Text model · Gemma
Gemma 4 12B: RAM and VRAM requirements
Gemma 4 12B needs about 8.7 GB to run at Q4_K_M (the Q4_K_M GGUF file is ~7.12 GB to download; KV cache and overhead add the rest), or about 14.3 GB at Q8_0. The lightest hardware that runs it is Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 (12GB).
Gemma family · 12B params · released May 2026.
Shopping for hardware? See what runs Gemma 4 12B →
Q4_K_M and Q8_0 are GGUF download (file) sizes. Memory @ Q4 includes the KV cache and overhead, so it runs larger than the file on disk.
Will it run on your device?
Gemma 4 12B runs on 29 of 40 tracked devices at Q4_K_M.
Memory breakdown
How context length changes it
Longer context grows the KV cache quickly: Gemma 4 12B needs ~8.7 GB at 4k but ~34.5 GB at 128k, which can push it past a device that fits it at a short context.
Speed drops too: every token re-reads the KV cache, so at 128k context Gemma 4 12B generates at roughly ~21% of its short-context speed. How this is estimated.
Quantization sizes
| Quantization | Size on disk |
|---|---|
| Q2_K | 5 GB est |
| Q3_K_M | 5.9 GB est |
| Q4_K_M (default) | 7.12 GB |
| Q5_K_M | 8.6 GB est |
| Q6_K | 9.8 GB est |
| Q8_0 | 12.67 GB |
| FP16 | 23.83 GB |
Lower quant = smaller and faster, slightly lower quality. Q4_K_M is the common default.
Run it
ollama run gemma4:12b llama-cli -hf unsloth/gemma-4-12B-it-GGUF:Q4_K_M lms get unsloth/gemma-4-12B-it-GGUF Which devices can run Gemma 4 12B?
Apple Silicon Macs
- Apple M1 (8GB) No
- Apple M2 (16GB) Yes
- Apple M4 (16GB) Yes
- Apple M5 (16GB) Yes
- Apple M3 Pro (18GB) Yes
- Apple M4 (24GB) Yes
- Apple M4 Pro (24GB) Yes
- Apple M5 (32GB) Yes
- Apple M4 Pro (48GB) Yes
- Apple M5 Pro (48GB) Yes
- Apple M4 Max (64GB) Yes
- Apple M4 Max (128GB) Yes
- Apple M5 Max (128GB) Yes
- Apple M3 Ultra (256GB) Yes
RAM-only laptops
iPhone & iPad
Android
NVIDIA GPUs
Same job, different size
Pick by what fits your memory: step down to free up VRAM, or step up if you have headroom.
Similar models
Head-to-head
- Gemma 4 12B vs Gemma 3 270M
- Gemma 4 12B vs Gemma 3 1B
- Gemma 4 12B vs Gemma 2 2B
- Gemma 4 12B vs Gemma 3 4B
- Gemma 4 12B vs Gemma 4 E2B
- Gemma 4 12B vs Gemma 3n E4B
- Gemma 4 12B vs Gemma 4 E4B
- Gemma 4 12B vs Gemma 2 9B
- Gemma 4 12B vs Gemma 3 12B
- Gemma 4 12B vs Gemma 4 26B-A4B
- Gemma 4 12B vs Gemma 2 27B
- Gemma 4 12B vs Gemma 3 27B
- Gemma 4 12B vs Gemma 4 31B
FAQ
How much VRAM or RAM does Gemma 4 12B need?
At Q4_K_M, Gemma 4 12B needs about 8.7 GB (weights ~7.12 GB + KV cache + overhead) at a 4k context. At Q8_0 budget ~14.3 GB.
What is the Q4_K_M GGUF file size of Gemma 4 12B?
The Q4_K_M GGUF file is about 7.12 GB to download, and the Q8_0 GGUF is about 12.67 GB. That is the weights file on disk; to run it you also need room for the KV cache and overhead, so budget ~8.7 GB of memory at Q4_K_M.
Can Gemma 4 12B run on a laptop?
Gemma 4 12B is large; you need a 24 GB+ GPU or a 32-48 GB Mac at Q4_K_M.
Can I use Gemma 4 12B commercially?
Yes. Gemma 4 12B is licensed Apache-2.0, which permits commercial use.
Understand the numbers
Short guides to the ideas behind Gemma 4 12B's memory and quant figures.
Mid-size dense Gemma 4, multimodal (vision, ~0.2GB mmproj extra). Sizes from unsloth HF repo; Ollama default tag pulls the 7.6GB Q4_K_M. 256K context. Gemma 4 ships under Apache-2.0, unlike Gemma 3's Gemma license.
Sources
Last validated 2026-08-03. Memory figures are estimates. See methodology.