Gemma 3 12B IT vs Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
Gemma 3 12B IT leads llmrun Score 74.2 to 65.1 (ranges overlap); both fit 24 GB at Q4_K_M; Qwen2.5 7B Instruct is 1.6× faster on RTX 4090 (~131 vs ~82 tok/s).
Model B · Alibaba
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct7.6B · 32K context · Apache 2.0 · Sep 2024
Choose Gemma 3 12B IT if you want…
Higher llmrun Score
74.2 vs 65.1, ranges overlap
Ahead on the benchmarks
3 of 4 shared boards
Also does vision
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct doesn't list it
Newer release
Mar 2025 vs Sep 2024
Choose Qwen2.5 7B Instruct if you want…
Fits an 8 GB GPU
Q4_K_M · 5.8 GB; Gemma 3 12B IT needs 6.6 GB at its smallest quant
1.6× faster on RTX 4090
~131 vs ~82 tok/s
Lighter on memory
5.0 vs 8.0 GB at Q4_K_M
Also does chat, function-calling
Gemma 3 12B IT doesn't list it
More permissive license
Apache 2.0 vs Gemma Terms
On your hardware
Each model at its default quant (Q4_K_M), a smaller one when it must. Estimates, ±20%.
8 GB
RTX 4060 · 8 GB tier
Gemma 3 12B IT
IQ2_M · ~39 tok/s
7.4 GB · up to 16K
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
Q4_K_M · ~35 tok/s
5.8 GB · up to 32Kmore headroom
12 GB
RTX 3060 12GB · 12 GB tier
Gemma 3 12B IT
Q4_K_M · ~29 tok/s
10.9 GB · up to 16K
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
Q4_K_M · ~47 tok/s
5.8 GB · up to 32Kfaster
16 GB
RTX 5060 Ti 16GB · 16 GB tier
Gemma 3 12B IT
Q4_K_M · ~36 tok/s
10.9 GB · up to 32K
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
Q4_K_M · ~58 tok/s
5.8 GB · up to 32Kfaster
24 GBreference
RTX 4090 · 24 GB tier
Gemma 3 12B IT
Q4_K_M · ~82 tok/s
10.9 GB · up to 32K
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
Q4_K_M · ~131 tok/s
5.8 GB · up to 32Kfaster
32 GB
RTX 5090 · 32 GB tier
Gemma 3 12B IT
Q4_K_M · ~145 tok/s
10.9 GB · up to 32K
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
Q4_K_M · ~233 tok/s
5.8 GB · up to 32Kfaster
48 GB
RTX A6000 · 48 GB tier
Gemma 3 12B IT
Q4_K_M · ~62 tok/s
10.9 GB · up to 32K
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
Q4_K_M · ~100 tok/s
5.8 GB · up to 32Kfaster
Mac 32 GB
Mac Mini M4 · Macs
Gemma 3 12B IT
Q4_K_M · ~10 tok/s
10.9 GB · up to 32K
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
Q4_K_M · ~17 tok/s
5.8 GB · up to 32Kfaster
Mac 64 GB
Mac Studio M4 Max · Macs
Gemma 3 12B IT
Q4_K_M · ~48 tok/s
10.9 GB · up to 32K
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
Q4_K_M · ~77 tok/s
5.8 GB · up to 32Kfaster
Mac 128 GB
Mac Studio M4 Max · Macs
Gemma 3 12B IT
Q4_K_M · ~48 tok/s
10.9 GB · up to 32K
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
Q4_K_M · ~77 tok/s
5.8 GB · up to 32Kfaster
Reference GPU: RTX 4090. Tinted cell = the better pick on that machine (fits, more headroom, or at least 10% faster).
