How to Calculate the Number of GPUs Needed to Deploy a Large Language Model (LLM): A Step-by-Step Guide

How to Calculate the Number of GPUs Needed to Deploy a Large Language Model (LLM): A Step-by-Step Guide In the realm of AI, deploying large language models (LLMs) like Gemma-3, LLaMA, or Qwen demands more than just selecting a GPU randomly. It requires mathematical precision, an understanding of transformer architecture, and hardware profiling. This article delves into the exact math, code, and interpretation needed to determine the number of GPUs required for deploying a given LLM, considering performance benchmarks, FLOPs, memory constraints, and concurrency requirements. What Affects Deployment Requirements? The cost of serving an LLM during inference primarily depends on …