Can Gemma 3 12B run on NVIDIA T4 16GB?

YES — Tight Fit

A80Great

Estimated from fit model

Gemma 3 12B needs ~15.0 GB VRAM. NVIDIA T4 16GB has 16.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~30 tok/s.

Runtime: OllamaCapacity: TightBandwidth: LowStack: BasicBottleneck: Balanced

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) — 15.0 GB, 29.8 tok/s, Tight fit

15.0 GB required16.0 GB available

94% VRAM used

Fit status

Tight fit

Decode

29.8 tok/s

TTFT

6489 ms

Safe context

19K

Memory

15.0 GB / 16.0 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights7.3 GB

KV Cache4.9 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom1.6 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsGemma 3 12B on NVIDIA T4 16GB
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: 29.8 tok/s decode · 6.5s TTFT (warm) · 75 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

This setup is broadly balanced for this model.

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.

Older PCIe generation

PCIe 3.0 is workable, but it compounds the penalty when you offload heavily or try to scale across multiple cards.

Best improvement path

Buy headroom, not only minimum fit

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

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	A	Runs well	29.8 tok/s	3539 ms	19K
Coding	A	Tight fit	29.8 tok/s	6489 ms	19K
Agentic Coding	F	Too heavy	13.5 tok/s	20858 ms	19K
Reasoning	A	Tight fit	29.8 tok/s	7669 ms	19K
RAG	F	Too heavy	13.5 tok/s	26072 ms	19K

Quantization options

How Gemma 3 12B (12B params) fits at each quantization level on NVIDIA T4 16GB (16.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	4.7 GB	Low	A78
Q3_K_S	3	5.9 GB	Low	A79
NVFP4	4	6.7 GB	Medium	A80
Q4_K_M	4	7.3 GB	Medium	A81
Q5_K_M	5	8.6 GB	High	A81
Q6_KBest for your GPU	6	9.8 GB	High	A81
Q8_0	8	12.8 GB	Very High	F0
F16	16	24.6 GB	Maximum	F0

Get started

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

Run

ollama run gemma3:12b

Your hardware

More models your NVIDIA T4 16GB can run

Model	Params	Grade	Decode
Qwen 3 14B	14B	S	26.3 tok/s
Phi-4-reasoning-plus 14B	14.7B	S	24.9 tok/s
GPT-OSS 20B	21B	A	22.3 tok/s
Ministral 3 14B	14B	A	26.2 tok/s
Codestral 2 25.08	22B	A	8.7 tok/s

Frequently asked questions

Can NVIDIA T4 16GB run Gemma 3 12B?

Yes, NVIDIA T4 16GB can run Gemma 3 12B with a A grade (Tight fit). Expected decode speed: 29.8 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Gemma 3 12B need?

Gemma 3 12B (12B parameters) requires approximately 15.0 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Gemma 3 12B?

The recommended quantization for Gemma 3 12B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Gemma 3 12B run at on NVIDIA T4 16GB?

On NVIDIA T4 16GB, Gemma 3 12B achieves approximately 29.8 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 6489ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can NVIDIA T4 16GB run Gemma 3 12B for coding?

For coding workloads, Gemma 3 12B on NVIDIA T4 16GB receives a A grade with 29.8 tok/s and 19K context.

What context window can Gemma 3 12B use on NVIDIA T4 16GB?

On NVIDIA T4 16GB, Gemma 3 12B can safely use up to 19K tokens of context. 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 NVIDIA T4 16GB?

Buy headroom, not only minimum fit. A slightly larger memory tier gives you safer context growth and makes the recommendation more future-proof.

See all results for NVIDIA T4 16GB See all hardware for Gemma 3 12B

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