Can I Run Gemma 4 on RTX 3060 12 GB Desktop (12 GB VRAM, 32 GB RAM)?

Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated June 3, 2026

Yes, but it is tight

Yes, but it is tight — Gemma 4 12B (Unified) at Q6_K needs about 11.9 GB of the 12 GB usable on RTX 3060 12 GB Desktop (12 GB VRAM, 32 GB RAM), leaving only ~0.1 GB before the runtime starts swapping. Expect ~24.3 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 8,192 tokens of context.

Confidence: low · Recommended quantization: Q6_K · Estimated speed: ~24.3 tok/s

RTX 3060 12 GB Desktop (12 GB VRAM, 32 GB RAM) — what it gives a model

Usable memory for models	12 GB
Memory bandwidth	360 GB/s
Form factor	Desktop
Operating system	Windows or Linux
Memory upgradeable	Yes

Gemma 4 on RTX 3060 12 GB Desktop (12 GB VRAM, 32 GB RAM): memory by quantization

Quant	Memory needed	Fits 12 GB?	Max context	Est. speed	Download
F16	26.1 GB	✗ No	—	—	24 GB
Q8_0	14.9 GB	✗ No	—	—	12.8 GB
Q6_K	11.9 GB	✓ Yes	8K	~24.3 tok/s	9.8 GB
Q5_K_M	10.6 GB	✓ Yes	16K	~27.6 tok/s	8.5 GB
Q4_K_M	9.4 GB	✓ Yes	16K	~31.7 tok/s	7.2 GB
Q3_K_M	7.2 GB	✓ Yes	32K	~42.3 tok/s	5.1 GB
Q2_K	6.1 GB	✓ Yes	32K	~51.9 tok/s	3.9 GB

Which Gemma 4 sizes fit

Variant	Needs at Q4_K_M	Fits?	Est. speed
Gemma 4 31B	21.3 GB	✗ Too large	—
Gemma 4 26B-A4B	18.2 GB	✗ Too large	—
Gemma 4 12B (Unified)	9.4 GB	✓ Fits	~31.7 tok/s
Gemma 4 E4B	6.8 GB	✓ Fits	~44.9 tok/s
Gemma 4 E2B	4.9 GB	✓ Fits	~64.5 tok/s

What to watch out for

Only ~0.1 GB of headroom at Q6_K: a longer context or a second application can push this into swapping.
2 larger variants of Gemma 4 do not fit and would need CPU offload or different hardware.
This model does not publish its full attention configuration, so the KV-cache share of these figures is inferred from its parameter count rather than computed exactly.

RTX 3060 12 GB desktop limitations

The budget entry point to local AI: 12 GB runs 7–14B models well and nothing larger without offload.

Recommended setup

Ollama or llama.cpp (CUDA/ROCm) — vLLM if you need concurrent serving

How these numbers are calculated

Memory need = quantized weights + KV cache at 8,192 tokens (f16) + 0.8 GB runtime overhead.
12 GB of VRAM on the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 (12GB) at 360 GB/s.
32 GB of system RAM available for CPU offload when a model exceeds VRAM.
Throughput is a memory-bandwidth roofline estimate, not a measurement. It is labelled "estimated" everywhere it appears.
KV cache is inferred from the parameter count because this model does not publish its full attention configuration.

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