-bit) | 40GB | A100 40GB | $1.20 |
Quickest Setup: Llama 3 8B on Vast.ai
Total cost: ~$0.35–0.50/hr
- Create an account at vast.ai, filter for RTX 4090 under $0.50/hr
- Select a PyTorch 2.x + CUDA 12.x template
- SSH in, then run:
curl -fsSL https://ollama.ai/install.sh | sh - Launch:
ollama run llama3 - The 8B model (~4.7GB) downloads and is ready in minutes
Production: Llama 3 70B on RunPod A100
Total cost: ~$2.50–3.50/hr using AWQ 4-bit quantization on a single A100 40GB.
- Go to RunPod → Secure Cloud → A100 40GB
- Deploy with the vLLM template
- Start server with AWQ quantization — fits the 70B model in a single A100
- Serves at ~40 tokens/second with an OpenAI-compatible API
Cost Comparison: Llama 3 vs OpenAI
- Llama 3 8B on Vast.ai: ~$0.80/day for 1M tokens
- Llama 3 70B on RunPod A100: ~$12/day for 1M tokens
- GPT-4o API: ~$10/day for 1M tokens
- GPT-4o mini API: ~$0.30/day for 1M tokens
Find the Cheapest GPU for Llama 3
Compare A100, RTX 4090, and H100 prices across 50+ providers.
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