HomeCan I run it?Gemma 3 4BGemma 3 4B on an RTX 3060 12GB
Yes, but it is tight. Gemma 3 4B at FP16 needs about 10.9 GB, and the GeForce RTX 3060 12GB has 12.0 GB usable at a ~4k context.
Can I run Gemma 3 4B on an RTX 3060 12GB?
Gemma 3 4B at FP16 needs about 10.9 GB, and the GeForce RTX 3060 12GB has 12.0 GB usable. That figure is 12 GB of VRAM on the spec sheet, of which 12.0 GB is usable for weights and cache, at 360 GB/s memory bandwidth. Google’s small Gemma 3 instruct model, a good low-VRAM option with a different flavor from Llama 3.2 3B. These are estimates from our formula, not measured benchmarks.
- Quant that fits
- FP16 Fits, short context only
- Memory needed
- 10.9 GB at FP16, ~4k context
- Usable VRAM
- 12.0 GB of 12 GB VRAM
- Est. tokens/sec
- 25–36 estimate
Memory at each quant
| Quant | Need vs 12.0 GB | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Q4_K_M | 4.0 GB | Q4Fits |
| Q8_0 | 6.3 GB | Q8Fits |
| FP16 | 10.9 GB | FP16Tight |
Estimated tokens per second
Estimate: 25–36 tokens/sec at FP16. This is a bandwidth-derived range, not a bench. Efficiency is a 60–85% GPU band from How we calculate.
Context headroom
We do not have a published KV config for this model, so the memory need is the ~4k-context estimate only. Use the VRAM calculator to explore longer chats.
What to do instead
- Run Llama 3.2 3B instead (3.2 GB at Q4). It is a different model, not a drop-in, but it does fit this machine.
- Keep context short, close other GPU work, and avoid a higher quant. The VRAM calculator shows how the KV cache grows.
- See the best GPU for this model family and the gemma-3-4b-it model page.
Other hardware for Gemma 3 4B
- Gemma 3 4B on an RTX 3070 TiFits
- Gemma 3 4B on an RTX 4060 Ti 16GBFits
- Gemma 3 4B on an RTX 4090Fits
- Gemma 3 4B on an Arc B580Tight
- Gemma 3 4B on a Mac mini 16GBTight
Other models on an RTX 3060 12GB
- Qwen3-32B on an RTX 3060 12GBWon’t fit
- Qwen3-30B-A3B on an RTX 3060 12GBWon’t fit
- Qwen3.8-27B on an RTX 3060 12GBWon’t fit
- Gemma 3 27B on an RTX 3060 12GBWon’t fit
- Gemma 4 31B on an RTX 3060 12GBWon’t fit
- gpt-oss-20b on an RTX 3060 12GBWon’t fit
Quick answers
- Can I run Gemma 3 4B on an RTX 3060 12GB?
- Yes, but it is tight. Gemma 3 4B at FP16 needs about 10.9 GB, and the GeForce RTX 3060 12GB has 12.0 GB usable.
- How much VRAM does Gemma 3 4B need?
- About 4.0 GB at Q4_K_M, 6.3 GB at Q8_0 and 10.9 GB at FP16, estimated for a ~4k context.
- How fast is Gemma 3 4B on an RTX 3060 12GB?
- Our estimate is 25–36 tokens per second at FP16. It is not a measured benchmark.