DenseNet201 TPS calculator

Open weights Tsinghua University,Facebook AI Research,Cornell University 20M parameters January 2018

Each card below is assessed against this model at the context length and minimum quality you choose. Speed is an estimate for a single request, calculated from the card's memory bandwidth and the size of the model once compressed.

Calculated for this model

818 cards that can run it

818 cards we hold specifications for

Smallest card that fits

Tesla C1080

4 GB · Q8_0 · 1,843 tok/s

Fastest card

B200

169,412 tok/s · 180 GB

Which GPUs can run DenseNet201?

Set the inputs, read the answer

Context length tokens

A longer conversation needs more memory, which can push this model off smaller cards.

Minimum quality

Hides cards that would only fit the model by compressing it below this point.

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Card memory

Also show cards that cannot run it

818 cards match

Calculating

					Needs	Quantisation	Fit
169,412 tok/s 101,647–271,059 · low confidence	B200 NVIDIA	180 GB	8,000 GB/s	Jan 2024	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable
169,412 tok/s 101,647–271,059 · low confidence	B300 NVIDIA	288 GB	8,000 GB/s	Sep 2025	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable
135,280 tok/s 81,168–216,447 · low confidence	Radeon Instinct MI350X AMD	288 GB	8,190 GB/s	Jan 2025	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable
135,280 tok/s 81,168–216,447 · low confidence	Radeon Instinct MI355X AMD	288 GB	8,190 GB/s	Jan 2025	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable
108,191 tok/s 64,914–173,105 · low confidence	Radeon Instinct MI300 AMD	128 GB	6,550 GB/s	Jan 2023	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable
103,553 tok/s 62,132–165,685 · low confidence	H200 NVL NVIDIA	141 GB	4,890 GB/s	Nov 2024	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable
103,553 tok/s 62,132–165,685 · low confidence	H200 SXM 141 GB NVIDIA	141 GB	4,890 GB/s	Nov 2024	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable
99,106 tok/s 59,464–158,569 · low confidence	Radeon Instinct MI325X AMD	256 GB	6,000 GB/s	Oct 2024	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable
87,956 tok/s 52,774–140,730 · low confidence	Radeon Instinct MI300A AMD	128 GB	5,325 GB/s	Dec 2023	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable
87,956 tok/s 52,774–140,730 · low confidence	Radeon Instinct MI300X AMD	192 GB	5,325 GB/s	Dec 2023	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable
87,956 tok/s 52,774–140,730 · low confidence	Radeon Instinct MI308X AMD	192 GB	5,325 GB/s	Dec 2023	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable
83,435 tok/s 50,061–133,496 · low confidence	H100 NVL 94 GB NVIDIA	94 GB	3,940 GB/s	Mar 2023	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable
71,153 tok/s 42,692–113,845 · low confidence	H100 PCIe 96 GB NVIDIA	96 GB	3,360 GB/s	Mar 2023	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable
71,153 tok/s 42,692–113,845 · low confidence	H100 SXM5 80 GB NVIDIA	80 GB	3,360 GB/s	Oct 2022	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable
71,153 tok/s 42,692–113,845 · low confidence	H100 SXM5 94 GB NVIDIA	94 GB	3,360 GB/s	Mar 2023	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable
71,153 tok/s 42,692–113,845 · low confidence	H100 SXM5 96 GB NVIDIA	96 GB	3,360 GB/s	Mar 2023	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable
71,153 tok/s 42,692–113,845 · low confidence	H800 SXM5 NVIDIA	80 GB	3,360 GB/s	Mar 2023	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable
54,178 tok/s 32,507–86,685 · low confidence	Radeon Instinct MI250 AMD	128 GB	3,280 GB/s	Nov 2021	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable
54,178 tok/s 32,507–86,685 · low confidence	Radeon Instinct MI250X AMD	128 GB	3,280 GB/s	Nov 2021	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable
45,148 tok/s 27,089–72,237 · low confidence	Data Center GPU Max 1550 Intel	128 GB	3,280 GB/s	Jan 2023	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable
44,185 tok/s 26,511–70,696 · low confidence	Data Center GPU Max Subsystem Intel	128 GB	3,210 GB/s	Jan 2023	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable
43,200 tok/s 25,920–69,120 · low confidence	A100 SXM4 80 GB NVIDIA	80 GB	2,040 GB/s	Nov 2020	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable
43,200 tok/s 25,920–69,120 · low confidence	A100X NVIDIA	80 GB	2,040 GB/s	Jun 2021	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable
43,200 tok/s 25,920–69,120 · low confidence	A800 SXM4 80 GB NVIDIA	80 GB	2,040 GB/s	Aug 2022	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable
43,200 tok/s 25,920–69,120 · low confidence	H100 CNX NVIDIA	80 GB	2,040 GB/s	Mar 2023	0.7 GB	Q8_0	Comfortable

