How much VRAM does Gemma 3 1B need?

At Q4_K_M the weights are 0.6 GB; with an 8K context KV cache and runtime overhead it needs 1.2 GB, so a 8 GB card runs it with headroom.

Can a GeForce RTX 4070 run Gemma 3 1B?

Yes — Q8_0 fits with headroom at 8K context, about 308 tokens per second estimated.

Can a GeForce RTX 4090 run Gemma 3 1B?

Yes — Q8_0 fits with headroom at 8K context, about 617 tokens per second estimated.

Can a GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB run Gemma 3 1B?

Yes — Q8_0 fits with headroom at 8K context, about 220 tokens per second estimated.

Can a M3 Max · 64 GB run Gemma 3 1B?

Yes — Q8_0 fits with headroom at 8K context, about 226 tokens per second estimated.

Hardware requirements

What hardware do I need to run Gemma 3 1B?

1.0B 32K context Gemma Terms of Use

At Q4_K_M the weights are 0.6 GB; with an 8K KV cache and runtime overhead that is 1.2 GB, so it wants a 8 GB card to run with headroom — in practice 8 GB VRAM: GeForce RTX 3070 Ti and 7 others. Every figure below is computed from the model’s published shape against each device’s usable memory; tokens per second are estimates. The method.

Minimum practical 8 GB VRAM

GeForce RTX 3070 Ti — Q8_0, 1.6 GB of 7.0 GB, ~372 tok/s, up to 32K context.

Also: Arc A750, GeForce RTX 5060, GeForce RTX 3070, GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, GeForce RTX 4060 Ti +2 more

the smallest card that holds it at all, at Q3_K_M — the lowest quantisation worth running

Recommended 8 GB VRAM

GeForce RTX 3070 Ti — Q4_K_M, 1.2 GB of 7.0 GB, ~655 tok/s, up to 32K context.

Also: Arc A750, GeForce RTX 5060, GeForce RTX 3070, GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, GeForce RTX 4060 Ti +2 more

runs the recommended quantisation with headroom at 8K context

High quality 8 GB VRAM

GeForce RTX 3070 Ti — Q8_0, 1.6 GB of 7.0 GB, ~372 tok/s, up to 32K context.

Also: Arc A750, GeForce RTX 5060, GeForce RTX 3070, GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, GeForce RTX 4060 Ti +2 more

near-lossless Q8_0 with headroom

Long context 8 GB VRAM

GeForce RTX 3070 Ti — Q4_K_M, 1.3 GB of 7.0 GB, ~655 tok/s at 32K.

Also: Arc A750, GeForce RTX 5060, GeForce RTX 3070, GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, GeForce RTX 4060 Ti +2 more

128K tokens (or the model’s maximum) at the recommended quantisation

Apple Silicon 16 GB unified

M1 · 16 GB — Q4_K_M, 1.2 GB of 10.7 GB, ~68 tok/s, up to 32K context.

smallest Mac that runs the recommended quantisation with headroom

CPU only 32 GB RAM

CPU only · DDR4 dual-channel — Q8_0, 1.6 GB of 25.6 GB, ~22 tok/s, up to 32K context.

no GPU — weights stream from system RAM

How much VRAM at each quantisation

Quant	Weights	+KV 8K	+KV 32K	+KV 128K	Total @ 8K	Needs	Quality
F16	1.9 GB	0.04 GB	0.14 GB	0.1 GB	2.5 GB	8 GB card	Reference
Q8_0	1.0 GB	0.04 GB	0.14 GB	0.1 GB	1.6 GB	8 GB card	−0.1% ppl
Q6_K	0.8 GB	0.04 GB	0.14 GB	0.1 GB	1.4 GB	8 GB card	−0.4% ppl
Q5_K_M	0.7 GB	0.04 GB	0.14 GB	0.1 GB	1.3 GB	8 GB card	−0.8% ppl
Q4_K_M	0.6 GB	0.04 GB	0.14 GB	0.1 GB	1.2 GB	8 GB card	−1.9% ppl
Q3_K_M	0.5 GB	0.04 GB	0.14 GB	0.1 GB	1.1 GB	8 GB card	−5.4% ppl
Q2_K	0.4 GB	0.04 GB	0.14 GB	0.1 GB	1.0 GB	8 GB card	−15% ppl

Totals add 0.6 GB runtime overhead and an f16 KV cache; "needs" is the smallest discrete card class whose usable memory (after display and driver reserve) leaves 15% headroom. A q8_0 cache roughly halves the KV columns.

Every device, checked

System RAM for offload:

16 32 64 128 256

NVIDIA · GeForce

Device	Memory	Best quant with headroom	Fits at all	Max context @ Q4_K_M	Tok/s est.	128K
GeForce RTX 5090	32 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	1929	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 5080	16 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	1034	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 5070 Ti	16 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	965	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 5070	12 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	723	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB	16 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	482	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 5060	8 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	482	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 4090	24 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	1085	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 4080 Super	16 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	792	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 4080	16 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	772	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super	16 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	723	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 4070 Ti	12 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	543	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 4070 Super	12 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	543	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 4070	12 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	543	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB	16 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	310	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 4060 Ti	8 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	310	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 4060	8 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	293	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 3090 Ti	24 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	1085	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 3090	24 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	1008	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 3080 Ti	12 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	982	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB	12 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	982	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 3080	10 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	818	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 3070 Ti	8 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	655	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 3070	8 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	482	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 3060 Ti	8 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	482	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB	12 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	388	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 2080 Ti	11 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	663	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 2060 12 GB	12 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	362	yes	Check
GeForce GTX 1080 Ti	11 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	521	yes	Check

