Can Gemma 3 12B run on NVIDIA A40 48GB?

YES — Runs Great

A79Great

Estimated from fit model

Gemma 3 12B needs ~18.2 GB VRAM. NVIDIA A40 48GB has 48.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~78 tok/s.

Runtime: OllamaCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: MediumStack: 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) — 18.2 GB, 77.9 tok/s, Runs well

18.2 GB required48.0 GB available

38% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

77.9 tok/s

TTFT

2486 ms

Safe context

114K

Memory

18.2 GB / 48.0 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights7.3 GB

KV Cache4.9 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom4.8 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsGemma 3 12B on NVIDIA A40 48GB
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: 77.9 tok/s decode · 2.5s TTFT (warm) · 195 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

This setup is broadly balanced for this model.

No major red flags

This recommendation has enough memory headroom and acceptable estimated speed for the selected workload.

Best improvement path

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	A	Runs well	77.9 tok/s	1356 ms	114K
Coding	A	Runs well	77.9 tok/s	2486 ms	114K
Agentic Coding	A	Runs well	77.9 tok/s	3616 ms	114K
Reasoning	A	Runs well	77.9 tok/s	2938 ms	114K
RAG	A	Runs well	77.9 tok/s	4520 ms	114K

Quantization options

How Gemma 3 12B (12B params) fits at each quantization level on NVIDIA A40 48GB (48.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	4.7 GB	Low	A71
Q3_K_S	3	5.9 GB	Low	A72
NVFP4	4	6.7 GB	Medium	A72
Q4_K_M	4	7.3 GB	Medium	A72
Q5_K_M	5	8.6 GB	High	A72
Q6_K	6	9.8 GB	High	A72
Q8_0	8	12.8 GB	Very High	A73
F16Best for your GPU	16	24.6 GB	Maximum	A77

Get started

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

Run

ollama run gemma3:12b

Your hardware

More models your NVIDIA A40 48GB can run

Model	Params	Grade	Decode
Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B Instruct	30.5B	S	82.1 tok/s
Qwen 3.5 27B	27B	S	35.6 tok/s
Qwen 3.6 27B	27B	S	35.7 tok/s
Qwen 3.6 35B A3B	35B	S	69 tok/s
Qwen3-VL 30B A3B Instruct	30B	S	84.9 tok/s

Frequently asked questions

Can NVIDIA A40 48GB run Gemma 3 12B?

Yes, NVIDIA A40 48GB can run Gemma 3 12B with a A grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 77.9 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Gemma 3 12B need?

Gemma 3 12B (12B parameters) requires approximately 18.2 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 A40 48GB?

On NVIDIA A40 48GB, Gemma 3 12B achieves approximately 77.9 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 2486ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can NVIDIA A40 48GB run Gemma 3 12B for coding?

For coding workloads, Gemma 3 12B on NVIDIA A40 48GB receives a A grade with 77.9 tok/s and 114K context.

What context window can Gemma 3 12B use on NVIDIA A40 48GB?

On NVIDIA A40 48GB, Gemma 3 12B can safely use up to 114K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 131K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

See all results for NVIDIA A40 48GB See all hardware for Gemma 3 12B

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