About Gemma 4 12B
Gemma 4 12B is Google's 12B-parameter model released in April 2026, with a 256K-token context window. It uses a hybrid-attention design — only a fraction of its layers cache the full context, so long conversations cost far less VRAM than a classic dense model: its KV cache is about 0.9 GB at an 8K context, 8.9 GB at 128K, and 17.5 GB at the full 256K window (FP16 cache).
For most people Q4_K_M is the sweet spot — the most popular quality/size trade-off — while Q8 is near-lossless if you have the memory. Totals above include the KV cache and a realistic framework overhead, so they are what you should expect to see in practice rather than just the download size. Weight sizes are calibrated against real GGUF files — see themethodology.
Frequently asked questions
How much VRAM does Gemma 4 12B need?
At Q4_K_M with an 8K context, Gemma 4 12B needs about 10 GB (weights 7 GB + KV cache + overhead). The smallest common hardware that fits is a RTX 3060 12GB.
Can an RTX 4090 (24GB) run Gemma 4 12B?
Yes. An RTX 4090's 24 GB runs Gemma 4 12B at Q8_0 (about 16 GB at 8K context).
Can a Mac run Gemma 4 12B?
Yes — Apple Silicon with 16 GB of unified memory or more (macOS lets the GPU use ~75% of it, ~12 GB) runs Gemma 4 12B at Q4_K_M.
Related
VRAM calculator for any model ·Token counter
Last updated 2026-08-03. Architecture figures from the model's published config.json; see themethodology.