Speeds are estimates for a single request — one conversation at a time — calculated from memory bandwidth, model size and quantisation. Real throughput varies with the inference runtime and its version. Figures published by hardware vendors measure many simultaneous requests and are much higher.

On record

Full specification

Everything on record for this model. Most of it describes how it was trained rather than how it runs — useful context for judging how much work went into it, and how it compares with models built at a different scale.

Origin

Who built this model, where, and when it was published.

Organisation: Tsinghua University,Facebook AI Research,Cornell University
Organisation type: Academia,Industry,Academia
Country: China, United States of America, France
Published: 28 January 2018
Authors: Gao Huang, Zhuang Liu, Laurens van der Maaten, Kilian Q. Weinberger

What it does

The problem areas the model was built for. A model can carry several of each.

Domain: Vision
Task: Image classification

Size

How large the model is and how much data it was trained on. Parameters are the figure that decides whether it fits on a given graphics card.

Parameters: 20M
Training data: tokens
Epochs: 90

Availability

Whether you can obtain the model and run it on your own hardware, which is what decides if any of the graphics-card figures on this page apply.

Weights: Open — downloadable
Model access: Open weights (unrestricted)
Training code: Open source

How it is classified

Labels the source dataset applies when tracking notable models, and how confident it is in the entry.

Record confidence: Confident
Citations: 43,094

Sources

Where this record came from and when it was last checked.

Reference: Densely Connected Convolutional Networks
Last updated: 25 May 2026

The extremes

The ten fastest GPUs that run DenseNet201

Ranked by estimated tokens per second, newest card first where speeds tie. Because generation is bound by memory bandwidth, this ordering follows bandwidth rather than any gaming benchmark.

The smallest GPUs that still run DenseNet201

The cheapest route in, by memory capacity. A tight fit runs the model but leaves nothing spare for a longer conversation.

What the numbers mean

What it takes to run this model

Minimum card

Tesla C1080

Memory needed

0.7 GB

Fastest

169,412 tok/s

DenseNet201 is small enough at 20M parameters that hardware is rarely the obstacle — 818 of the cards we track can run it, including cards several years old.

The smallest card that holds it is the Tesla C1080 with 4 GB, running it at Q8_0 and producing around 1,843 tokens per second.

At the other end, a B200 generates roughly 169,412 tokens per second on it, on the strength of 8,000 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

About this model

DenseNet201 was published by Tsinghua University,Facebook AI Research,Cornell University, in China, in January 2018. academia,Industry,Academia is the category the publisher falls under.

It works in Vision, and is recorded as doing image classification.

Published weights mean the model runs on your machine rather than someone else's, which is what makes the hardware question below answerable at all.

How fast it runs, and why

Half the cards that hold it manage more than 4,757.1 tokens per second, and 818 exceed reading speed outright.

Being dense, it reads all of itself per token, which is why the ordering by speed below follows the ordering by memory bandwidth so closely.

Without the attention layout on record, the memory column is an approximation. It is close enough to choose hardware by, and least reliable at long context.

Step by step

How to choose a GPU for DenseNet201

The table above has already assessed every card we hold specifications for against this model. Getting to your answer takes six steps.

