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Qwen3 14B vs Gemma 4 12B: which runs better locally?
Qwen3 14B needs about 10.9 GB at Q4 with 8K context and fits fully on 16 of 40 GPUs. Gemma 4 12B needs 10.7 GB and fits on 23. On cards that run both, Gemma 4 12B is about 10% faster. Qwen3 14B has more parameters (14.8B vs 12B), which usually means better answers if you have the memory.
Qwen3 14B needs about 10.9 GB at Q4 with 8K context and fits fully on 16 of 40 GPUs. Gemma 4 12B needs 10.7 GB and fits on 23. On cards that run both, Gemma 4 12B is about 10% faster. Qwen3 14B has more parameters (14.8B vs 12B), which usually means better answers if you have the memory.
Each GPU at 8K context with the best quantization that fits. Offload assumes 32 GB of system RAM. Green marks the better result. Rows where the two differ come first.
| GPU | Qwen3 14B | Gemma 4 12B |
|---|---|---|
| RTX 5070 12 GB | Offload~7.5 tok/sQ4_K_M | Runs~62 tok/sQ4_K_M |
| RTX 4070 / 4070 Super 12 GB | Offload~5.6 tok/sQ4_K_M | Runs~46 tok/sQ4_K_M |
| Arc B580 12 GB | Offload~5.1 tok/sQ4_K_M | Runs~42 tok/sQ4_K_M |
| RX 7700 XT 12 GB | Offload~4.8 tok/sQ4_K_M | Runs~40 tok/sQ4_K_M |
| RX 6700 XT 12 GB | Offload~4.3 tok/sQ4_K_M | Runs~35 tok/sQ4_K_M |
| RTX 3060 12 GB | Offload~4.0 tok/sQ4_K_M | Runs~33 tok/sQ4_K_M |
| RTX 4080 Laptop 12 GB | Offload~4.8 tok/sQ4_K_M | Runs~40 tok/sQ4_K_M |
| RTX 5090 32 GB | Runs~74 tok/sQ8_0 | Runs~92 tok/sQ8_0 |
| RTX 4090 24 GB | Runs~42 tok/sQ8_0 | Runs~52 tok/sQ8_0 |
| RX 7900 XTX 24 GB | Runs~40 tok/sQ8_0 | Runs~49 tok/sQ8_0 |
| RTX 3090 / 3090 Ti 24 GB | Runs~39 tok/sQ8_0 | Runs~48 tok/sQ8_0 |
| RX 7900 XT 20 GB | Runs~43 tok/sQ6_K | Runs~41 tok/sQ8_0 |
| RTX 5080 16 GB | Runs~59 tok/sQ5_K_M | Runs~63 tok/sQ6_K |
| RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB | Runs~55 tok/sQ5_K_M | Runs~59 tok/sQ6_K |
| RTX 4080 / 4080 Super 16 GB | Runs~46 tok/sQ5_K_M | Runs~49 tok/sQ6_K |
| RTX 4070 Ti Super 16 GB | Runs~42 tok/sQ5_K_M | Runs~44 tok/sQ6_K |
| RX 9070 XT 16 GB | Runs~40 tok/sQ5_K_M | Runs~42 tok/sQ6_K |
| RX 7800 XT 16 GB | Runs~39 tok/sQ5_K_M | Runs~41 tok/sQ6_K |
| Arc A770 16 GB | Runs~35 tok/sQ5_K_M | Runs~37 tok/sQ6_K |
| RX 6800 XT 16 GB | Runs~32 tok/sQ5_K_M | Runs~34 tok/sQ6_K |
| RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB | Runs~28 tok/sQ5_K_M | Runs~30 tok/sQ6_K |
| RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB | Runs~18 tok/sQ5_K_M | Runs~19 tok/sQ6_K |
| GTX 1080 Ti 11 GB | Offload~5.3 tok/sQ4_K_M | Offload~6.5 tok/sQ4_K_M |
| RTX 3080 10 GB | Offload~7.7 tok/sQ4_K_M | Offload~9.6 tok/sQ4_K_M |
| Arc A750 8 GB | Offload~5.1 tok/sQ4_K_M | Offload~6.4 tok/sQ4_K_M |
| RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB | Offload~4.7 tok/sQ4_K_M | Offload~5.8 tok/sQ4_K_M |
| RTX 5060 8 GB | Offload~4.7 tok/sQ4_K_M | Offload~5.8 tok/sQ4_K_M |
| RTX 3070 / 3070 Ti 8 GB | Offload~4.7 tok/sQ4_K_M | Offload~5.8 tok/sQ4_K_M |
| RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB | Offload~4.7 tok/sQ4_K_M | Offload~5.8 tok/sQ4_K_M |
| RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB | Offload~3.5 tok/sQ4_K_M | Offload~4.3 tok/sQ4_K_M |
| RX 7600 8 GB | Offload~3.5 tok/sQ4_K_M | Offload~4.3 tok/sQ4_K_M |
| RTX 4060 8 GB | Offload~3.4 tok/sQ4_K_M | Offload~4.1 tok/sQ4_K_M |
| RTX 3050 8 GB | Offload~3.0 tok/sQ4_K_M | Offload~3.7 tok/sQ4_K_M |
| GTX 1660 / 1660 Super 6 GB | Offload~3.9 tok/sQ4_K_M | Offload~4.8 tok/sQ4_K_M |
| GTX 1650 4 GB | Offload~3.2 tok/sQ4_K_M | Offload~3.9 tok/sQ4_K_M |
| RTX 4090 Laptop 16 GB | Runs~36 tok/sQ5_K_M | Runs~38 tok/sQ6_K |
| RTX 4070 Laptop 8 GB | Offload~3.2 tok/sQ4_K_M | Offload~4.0 tok/sQ4_K_M |
| RTX 4060 Laptop 8 GB | Offload~3.2 tok/sQ4_K_M | Offload~4.0 tok/sQ4_K_M |
| RTX 3060 Laptop 6 GB | Offload~3.9 tok/sQ4_K_M | Offload~4.8 tok/sQ4_K_M |
| RTX 4050 Laptop 6 GB | Offload~3.1 tok/sQ4_K_M | Offload~3.8 tok/sQ4_K_M |
Which should you run?
Gemma 4 12B runs faster at a similar size. Qwen3 14B needs about 10.9 GB at Q4 with 8K context and fits fully on 16 of 40 GPUs. Gemma 4 12B needs 10.7 GB and fits on 23. On cards that run both, Gemma 4 12B is about 10% faster. Qwen3 14B has more parameters (14.8B vs 12B), which usually means better answers if you have the memory.
Only Gemma 4 12B fits on RTX 5070, RTX 4070 / 4070 Super, RTX 3060, RTX 4080 Laptop, RX 7700 XT, RX 6700 XT and Arc B580.
See every result on its own page: Qwen3 14B and Gemma 4 12B.
Questions
Is Qwen3 14B or Gemma 4 12B better?
Gemma 4 12B runs faster at a similar size. Qwen3 14B needs about 10.9 GB at Q4 with 8K context and fits fully on 16 of 40 GPUs. Gemma 4 12B needs 10.7 GB and fits on 23. On cards that run both, Gemma 4 12B is about 10% faster. Qwen3 14B has more parameters (14.8B vs 12B), which usually means better answers if you have the memory. The right pick depends on what you use it for: compare the strengths listed on each model's page.
Which needs less VRAM, Qwen3 14B or Gemma 4 12B?
Qwen3 14B needs about 11 GB at Q4 with 8K context, Gemma 4 12B about 11 GB. At Q8 it is 19 GB versus 17 GB.
Can I run Qwen3 14B and Gemma 4 12B on a 12 GB GPU?
On an RTX 3060 12 GB, Qwen3 14B only runs with part of the model in system RAM, at a few tokens per second and Gemma 4 12B runs fully at Q4_K_M (about 33 tokens per second).
More comparisons
Estimates from memory size and bandwidth at 8K context. Real speed varies with software, drivers and settings.