Head to head
Gemma 3 12B vs Gemma 2 9B
Side-by-side specs, benchmarks, and a verdict by use case.
| Spec | Gemma 3 12B | Gemma 2 9B |
|---|---|---|
| Parameters | 12B | 9B |
| Author | ||
| License | Gemma | Gemma |
| Context window | 0k | 0k |
| VRAM at Q4 | 7 GB | 6 GB |
| VRAM at Q5 | 9 GB | 7.5 GB |
| VRAM at Q8 | 13 GB | 11 GB |
| VRAM at FP16 | 24 GB | 20 GB |
| Use cases | chat, general, vision, multilingual | chat, general |
Verdict
Both models sit in a similar size class. The pick depends on tags, license, and benchmarks rather than raw parameter count.