01

Read the memory figure first

The table lists every card that can hold DenseNet201 — around 0.7 GB at Q8_0. That figure, not the card's headline performance, is what decides whether it runs.
02

Set the context length you will work at

The conversation occupies memory too, and grows as it goes. Set the slider to the length you expect: at long context DenseNet201 can slip off a card that handles short questions easily.
03

Set a quality floor

The quantisation column varies by card, because a bigger card holds a more accurate copy of DenseNet201 — Q8_0 on the smallest card that fits. Set a floor to hold the comparison at one level.
04

Sort by speed

Sort by speed to see how cards rank for DenseNet201. It will not match a gaming ordering — generation is bound by memory bandwidth, which is why the B200 tops it at 169,412 tok/s.
05

Check the fit verdict before buying

Tight means DenseNet201 loads and works, with no room to raise the context later. Comfortable means you can. The difference matters more than a few tokens per second.
06

Open the card you have settled on

Following a card through to its own page shows every other model it can hold, which is the question that follows once DenseNet201 is settled.

Answers

DenseNet201 — common questions

What is DenseNet201 used for?

DenseNet201 works in Vision, and is recorded as handling image classification. Models frequently carry more than one of each, and the tags describe purpose rather than capability limits.

Where can I download DenseNet201?

The weights for DenseNet201 are published, though we do not hold a repository link for it. This site calculates hardware requirements rather than hosting model files.

Can I run DenseNet201 if it does not fit in my GPU?

Only by offloading, which is usually a false economy: the part in system memory drags the whole thing down. Our figures for DenseNet201 assume it is fully resident.

Would two GPUs run DenseNet201 faster?

Two cards buy memory rather than speed. That matters for DenseNet201 only if one card cannot hold it — 818 can, so a second adds little.

Why does the quantisation differ between cards for DenseNet201?

Because capacity varies, so does how hard DenseNet201 has to be squeezed — 1 distinct levels appear in the table above. Set a minimum quality to compare at one.

How accurate are these DenseNet201 speed estimates?

These are estimates with real error bars. The fastest result here, 101,647–271,059 tok/s on the B200, could reasonably land anywhere in its published range depending on which runtime you use.

What GPU do I need to run DenseNet201?

The smallest card in our catalogue that holds DenseNet201 is the Tesla C1080, with 4 GB of memory. It runs the model at Q8_0 using about 0.7 GB, and produces roughly 1,843 tokens per second. 818 cards in total can run it.

How fast is DenseNet201 on a GPU?

It depends on the card. The quickest we calculate is a B200 at about 169,412 tokens per second; the slowest that still runs it manages considerably less. Reading speed is around ten tokens per second, and 818 of the cards that can run DenseNet201 clear that.

How much VRAM does DenseNet201 need?

About 0.7 GB at Q8_0 compression, which is what the smallest card that runs it uses. Less compression needs more: the figures in the memory column above are recalculated for each card, because each one holds the least-compressed version it can.

Can I run DenseNet201 on a 8 GB GPU?

Yes. A CMP 170HX 8 GB with 8 GB runs it at Q8_0, using about 0.7 GB and generating roughly 31,553 tokens per second — a comfortable fit.

Can I run DenseNet201 on a 12 GB GPU?

Yes. A GeForce RTX 3080 Ti with 12 GB runs it at Q8_0, using about 0.7 GB and generating roughly 19,321 tokens per second — a comfortable fit.

Can I run DenseNet201 on a 16 GB GPU?

Yes. A Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB with 16 GB runs it at Q8_0, using about 0.7 GB and generating roughly 23,929 tokens per second — a comfortable fit.

Can I run DenseNet201 on a 24 GB GPU?

Yes. A GeForce RTX 5090 D V2 with 24 GB runs it at Q8_0, using about 0.7 GB and generating roughly 28,376 tokens per second — a comfortable fit.

Is DenseNet201 open source?

Its weights are published, so DenseNet201 can be downloaded and run on your own hardware. Note that open weights is not the same as open source in the full sense — it says nothing about the training data, the training code, or the commercial terms attached.

How many parameters does DenseNet201 have?

DenseNet201 has 20M parameters. Figure 3. That figure is the total, and it is what decides how much memory the model needs — roughly half a gigabyte per billion at the compression most people use.

Who created DenseNet201?

DenseNet201 was published by Tsinghua University,Facebook AI Research,Cornell University, based in China, categorised as academia,Industry,Academia.

When was DenseNet201 released?

DenseNet201 was published in January 2018. Capability per parameter has improved considerably since, so a newer model of the same size is often the better use of the same hardware.

Source

Original publication

Record last updated 25 May 2026

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