Can the GeForce RTX 5060 run Gemma 3 12B IT?
Only with CPU offload at Q4_K_M.
Gemma 3 12B IT is 12.2B parameters. At Q4_K_M the weights are about 6.8 GiB; with the 1.5 GiB runtime reserve that is 8.3 GiB against the card's 8GB, about 0.3 GiB more than the card has.
All three quants
8GB card| Quant | Weights | With reserve | Verdict | Headroom |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q4_K_Mthe everyday quant | 6.8 GiB | 8.3 GiB | Only with CPU offload | short 0.3 GiB |
| Q8_0near-lossless | 12.0 GiB | 13.5 GiB | Only with CPU offload | short 5.5 GiB |
| FP16full weights | 22.7 GiB | 24.2 GiB | Does not fit | short 16.2 GiB |
Verdict rules: fits comfortably when weights plus reserve sit within 85% of VRAM; tight when they fit with little left for context; CPU offload when they exceed VRAM by up to 2x (runs, slowly, with layers in system RAM); no beyond that. The KV cache per token depends on the model's architecture and is not modelled here.
Not this card. These fit it comfortably at Q4.
- GeForce RTX 5090 32GB · headroom 23.7 GiB
- GeForce RTX 3090 (used) 24GB · headroom 15.7 GiB
- GeForce RTX 4090 (used) 24GB · headroom 15.7 GiB
- Radeon RX 7900 XTX 24GB · headroom 15.7 GiB
What the GeForce RTX 5060 does run well → · Gemma 3 12B IT on every card →
About the model
Gemma 3 12B IT by Google: 131,072-token native context, text + vision, released 2025 under the Gemma Terms of Use. Model card → · Hosted pricing on PicksByModel →