What GPU do I need to run microsoft/phi-1_5?
1.4B parameters, published in F16. View on Hugging Face
Set up phi-1_5phi-1_5 is published by microsoft on Hugging Face, with 55,389 downloads and 1,362 likes to date. It's a PhiForCausalLM model built for text-generation, published natively in F16.
VRAM required & cheapest live GPU fit
Required VRAM = weight size at each precision, plus a fixed overhead for KV-cache, activations, and fragmentation. Full formula and assumptions: methodology.
| Precision | Weight size | Required VRAM | Cheapest live fit | GPUs needed | Est. $/hr (full fit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FP16 | 2.6 GB | 3.2 GB | V100 | 1 | $0.088/hr |
| FP8 (quantized) | 1.3 GB | 1.6 GB | RTX 5060 Ti | 1 | $0.110/hr |
| INT4 (quantized) | 0.7 GB | 0.8 GB | RTX 5060 Ti | 1 | $0.110/hr |
A GPU is only matched to a row if its hardware supports that precision, and the primary recommendation is always a single-GPU fit when one exists.
INT4 requires a quantized checkpoint actually published for this model, check its Hugging Face page before relying on this row.
Cheapest way to run phi-1_5 at its published (F16) precision: 1× V100, at $0.088/hr per GPU ($0.088/hr total). Quantizing to FP8 or INT4 (rows above) can cost less, but requires a compatible quantized checkpoint to exist for this model.
phi-1_5: common questions
How much VRAM does phi-1_5 need?
3.2 GB at FP16, 1.6 GB at FP8 (quantized), 0.8 GB at INT4 (quantized). All of those sit under 6 GB, the smallest capacity this page reasons about, so VRAM is not what limits where this model runs. The 2.6 GB of weights plus inference overhead is the whole requirement.
How many copies of phi-1_5 fit on one V100?
5, by VRAM alone. That card carries 16.0 GB and one copy needs 3.2 GB at FP16, on a live rate of $0.088/hr for the whole card. Throughput is not modelled here, so 5 copies is not 5 times the requests served.
Weight-to-VRAM math, the fit rules, and how live prices are normalized: full methodology.
More Phi-1 models
- phi-1 (1.4B, F16)
Related reading: V100 pricing and specs, and The best GPUs for AI, ranked.