Overall
Gemma 3 12B IT
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
Science
Gemma 3 12B IT
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
no data
Reasoning
Gemma 3 12B IT
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
Gemma 3 12B IT · #96 of 106 open models · #28 of 36 that fit 24 GB
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct · #102 of 106 open models · #33 of 36 that fit 24 GB
Benchmarks
4 shared boards: Gemma 3 12B IT leads 3, Qwen2.5 7B Instruct leads 1 · Benchmarks imported Nov 2026
Gemma 3 12B IT
39.5%#73/100 open
IndependentEpoch AI · Mar 2025
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
35.5%#77/100 open
IndependentEpoch AI · Sep 2024
Gemma 3 12B IT
16.7%#57/88 open
IndependentEpoch AI · Mar 2025
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
2.5%#77/88 open
IndependentEpoch AI · Sep 2024
Gemma 3 12B IT
48.8%#64/70 open
Lab-reportedEpoch AI · Mar 2025
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
47.7%#66/70 open
Lab-reportedEpoch AI · Sep 2024
Gemma 3 12B IT
4.5%#55/56 open
Lab-reportedEpoch AI · Mar 2025
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
6.4%#52/56 open
Lab-reportedEpoch AI · Sep 2024
VRAM by quantization
Memory to load the model and 2K context; below it, the total at 32K and 128K context. Lighter side in bold.
Q2_K
Gemma 3 12B IT
5.7 GB4.8 GB file
32K 11.9 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
3.7 GB3.0 GB file
32K 5.4 GB · 128K —
Q3_K_S
Gemma 3 12B IT
5.9 GB5.5 GB file
32K 12.1 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
3.8 GB3.5 GB file
32K 5.5 GB · 128K —
Q3_K_M
Gemma 3 12B IT
6.5 GB6.0 GB file
32K 12.7 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
4.1 GB3.8 GB file
32K 5.9 GB · 128K —
Q4_0
Gemma 3 12B IT
6.7 GB6.9 GB file
32K 12.9 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
4.2 GB4.4 GB file
32K 6.0 GB · 128K —
Q4_K_M
Gemma 3 12B IT
8.0 GB7.3 GB file
32K 14.2 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
5.0 GB4.7 GB file
32K 6.8 GB · 128K —
Q5_K_M
Gemma 3 12B IT
9.6 GB8.4 GB file
32K 15.7 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
5.8 GB5.4 GB file
32K 7.6 GB · 128K —
Q6_K
Gemma 3 12B IT
11.1 GB9.7 GB file
32K 17.3 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
6.7 GB6.3 GB file
32K 8.5 GB · 128K —
Q8_0
Gemma 3 12B IT
13.4 GB12.5 GB file
32K 19.6 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
8.0 GB8.1 GB file
32K 9.8 GB · 128K —
20 more quants
IQ2_XXS
Gemma 3 12B IT
3.7 GB3.6 GB file
32K 9.9 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
2.5 GB2.3 GB file
32K 4.3 GB · 128K —
IQ2_XS
Gemma 3 12B IT
4.0 GB3.8 GB file
32K 10.2 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
2.7 GB2.5 GB file
32K 4.5 GB · 128K —
IQ2_S
Gemma 3 12B IT
4.2 GB4.0 GB file
32K 10.4 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
2.8 GB2.6 GB file
32K 4.6 GB · 128K —
IQ2_M
Gemma 3 12B IT
4.5 GB4.4 GB file
32K 10.7 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
3.0 GB2.8 GB file
32K 4.8 GB · 128K —
IQ3_XXS
Gemma 3 12B IT
5.2 GB4.8 GB file
32K 11.4 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
3.4 GB3.1 GB file
32K 5.1 GB · 128K —
Q2_K_S
Gemma 3 12B IT
5.4 GB4.4 GB file
32K 11.6 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
3.5 GB2.8 GB file
32K 5.2 GB · 128K —
IQ3_XS
Gemma 3 12B IT
5.5 GB5.2 GB file
32K 11.7 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
3.6 GB3.3 GB file
32K 5.3 GB · 128K —
IQ3_S
