Gemma 3 27B Instruct — VRAM, Speed & Local Setup

Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated March 12, 2025

Model library → Gemma 3 → Gemma 3 27B Instruct

Google's most capable local model. Near-frontier performance at 27B scale. Requires 16GB VRAM, making it ideal for RTX 4080/4090 and Apple Silicon with 32GB+ unified memory.

Gemma 3 27B Instruct needs about 17 GB of VRAM at Q4_K_M — quantized weights plus framework overhead, before any KV cache. On Apple Silicon that figure comes out of unified memory.

Specifications

Parameters27 Billion
Context window128,000
ArchitectureDense
ProviderGoogle
LicenceGemma Terms
Specified atQ4_K_M
System RAM32 GB
Record updated2025-03-12

Licence

Gemma Terms — commercial use permitted. Weights are downloadable and commercial use is permitted, subject to the licence’s acceptable-use terms.

VRAM and Speed by Quantization

Modelled on a reference NVIDIA RTX 4090 (24 GB), at 8K context. Speed figures are ESTIMATES from the memory-bandwidth roofline described on the methodology page, not benchmarks we ran — rows marked measured come from published or reader-submitted runs. VRAM here includes the KV cache, so it reads higher than the headline figure above, which does not.

QuantWeightsVRAM neededEst. speedFit on 24 GB
Q2_K8.9 GB18.0 GB~51 tok/s (est.)Fits comfortably
Q3_K_M11.5 GB20.6 GB~44 tok/s (est.)Fits comfortably
Q4_K_M16.3 GB25.4 GB~5 tok/s (est.)Offloads to system RAM (slow)
Q5_K_M19.1 GB28.3 GB~5 tok/s (est.)Offloads to system RAM (slow)
Q6_K22.1 GB31.3 GB~4 tok/s (est.)Offloads to system RAM (slow)
Q8_028.7 GB37.8 GB~3 tok/s (est.)Offloads to system RAM (slow)
F1654.0 GB63.1 GB—Won't fit

Want the memory numbers alone, at every quantization level and your own context length? Use the Gemma 3 27B Instruct VRAM calculator.

Buy This HardwareAMD Radeon RX 7900 XT 20GB — 20 GB VRAM · 315 W board powerDeploy in the Cloud NowRTX 4090 on RunPod — from $0.34/hr · rate checked 2026-07

or compare on Vast.ai from $0.35/hr (typical low · varies)

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Recommended GPU

The cheapest catalogued GPU that runs Gemma 3 27B Instruct is the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT (20 GB).

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AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT 20GB
20 GB VRAM · 315 W board power
2026 prices are volatile — check the current listing.
Check price on Amazon

How to Run Gemma 3 27B Instruct

Install Ollama, then run:

ollama run gemma3:27b

Weights on Hugging Face: google/gemma-3-27b-it.

Best for: chat, reasoning, creative, coding.

Can I Run Gemma 3 27B Instruct on My GPU?

Other Gemma 3 Sizes

Gemma 3 27B Instruct — Frequently Asked Questions

How much VRAM does Gemma 3 27B Instruct need?
About 17 GB at Q4_K_M — quantized weights plus framework overhead, before any KV cache. The cache grows with context length and is added on top; the table above folds it in. Apple Silicon counts unified memory toward the same figure.
Does Gemma 3 27B Instruct run on an RTX 4090 (24 GB)?
Yes. Gemma 3 27B Instruct needs about 17 GB at Q4_K_M, inside a 24 GB card, at an estimated 5 tokens/sec.
How do I run Gemma 3 27B Instruct locally?
Install Ollama and run `ollama run gemma3:27b`. That pulls the weights and starts a local OpenAI-compatible endpoint; after the download nothing leaves the machine.
What other sizes does Gemma 3 come in?
Gemma 3 1B Instruct (1 GB), Gemma 3 4B Instruct (3 GB), Gemma 3 12B Instruct (8 GB), Gemma 3 27B Instruct (17 GB). Every size shares the family's training and licence; the larger ones score higher and need proportionally more memory.

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