NVIDIA · GeForce laptop

Device	Memory	Best quant with headroom	Fits at all	Max context @ Q4_K_M	Tok/s est.	128K
GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop	24 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	965	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop	16 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	620	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop	12 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	465	yes	Check
GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop	8 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	276	yes	Check

NVIDIA · Workstation

Device	Memory	Best quant with headroom	Fits at all	Max context @ Q4_K_M	Tok/s est.	128K
RTX 6000 Ada	48 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	1034	yes	Check
RTX 5000 Ada	32 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	620	yes	Check
RTX 4000 Ada	20 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	388	yes	Check
RTX 2000 Ada	16 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	241	yes	Check
RTX A6000	48 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	827	yes	Check
RTX A5000	24 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	827	yes	Check
RTX A4000	16 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	482	yes	Check

NVIDIA · Data centre

Device	Memory	Best quant with headroom	Fits at all	Max context @ Q4_K_M	Tok/s est.	128K
L40S	48 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	930	yes	Check
L4	24 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	323	yes	Check
A10	24 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	646	yes	Check
A100 40 GB	40 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	1674	yes	Check
A100 80 GB	80 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	2195	yes	Check
H100 PCIe	80 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	2153	yes	Check
H100 SXM	80 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	3607	yes	Check
H200 SXM	141 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	5168	yes	Check
Tesla P40	24 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	373	yes	Check

AMD · Radeon

Device	Memory	Best quant with headroom	Fits at all	Max context @ Q4_K_M	Tok/s est.	128K
Radeon RX 9070 XT	16 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	694	yes	Check
Radeon RX 9070	16 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	694	yes	Check
Radeon RX 7900 XTX	24 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	1034	yes	Check
Radeon RX 7900 XT	20 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	861	yes	Check
Radeon RX 7900 GRE	16 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	620	yes	Check
Radeon RX 7800 XT	16 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	672	yes	Check
Radeon RX 7700 XT	12 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	465	yes	Check
Radeon RX 7600 XT	16 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	310	yes	Check
Radeon RX 6900 XT	16 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	551	yes	Check
Radeon RX 6800 XT	16 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	551	yes	Check
Radeon RX 6700 XT	12 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	413	yes	Check

AMD · Radeon Pro

Device	Memory	Best quant with headroom	Fits at all	Max context @ Q4_K_M	Tok/s est.	128K
Radeon Pro W7900	48 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	930	yes	Check
Radeon Pro W7800	32 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	620	yes	Check

AMD · Instinct

Device	Memory	Best quant with headroom	Fits at all	Max context @ Q4_K_M	Tok/s est.	128K
Instinct MI210	64 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	1763	yes	Check
Instinct MI300X	192 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	5706	yes	Check

AMD · Ryzen AI Max

Device	Memory	Best quant with headroom	Fits at all	Max context @ Q4_K_M	Tok/s est.	128K
Ryzen AI Max+ 395 · 128 GB	128 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	254	yes	Check
Ryzen AI Max+ 395 · 64 GB	64 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	254	yes	Check

Apple · Apple Silicon

Device	Memory	Best quant with headroom	Fits at all	Max context @ Q4_K_M	Tok/s est.	128K
M1 · 16 GB	16 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	68	yes	Check
M1 Pro · 32 GB	32 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	199	yes	Check
M1 Max · 64 GB	64 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	398	yes	Check
M1 Ultra · 128 GB	128 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	795	yes	Check
M2 · 24 GB	24 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	99	yes	Check
M2 Pro · 32 GB	32 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	199	yes	Check
M2 Max · 96 GB	96 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	398	yes	Check
M2 Ultra · 192 GB	192 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	795	yes	Check
M3 · 24 GB	24 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	99	yes	Check
M3 Pro · 36 GB	36 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	149	yes	Check
M3 Max · 64 GB	64 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	398	yes	Check
M3 Max · 128 GB	128 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	398	yes	Check
M3 Ultra · 256 GB	256 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	795	yes	Check
M3 Ultra · 512 GB	512 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	795	yes	Check
M4 · 32 GB	32 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	119	yes	Check
M4 Pro · 48 GB	48 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	271	yes	Check
M4 Pro · 64 GB	64 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	271	yes	Check
M4 Max · 64 GB	64 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	407	yes	Check
M4 Max · 128 GB	128 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	543	yes	Check

Intel · Arc

Device	Memory	Best quant with headroom	Fits at all	Max context @ Q4_K_M	Tok/s est.	128K
Arc B580	12 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	491	yes	Check
Arc B570	10 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	409	yes	Check
Arc A770 16 GB	16 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	603	yes	Check
Arc A750	8 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	551	yes	Check

CPU · CPU + system RAM

Device	Memory	Best quant with headroom	Fits at all	Max context @ Q4_K_M	Tok/s est.	128K
CPU only · DDR4 dual-channel	32 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	38	yes	Check
CPU only · DDR5 dual-channel	64 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	67	yes	Check
CPU only · DDR5 8-channel server	256 GB	Q8_0	Q8_0	32K	229	yes	Check