Grok-2
xAI · moe · 314B parameters · 131,072 context
Parameters
314B
Context Window
128K tokens
Architecture
MoE
Best GPU
H200 SXM
Cheapest API
$10.00/M
Quality Score
78/100
Intelligence Brief
Grok-2 is a 314B parameter Mixture-of-Experts (8 experts, 2 active) model from xAI, featuring Grouped Query Attention (GQA) with 64 layers and 8,192 hidden dimensions. With a 131,072 token context window, it supports tools, vision, structured output, code, math, multilingual, reasoning. On standardized benchmarks, it achieves MMLU 87.5, HumanEval 64, GSM8K 93. The most cost-effective API deployment is via xai at $10.00/M output tokens. For self-hosted inference, H200 SXM delivers optimal throughput at $10211/month.
Architecture Details
Memory Requirements
BF16 Weights
628.0 GB
FP8 Weights
314.0 GB
INT4 Weights
157.0 GB
Fits on (single GPU) — most practical first
Fits on (multi-GPU with Tensor Parallelism)
Multi-GPU configurations use Tensor Parallelism (TP) to split model layers across GPUs. Requires NVLink or NVSwitch interconnect for optimal performance.
GPU Compatibility Matrix
Grok-2 is compatible with 7% of GPU configurations across 41 GPUs at 3 precision levels.
GPU Recommendations
FP8 · 4 GPUs · tensorrt-llm
95/100
score
Throughput
280.0 tok/s
Latency (ITL)
3.6ms
Est. TTFT
1ms
Cost/Month
$10211
Cost/M Tokens
$13.88
FP8 · 2 GPUs · tensorrt-llm
93/100
score
Throughput
280.0 tok/s
Latency (ITL)
3.6ms
Est. TTFT
1ms
Cost/Month
$8541
Cost/M Tokens
$11.61
FP8 · 2 GPUs · tensorrt-llm
93/100
score
Throughput
280.0 tok/s
Latency (ITL)
3.6ms
Est. TTFT
1ms
Cost/Month
$12337
Cost/M Tokens
$16.77
Deployment Options
API Deployment
xai
$10.00/M
output tokens
Single GPU
Requires multi-GPU setup (314 GB VRAM needed)
Multi-GPU
H200 SXM x4
280.0 tok/s
TP· $10211/mo
API Pricing Comparison
| Provider | Input $/M | Output $/M | Badges |
|---|---|---|---|
| xai | $2.00 | $10.00 | Cheapest |
Cost Analysis
| Provider | Input $/M | Output $/M | ~Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| xaiBest Value | $2.00 | $10.00 | $60 |
Cost per 1,000 Requests
Short (500 tok)
$3.00
via xai
Medium (2K tok)
$12.00
via xai
Long (8K tok)
$36.00
via xai
Performance Estimates
Throughput by GPU
VRAM Breakdown (H200 SXM, FP8)
Precision Impact
bf16
157.0 GB
weights/GPU
fp8
78.5 GB
weights/GPU
~280.0 tok/s
Quality Benchmarks
Capabilities
Features
Supported Frameworks
Supported Precisions
Where to Deploy Grok-2
Self-Hosted Infrastructure
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much VRAM does Grok-2 need for inference?
Grok-2 requires approximately 628.0 GB of VRAM at BF16 precision, 314.0 GB at FP8, or 157.0 GB at INT4 quantization. Additional VRAM is needed for KV-cache (262144 bytes per token) and activations (~3.00 GB).
What is the best GPU for Grok-2?
The top recommended GPU for Grok-2 is the H200 SXM (x4) using FP8 precision. It achieves approximately 280.0 tokens/sec at an estimated cost of $10211/month ($13.88/M tokens). Score: 95/100.
How much does Grok-2 inference cost?
Grok-2 API inference starts from $2.00/M input tokens and $10.00/M output tokens. Self-hosted inference costs depend on your GPU configuration — use our ROI calculator for a detailed breakdown.