Can Gemma 3 12B run on RTX 3080 10GB?

Q: What should I upgrade first if Gemma 3 12B feels slow on RTX 3080 10GB?

Remove offload with more accelerator memory. Prioritize a GPU or unified-memory tier that fits the whole model natively. Removing offload usually helps more than small compute gains.

YES — With Q2_K

A72Great

Estimated from fit model

Gemma 3 12B needs ~11.8 GB VRAM. RTX 3080 10GB has 10.0 GB. With Q2_K quantization, expect ~59 tok/s.

Runtime: OllamaCapacity: OffloadBandwidth: MediumStack: BasicBottleneck: Host offload

Operating mode

Choose the run profile you care about

Interactive favors responsiveness, while light API and scale-out lean harder on serving readiness. The fit stays the same, but the recommendation lens changes.

Current mode

Balanced

Balanced for general local use. Keeps the ranking neutral across personal and serving workflows.

Gemma 3 12B at Q4_K_M needs 14.4 GB — too much for RTX 3080 10GB (10.0 GB). Runs at Q2_K (11.8 GB) with low quality.

Capabilities:

Select quantization to explore

Q4_K_M (Medium quality) — 14.4 GB, exceeds 10.0 GB available

14.4 GB required10.0 GB available

144% VRAM needed

4.4 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization

Fit status

Too heavy

Decode

28.8 tok/s

TTFT

6715 ms

Safe context

Memory

14.4 GB / 10.0 GB

Offload

30%

Memory breakdown

Weights7.3 GB

KV Cache4.9 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom1.0 GB

See how fast it feels

With memory offload — actual speed may be lower

See how fast it feelsGemma 3 12B on RTX 3080 10GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>Write a Python function to sort a list
Here's a Python function that sorts a list using quicksort:

def quicksort(arr):
    if len(arr) <= 1:
        return arr
    pivot = arr[len(arr) // 2]
    left   = [x for x in arr if x < pivot]
    middle = [x for x in arr if x == pivot]
    right  = [x for x in arr if x > pivot]
    return quicksort(left) + middle + quicksort(right)

# Example usage
numbers = [3, 6, 8, 10, 1, 2, 1]
print(quicksort(numbers))  # [1, 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 10]

The algorithm picks a pivot, partitions the list into smaller, equal, and larger elements, then recursively sorts each partition and concatenates the results.
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>Now add type hints and a docstring
def quicksort(arr: list[int]) -> list[int]:
    """Sort a list using the quicksort algorithm.

    Args:
        arr: List of integers to sort.

    Returns:
        A new sorted list.
    """
    if len(arr) <= 1:
        return arr
    pivot = arr[len(arr) // 2]
    left   = [x for x in arr if x < pivot]
    middle = [x for x in arr if x == pivot]
    right  = [x for x in arr if x > pivot]
    return quicksort(left) + middle + quicksort(right)

Added type hints for the input and return type, plus a Google-style docstring.
Estimated: 28.8 tok/s decode · 6.7s TTFT (warm) · 72 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

It fits through host-memory offload, and offload is the main reason performance drops.

CPU or host-memory offload is active

About 10% of the working set spills out of accelerator memory, which usually hurts latency and sustained decode throughput.

Very little memory headroom

You can run the model, but there is not much room left for longer context, bigger batches, extra apps, or future model updates.

Best improvement path

Remove offload with more accelerator memory

Prioritize a GPU or unified-memory tier that fits the whole model natively. Removing offload usually helps more than small compute gains.

Buy headroom, not only minimum fit

A slightly larger memory tier gives you safer context growth and makes the recommendation more future-proof.

Increase host RAM if you keep offloading

This setup may need roughly 0.7 GB of extra host RAM just for the offloaded portion, before OS and other tools.

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	B	Very compromised (needs ~1.2 GB host RAM)	42.6 tok/s	2478 ms	4K
Coding	F	Too heavy	28.8 tok/s	6715 ms	4K
Agentic Coding	F	Too heavy	15.6 tok/s	18059 ms	4K
Reasoning	F	Too heavy	28.8 tok/s	7936 ms	4K
RAG	F	Too heavy	15.6 tok/s	22573 ms	4K

Quantization options

How Gemma 3 12B (12B params) fits at each quantization level on RTX 3080 10GB (10.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	4.7 GB	Low	A83
Q3_K_S	3	5.9 GB	Low	A82
NVFP4Best for your GPU

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Gemma 3 12B on your machine.

Run

ollama run gemma3:12b

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs Gemma 3 12B well

RTX 5060 Ti 16GBBudget pick

16 GB VRAM (+6)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.39.8 tok/s decode

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.

~$449 MSRP

RTX 4060 Ti 16GBBest value

16 GB VRAM (+6)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.30.2 tok/s decode

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.

~$499 MSRP

RTX 2000 Ada 16GBNVIDIA upgrade

16 GB VRAM (+6)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.31.4 tok/s decode

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.

~$625 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can RTX 3080 10GB run Gemma 3 12B?

Yes, RTX 3080 10GB can run Gemma 3 12B at Q2_K quantization (Very compromised (needs ~0.7 GB host RAM)). The recommended Q4_K_M requires 14.4 GB which exceeds available memory, but at Q2_K it needs only 11.8 GB. Expected decode speed: 58.7 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Gemma 3 12B need?

Gemma 3 12B (12B parameters) requires approximately 14.4 GB at Q4_K_M quantization. On RTX 3080 10GB, it fits at Q2_K using 11.8 GB.

What is the best quantization for Gemma 3 12B?

The recommended quantization is Q4_K_M, but on RTX 3080 10GB the best fitting quantization is Q2_K, which uses 11.8 GB.

What speed will Gemma 3 12B run at on RTX 3080 10GB?

On RTX 3080 10GB, Gemma 3 12B achieves approximately 58.7 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 3298ms using Q2_K quantization.

Can RTX 3080 10GB run Gemma 3 12B for coding?

For coding workloads, Gemma 3 12B on RTX 3080 10GB receives a F grade with 28.8 tok/s and 4K context.

What context window can Gemma 3 12B use on RTX 3080 10GB?

On RTX 3080 10GB, Gemma 3 12B can safely use up to 10K tokens of context at Q2_K quantization. The model's official context limit is 131K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

What should I upgrade first if Gemma 3 12B feels slow on RTX 3080 10GB?

See all results for RTX 3080 10GB See all hardware for Gemma 3 12B

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