Can gemma 3 27b it run on RTX 3090 24GB?

YES — With Offload

C51Usable

Estimated from fit model

gemma 3 27b it needs ~23.2 GB VRAM. RTX 3090 24GB has 24.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~40 tok/s.

Runtime: OllamaCapacity: OffloadBandwidth: HighStack: 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) — 23.2 GB, 39.8 tok/s, Runs with offload

23.2 GB required24.0 GB available

97% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs with offload

Decode

39.8 tok/s

TTFT

4867 ms

Safe context

20K

Memory

23.2 GB / 24.0 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights16.5 GB

KV Cache3.2 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom2.4 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsgemma 3 27b it on RTX 3090 24GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>What is local AI inference?
Local AI inference means running an AI language model directly on your own hardware — your laptop, desktop, or server — instead of sending requests to a remote cloud API.

When you run inference locally the model weights are loaded into your GPU or unified memory. Each token you generate requires reading those weights from memory, so memory bandwidth is the main bottleneck for decode speed.

Key benefits of running locally:
  - Full privacy: your prompts never leave your machine
  - No per-token cost or rate limits
  - Works offline once the model is downloaded
  - Latency depends only on your hardware
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>How much VRAM do I need?
It depends on the model size and quantization level. A rough rule of thumb:

  Model size     Q4 (4-bit)    Q8 (8-bit)    FP16
  7B params      ~4.3 GB       ~7.5 GB       ~14 GB
  13B params     ~7.9 GB       ~13.9 GB      ~26 GB
  70B params     ~42.7 GB      ~74.9 GB      ~140 GB

Most people use 4-bit quantization (Q4_K_M) which gives 90-95% of full quality at a fraction of the memory. A 24 GB GPU can comfortably run most 7B-13B models.
Estimated: 39.8 tok/s decode · 4.9s TTFT (warm) · 100 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.

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	C	Tight fit	39.8 tok/s	2655 ms	20K
Coding	C	Runs with offload	39.8 tok/s	4867 ms	20K
Agentic Coding	D	Very compromised (needs ~1.5 GB host RAM)	24.4 tok/s	11533 ms	20K
Reasoning	C	Runs with offload	39.8 tok/s	5751 ms	20K
RAG	D	Very compromised (needs ~1.5 GB host RAM)	24.4 tok/s	14417 ms	20K

Inference speed

gemma 3 27b it inference speed — tokens per second by GPU & Mac

Estimated decode speed (tokens/sec) for gemma 3 27b it at Q4_K_M across popular GPUs and Apple Silicon, using the fastest local runtime per device. Fastest is RTX 5090 32GB at ~73 tok/s. Speed is memory-bandwidth bound, so cards that fit the whole model in VRAM run far faster than ones that offload to system RAM.

GPU / Mac	Memory	Quant	Speed (tok/s)	Fits?
RTX 5090 32GB	32 GB	Q4_K_M	72.9	Fits
RTX 4090 24GB	24 GB	Q4_K_M	46.5	Offloads
RX 7900 XTX 24GB	24 GB	Q4_K_M	42.0	Offloads
RTX 3090 24GB	24 GB	Q4_K_M	39.8	Offloads
Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB	256 GB	Q4_K_M	33.8	Fits
MacBook Pro M4 Max 128GB	128 GB	Q4_K_M	33.4	Fits
MacBook Pro M4 Max 64GB	64 GB	Q4_K_M	33.4	Fits
Mac Studio M2 Ultra 128GB	128 GB	Q4_K_M	28.2	Fits
Mac Studio M1 Ultra 128GB	128 GB	Q4_K_M	26.7	Fits
MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB	48 GB	Q4_K_M	21.1	Fits
MacBook Pro M3 Max 64GB	64 GB	Q4_K_M	14.6	Fits
RTX 4080 Super 16GB	16 GB	Q4_K_M	13.7	Too big
MacBook Pro M1 Max 64GB	64 GB	Q4_K_M	13.4	Fits
RTX 4070 12GB	12 GB	Q4_K_M	4.8	Too big
RTX 3060 12GB	12 GB	Q4_K_M	3.0	Too big
RTX 4060 8GB	8 GB	Q4_K_M	2.0	Too big

Estimates for single-stream decoding at Q4_K_M; real tokens/sec varies with prompt length, context, batch size, and runtime build. Prompt processing (prefill) is faster than the decode figures shown here.

Quantization options

How gemma 3 27b it (27B params) fits at each quantization level on RTX 3090 24GB (24.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	10.5 GB	Low	C50
Q3_K_S	3	13.2 GB	Low	C50
NVFP4	4	15.1 GB	Medium	C50
Q4_K_MBest for your GPU	4	16.5 GB	Medium	C50
Q5_K_M	5	19.4 GB	High	F0
Q6_K	6	22.1 GB	High	F0
Q8_0	8	28.9 GB	Very High	F0
F16	16	55.4 GB	Maximum	F0

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run gemma 3 27b it on your machine.

Run

lms load hf-maziyarpanahi--gemma-3-27b-it-gguf && lms server start

Upgrade-Optionen

Hardware, die gemma 3 27b it gut ausführt

RTX 5090 32GBGünstige Wahl

32 GB VRAM (+8)1792 GB/s (+856)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 83%.72.9 tok/s Dekodierung

Raises estimated decode speed by about 83%.

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

ca. $1,999 MSRP

RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell 32GBBestes Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis

32 GB VRAM (+8)

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.45.7 tok/s Dekodierung

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

ca. $2,499 MSRP

RTX 5000 Ada 32GBNVIDIA-Upgrade

32 GB VRAM (+8)

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.28 tok/s Dekodierung

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

ca. $4,000 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can RTX 3090 24GB run gemma 3 27b it?

Yes, RTX 3090 24GB can run gemma 3 27b it with a C grade (Runs with offload). Expected decode speed: 39.8 tok/s.

How much VRAM does gemma 3 27b it need?

gemma 3 27b it (27B parameters) requires approximately 23.2 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for gemma 3 27b it?

The recommended quantization for gemma 3 27b it is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will gemma 3 27b it run at on RTX 3090 24GB?

On RTX 3090 24GB, gemma 3 27b it achieves approximately 39.8 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 4867ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can RTX 3090 24GB run gemma 3 27b it for coding?

For coding workloads, gemma 3 27b it on RTX 3090 24GB receives a C grade with 39.8 tok/s and 20K context.

What context window can gemma 3 27b it use on RTX 3090 24GB?

On RTX 3090 24GB, gemma 3 27b it can safely use up to 20K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is —, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

What should I upgrade first if gemma 3 27b it feels slow on RTX 3090 24GB?

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 RTX 3090 24GB See all hardware for gemma 3 27b it

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