Gemma 3 12B IT
5.7 GB5.2 GB file
32K 11.9 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
3.7 GB3.5 GB file
32K 5.4 GB · 128K —
IQ3_M
Gemma 3 12B IT
6.0 GB5.7 GB file
32K 12.2 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
3.8 GB3.6 GB file
32K 5.6 GB · 128K —
Q3_K_L
Gemma 3 12B IT
6.9 GB6.5 GB file
32K 13.1 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
4.3 GB4.1 GB file
32K 6.1 GB · 128K —
IQ4_XS
Gemma 3 12B IT
7.2 GB6.6 GB file
32K 13.4 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
4.5 GB4.2 GB file
32K 6.3 GB · 128K —
IQ4_NL
Gemma 3 12B IT
7.5 GB6.9 GB file
32K 13.7 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
4.7 GB4.5 GB file
32K 6.5 GB · 128K —
Q4_1
Gemma 3 12B IT
7.5 GB7.6 GB file
32K 13.7 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
4.7 GB4.9 GB file
32K 6.5 GB · 128K —
Q4_K_S
Gemma 3 12B IT
7.5 GB6.9 GB file
32K 13.7 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
4.7 GB4.5 GB file
32K 6.5 GB · 128K —
Q4_K_L
Gemma 3 12B IT
8.2 GB7.5 GB file
32K 14.4 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
5.1 GB5.1 GB file
32K 6.8 GB · 128K —
Q5_0
Gemma 3 12B IT
8.4 GB8.2 GB file
32K 14.6 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
5.2 GB5.3 GB file
32K 6.9 GB · 128K —
Q5_1
Gemma 3 12B IT
not listed
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
5.7 GB5.8 GB file
32K 7.4 GB · 128K —
Q5_K_S
Gemma 3 12B IT
9.2 GB8.2 GB file
32K 15.4 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
5.7 GB5.3 GB file
32K 7.4 GB · 128K —
Q5_K_L
Gemma 3 12B IT
9.7 GB8.7 GB file
32K 15.9 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
5.9 GB5.8 GB file
32K 7.7 GB · 128K —
BF16
Gemma 3 12B IT
26.8 GB23.5 GB file
32K 33.0 GB · 128K —
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
15.7 GB~15.2 GB file
32K 17.4 GB · 128K —
Gemma 3 12B IT
Ollama · Q4_K_M
ollama run hf.co/unsloth/gemma-3-12b-it-GGUF:Q4_K_MQwen2.5 7B Instruct
Ollama · Q4_K_M
ollama run hf.co/Qwen/Qwen2.5-7B-Instruct-GGUF:Q4_K_M| Spec | Gemma 3 12B IT | Qwen2.5 7B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Publisher | Alibaba | |
| Parameters | 12.2B | 7.6B |
| Architecture | — | Qwen2ForCausalLM |
| Context | 32K tokens | 32K tokens |
| Modalities | Vision | Chat, Function-calling |
| License | Gemma Terms | Apache 2.0 |
| Released | Mar 2025 | Sep 2024 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better, Gemma 3 12B IT or Qwen2.5 7B Instruct?
Gemma 3 12B IT leads llmrun Score 74.2 to 65.1 (ranges overlap); both fit 24 GB at Q4_K_M; Qwen2.5 7B Instruct is 1.6× faster on RTX 4090 (~131 vs ~82 tok/s). Choose Gemma 3 12B IT for higher llmrun Score and ahead on the benchmarks; choose Qwen2.5 7B Instruct for fits an 8 GB GPU and 1.6× faster on RTX 4090.
Which needs less VRAM, Gemma 3 12B IT or Qwen2.5 7B Instruct?
At Q4_K_M, Gemma 3 12B IT requires 8.0 GB while Qwen2.5 7B Instruct needs 5.0 GB, making Qwen2.5 7B Instruct the easier model to run on your local setup.
Which is faster on RTX 4090?
Estimated decode speed on RTX 4090 is about 82 tok/s for Gemma 3 12B IT (Q4_K_M) and 131 tok/s for Qwen2.5 7B Instruct (Q4_K_M), so Qwen2.5 7B Instruct is faster. Estimates, ±20%.
Can I run Gemma 3 12B IT or Qwen2.5 7B Instruct on a 16 GB GPU?
Gemma 3 12B IT fits at Q4_K_M; Qwen2.5 7B Instruct fits at Q4_K_M.
Which has a longer context window, Gemma 3 12B IT or Qwen2.5 7B Instruct?
Gemma 3 12B IT supports 32,768 tokens and Qwen2.5 7B Instruct supports 32,768 tokens.