Can Gemma 4 E4B run on RTX 3050 Ti Laptop 4GB?

Q: What should I upgrade first if Gemma 4 E4B feels slow on RTX 3050 Ti Laptop 4GB?

Add more VRAM headroom. The first useful upgrade is more dedicated VRAM so you can fit the model without shrinking context or dropping to a much lower quant.

NO — Won't Fit

F0Won't run

Estimated from fit model

Gemma 4 E4B needs ~7.8 GB but RTX 3050 Ti Laptop 4GB only has 4.0 GB. Try a smaller quantization or lighter model.

Runtime: OllamaCapacity: No fitBandwidth: Very lowStack: BasicBottleneck: Memory capacity

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.

Capabilities:

Select quantization to explore

Q4_K_M (Medium quality) — 7.8 GB, exceeds 4.0 GB available

7.8 GB required4.0 GB available

195% VRAM needed

3.8 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization

Fit status

Too heavy

Decode

6.1 tok/s

TTFT

31585 ms

Safe context

Memory

7.8 GB / 4.0 GB

Offload

50%

Memory breakdown

Weights4.9 GB

KV Cache1.3 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom0.4 GB

See how fast it feels

With memory offload — actual speed may be lower

See how fast it feelsGemma 4 E4B on RTX 3050 Ti Laptop 4GB
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: 6.1 tok/s decode · 31.6s TTFT (warm) · 15 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

Usable VRAM is the main blocker for this model.

Not enough usable memory

The model needs 7.8 GB, but this setup only exposes 4.0 GB of usable VRAM.

Best improvement path

Add more VRAM headroom

The first useful upgrade is more dedicated VRAM so you can fit the model without shrinking context or dropping to a much lower quant.

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	F	Too heavy	6.8 tok/s	15448 ms	4K
Coding	F	Too heavy	6.1 tok/s	31585 ms	4K
Agentic Coding	F	Too heavy	4.9 tok/s	56906 ms	4K
Reasoning	F	Too heavy	6.1 tok/s	37328 ms	4K
RAG	F	Too heavy	4.9 tok/s	71132 ms	4K

Quantization options

How Gemma 4 E4B (8B params) fits at each quantization level on RTX 3050 Ti Laptop 4GB (4.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	3.1 GB	Low	F0
Q3_K_S	3	3.9 GB	Low	F0
NVFP4	4

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs Gemma 4 E4B well

RTX 3050 8GBBudget pick

8 GB VRAM (+4)224 GB/s (+32)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.23.4 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.

~$249 MSRP

RTX 5060 8GBBest value

8 GB VRAM (+4)448 GB/s (+256)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.44.2 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.

~$299 MSRP

RTX 4060 8GBNVIDIA upgrade

8 GB VRAM (+4)272 GB/s (+80)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.31.5 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.

~$299 MSRP

RTX 3080 Ti 12GBBiggest leap

12 GB VRAM (+8)912 GB/s (+720)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.112 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.

~$1,199 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can RTX 3050 Ti Laptop 4GB run Gemma 4 E4B?

No, Gemma 4 E4B requires more memory than RTX 3050 Ti Laptop 4GB provides.

How much VRAM does Gemma 4 E4B need?

Gemma 4 E4B (8B parameters) requires approximately 7.8 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Gemma 4 E4B?

The recommended quantization for Gemma 4 E4B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Gemma 4 E4B run at on RTX 3050 Ti Laptop 4GB?

On RTX 3050 Ti Laptop 4GB, Gemma 4 E4B achieves approximately 6.1 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 31585ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can RTX 3050 Ti Laptop 4GB run Gemma 4 E4B for coding?

For coding workloads, Gemma 4 E4B on RTX 3050 Ti Laptop 4GB receives a F grade with 6.1 tok/s and 4K context.

What context window can Gemma 4 E4B use on RTX 3050 Ti Laptop 4GB?

On RTX 3050 Ti Laptop 4GB, Gemma 4 E4B can safely use up to 4K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 128K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

What should I upgrade first if Gemma 4 E4B feels slow on RTX 3050 Ti Laptop 4GB?

See all results for RTX 3050 Ti Laptop 4GB See all hardware for Gemma 4 E4B

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