> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.clore.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.clore.ai/guides/getting-started/partial-gpu-rental.md). # Partial GPU Rental Rent 1 or 2 GPUs out of an 8-GPU rig on Clore.ai and pay only for what you take {% hint style="success" %} **You do not have to rent the whole machine.** On about 60% of listed servers you can take a single GPU out of a multi-GPU rig and pay a proportional share of the price. At the 24 August 2026 snapshot that was **1,331 of 2,202 servers** and **2,153 individual GPU slots free** — many of them cards you would otherwise only reach by renting a $5/hr eight-GPU box. {% endhint %} Almost every guide in this collection runs on one GPU. Fine-tuning a 7B model, serving Qwen3.8-27B at Q4, generating video with LTX-2.5 — one card each. Partial rental is what makes those workloads land on the good hardware instead of only on the leftover single-GPU machines. ## How it works A rig with 8× RTX 5090 lists at a daily rig price. When you rent 2 of those GPUs: ``` your price = rig_price × (gpu_count / total_gpus) ``` Nothing else changes. Billing is still per minute, the order still gives you a Docker container with SSH, and the GPUs you paid for are bound to your container by their hardware UUID — so the allocation survives a reboot or PCI re-enumeration, and no co-tenant can touch them. | Rig | Whole rig | You take | You pay | | ---------------------- | --------- | -------- | -------- | | 8× RTX 5090 @ $4.80/hr | $4.80/hr | 1 GPU | $0.60/hr | | 8× RTX 5090 @ $4.80/hr | $4.80/hr | 2 GPUs | $1.20/hr | | 4× RTX 4090 @ $0.80/hr | $0.80/hr | 1 GPU | $0.20/hr | ## Rules worth knowing | Rule | Detail | | ------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | On-demand only | Spot orders always take the whole rig | | Same-model rigs only | A mixed rig (2× 4090 + 6× 3090) cannot be split | | Hosts can opt out | Some rigs are whole-machine only, by the host's choice | | GPUs are exclusive | Your UUIDs are yours for the order; other tenants get different cards | | CPU, RAM and disk are not split | The rig's system resources are shared with co-tenants — check that the machine has enough RAM for everyone, not just for you | | Overclock profiles | A partial order cannot set an OC profile — the API returns `oc_not_supported_for_partial` | {% hint style="warning" %} **Check system RAM before you take one GPU from a big rig.** GPU allocation is exclusive, system memory is not. A 8× rig with 32GB of RAM is a poor host for a workload that wants 32GB by itself — look for rigs whose RAM comfortably exceeds the sum of what its tenants will use. Median RAM across the fleet is 32GB, and the top decile is 129GB. {% endhint %} ## Renting one GPU from the web UI 1. Open the [Marketplace](https://clore.ai/marketplace) and pick a multi-GPU server. 2. On the server card, choose how many GPUs you want. Servers that support partial rental show the free-slot picker; servers that do not are whole-rig only. 3. The price updates proportionally as you change the count. 4. Configure the image and ports as usual, then rent. ## Renting one GPU from the API The listing tells you what is available. `partial_gpu_rental` is either `false` or an object: ```json { "id": 115625, "specs": { "gpu": "8x NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090" }, "partial_gpu_rental": { "total_gpus": 8, "available_gpus": 6, "free_indices": [0, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7] } } ``` Pass `gpu_count` (and optionally `gpu_indices`, chosen from `free_indices`) when creating the order: ```bash curl -X POST https://api.clore.ai/v1/create_order \ -H "auth: $CLORE_API_TOKEN" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "renting_server": 115625, "type": "on-demand", "currency": "USD-Blockchain", "image": "pytorch/pytorch:2.11.0-cuda12.8-cudnn9-devel", "ports": {"22": "tcp"}, "gpu_count": 2, "gpu_indices": [0, 2] }' ``` `gpu_indices` is optional — pass `gpu_count` alone and the backend picks free GPUs for you. Omit both and you rent the whole rig. With the [Python SDK / CLI](/guides/advanced/python-sdk.md): ```bash clore deploy 115625 \ --image pytorch/pytorch:2.11.0-cuda12.8-cudnn9-devel \ --type on-demand --currency USD-Blockchain \ --gpu-count 2 --gpu-indices 0,2 ``` ```python from clore_ai import CloreAI clore = CloreAI(api_token="...") clore.create_order( server_id=115625, image="pytorch/pytorch:2.11.0-cuda12.8-cudnn9-devel", type="on-demand", currency="USD-Blockchain", gpu_count=2, gpu_indices=[0, 2], ) ``` Errors you can get back, and what they mean: | Error | Meaning | | ---------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `not_enough_free_gpus` | Someone took the slots between your read and your write — re-read `free_indices` | | `invalid_gpu_count` | Below 1 or above `total_gpus` | | `gpu_indices_count_mismatch` | The list length does not equal `gpu_count` | | `gpu_index_out_of_range` | An index outside `0 … total_gpus-1` | | `duplicate_gpu_index` | The same index twice | | `partial_not_supported` | Mixed-model rig, or the host opted out | ## Is it cheaper per GPU? Sometimes, and that is not the main point. Median price per GPU per hour by rig size, from the snapshot: | GPU | 1-GPU server | 2–3 GPUs | 4–7 GPUs | 8+ GPUs | | -------- | ------------ | -------- | -------- | ------- | | RTX 4090 | $0.165 | $0.156 | $0.172 | $0.156 | | RTX 3090 | $0.083 | $0.083 | $0.073 | $0.083 | | RTX 3080 | $0.079 | $0.069 | $0.058 | $0.052 | | RTX 5090 | $0.270 | $0.271 | $0.322 | $0.443 | Older cards get meaningfully cheaper in bulk; RTX 5090 rigs price at a premium. **The real gain is availability** — partial rental turns roughly a thousand multi-GPU machines into individually rentable cards, which is where most of the free 3090/4090/5090 capacity actually sits. ## Next Steps * [GPU Pricing & Availability](/guides/getting-started/pricing.md) — what is live right now * [GPU Comparison](/guides/getting-started/gpu-comparison.md) — which card for which workload * [Multi-GPU Setup](/guides/advanced/multi-gpu-setup.md) — when you do want the whole rig * [Python SDK](/guides/advanced/python-sdk.md) · [CLI Automation](/guides/advanced/cli-automation.md) ### Links * [Marketplace](https://clore.ai/marketplace) * [Clore.ai API docs](https://clore.ai/api-docs) --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. 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