Which needs less VRAM, Gemma 3 12B IT Heretic v2 or Gemma 3n E2B IT?

At BF16, Gemma 3 12B IT Heretic v2 needs 25.4 GB and Gemma 3n E2B IT needs 12.0 GB, so Gemma 3n E2B IT is the lighter option to run locally.

What is the difference between Gemma 3 12B IT Heretic v2 and Gemma 3n E2B IT?

Gemma 3 12B IT Heretic v2 is a 12.2B model from DreamFast (Gemma family), while Gemma 3n E2B IT is a 5.4B model from Google (Gemma family). Compare their VRAM requirements above to see which fits your GPU or Mac.

Gemma 3 12B IT Heretic v2 vs Gemma 3n E2B IT

Side-by-side comparison of VRAM requirements, quantization, context length, and hardware compatibility.

Gemma 3 12B IT Heretic v2

DreamFast · 12.2B

Chat

Gemma 3n E2B IT

Google · 5.4B

Vision

Specifications

	Gemma 3 12B IT Heretic v2	Gemma 3n E2B IT
Parameters	12.2B	5.4B
Context	131K	—
Architecture	Gemma3ForConditionalGeneration	—
License	Gemma Terms	Gemma Terms
Downloads	8.6K	421.3K
Released	Mar 2026	—

VRAM by Quantization: Gemma 3 12B IT Heretic v2 vs Gemma 3n E2B IT

Quantization	Bits	Gemma 3 12B IT Heretic v2 VRAM	Gemma 3n E2B IT VRAM
BF16	16.00	25.4 GB	12.0 GB

Verdict

Gemma 3n E2B IT needs less VRAM at BF16 (12.0 GB vs 25.4 GB), so it fits on smaller GPUs. Gemma 3n E2B IT is the more widely downloaded of the two.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which needs less VRAM, Gemma 3 12B IT Heretic v2 or Gemma 3n E2B IT?: At BF16, Gemma 3 12B IT Heretic v2 needs 25.4 GB and Gemma 3n E2B IT needs 12.0 GB, so Gemma 3n E2B IT is the lighter option to run locally.
What is the difference between Gemma 3 12B IT Heretic v2 and Gemma 3n E2B IT?: Gemma 3 12B IT Heretic v2 is a 12.2B model from DreamFast (Gemma family), while Gemma 3n E2B IT is a 5.4B model from Google (Gemma family). Compare their VRAM requirements above to see which fits your GPU or Mac.