llmrun

Gemma 3 1B IT vs Qwen3.8 27B

Qwen3.8 27B leads llmrun Score 121.5 to 44.6; both fit 24 GB at Q4_K_M; Gemma 3 1B IT is 26× faster on RTX 4090 (~993 vs ~38 tok/s).

Model A · Google

Gemma 3 1B IT
44.6llmrun Score

1000M · 32K context · Gemma Terms · Mar 2025

Chat

Model B · Alibaba

Qwen3.8 27B
121.5llmrun Score

27.8B · 256K context · Apache 2.0 · Aug 2026

VisionFunctions

Which should you choose?

Choose Gemma 3 1B IT if you want…

  • Fits an 8 GB GPU

    Q4_K_M · 2.1 GB; Qwen3.8 27B needs 8.8 GB at its smallest quant

  • 26× faster on RTX 4090

    ~993 vs ~38 tok/s

  • Lighter on memory

    0.7 vs 17.4 GB at Q4_K_M

  • Also does chat

    Qwen3.8 27B doesn't list it

Choose Qwen3.8 27B if you want…

  • Higher llmrun Score

    121.5 vs 44.6

  • Longer context window

    256K vs 32K tokens

  • Also does vision, function-calling

    Gemma 3 1B IT doesn't list it

  • More permissive license

    Apache 2.0 vs Gemma Terms

  • Newer release

    Aug 2026 vs Mar 2025

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 1B IT

Q4_K_M · ~268 tok/s

2.1 GB · up to 32Kfits

Qwen3.8 27B

Doesn't fit

smallest quant needs 8.8 GB

12 GB

RTX 3060 12GB · 12 GB tier

Gemma 3 1B IT

Q4_K_M · ~355 tok/s

2.1 GB · up to 32Kmore headroom

Qwen3.8 27B

IQ3_XXS · ~20 tok/s

12 GB · up to 16K

16 GB

RTX 5060 Ti 16GB · 16 GB tier

Gemma 3 1B IT

Q4_K_M · ~441 tok/s

2.1 GB · up to 32Kmore headroom

Qwen3.8 27B

Q3_K_L · ~19 tok/s

15.4 GB · up to 16K

24 GBreference

RTX 4090 · 24 GB tier

Gemma 3 1B IT

Q4_K_M · ~993 tok/s

2.1 GB · up to 32Kfaster

Qwen3.8 27B

Q4_K_M · ~38 tok/s

17.9 GB · up to 64K

32 GB

RTX 5090 · 32 GB tier

Gemma 3 1B IT

Q4_K_M · ~1765 tok/s

2.1 GB · up to 32Kfaster

Qwen3.8 27B

Q4_K_M · ~67 tok/s

17.9 GB · up to 256K

48 GB

RTX A6000 · 48 GB tier

Gemma 3 1B IT

Q4_K_M · ~756 tok/s

2.1 GB · up to 32Kfaster

Qwen3.8 27B

Q4_K_M · ~29 tok/s

17.9 GB · up to 256K

Mac 32 GB

Mac Mini M4 · Macs

Gemma 3 1B IT

Q4_K_M · ~127 tok/s

2.1 GB · up to 32Kfaster

Qwen3.8 27B

Q4_K_M · ~5 tok/s

17.9 GB · up to 128K

Mac 64 GB

Mac Studio M4 Max · Macs

Gemma 3 1B IT

Q4_K_M · ~579 tok/s

2.1 GB · up to 32Kfaster

Qwen3.8 27B

Q4_K_M · ~22 tok/s

17.9 GB · up to 256K

Mac 128 GB

Mac Studio M4 Max · Macs

Gemma 3 1B IT

Q4_K_M · ~579 tok/s

2.1 GB · up to 32Kfaster

Qwen3.8 27B

Q4_K_M · ~22 tok/s

17.9 GB · up to 256K

Reference GPU: RTX 4090. Tinted cell = the better pick on that machine (fits, more headroom, or at least 10% faster).

llmrun Score

with its 90% range · bars share one scale

Overall

Gemma 3 1B IT

44.630–59

Qwen3.8 27B

121.5119–124

Coding

Gemma 3 1B IT

no data

Qwen3.8 27B

112.1105–119

Math

Gemma 3 1B IT

no data

Qwen3.8 27B

117.5111–125

Science

Gemma 3 1B IT

no data

Qwen3.8 27B

112.093–131

Reasoning

Gemma 3 1B IT

no data

Qwen3.8 27B

124.1121–127

Gemma 3 1B IT · #92 of 92 open models · #34 of 34 that fit 24 GB

Qwen3.8 27B · #10 of 92 open models · #1 of 34 that fit 24 GB

Benchmarks

The two models share no benchmark board.

18 more boards (other shared and single-model boards)

Only Gemma 3 1B IT (4)

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 1B IT

0.5 GB~0.4 GB file

32K 3.5 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

12.6 GB10.8 GB file

32K 13.9 GB · 128K 19.3 GB

Q3_K_S

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.5 GB~0.4 GB file

32K 3.6 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

12.9 GB12.7 GB file

32K 14.2 GB · 128K 19.6 GB

Q3_K_M

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.5 GB0.7 GB file

32K 3.6 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

14.3 GB13.4 GB file

32K 15.6 GB · 128K 21.0 GB

Q4_0

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.6 GB0.7 GB file

32K 3.6 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

14.6 GB~13.9 GB file

32K 16.0 GB · 128K 21.4 GB

Q4_K_M

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.7 GB0.8 GB file

32K 3.7 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

17.4 GB16.5 GB file

32K 18.8 GB · 128K 24.1 GB

Q5_K_M

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.8 GB0.9 GB file

32K 3.9 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

20.5 GB19.8 GB file

32K 21.9 GB · 128K 27.3 GB

Q6_K

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.9 GB1.0 GB file

32K 4.0 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

23.7 GB22.0 GB file

32K 25.0 GB · 128K 30.4 GB

Q8_0

Gemma 3 1B IT

1.1 GB1.1 GB file

32K 4.2 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

28.5 GB29.0 GB file

32K 29.9 GB · 128K 35.2 GB

20 more quants

IQ2_XXS

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.3 GB~0.3 GB file

32K 3.4 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

8.4 GB7.3 GB file

32K 9.7 GB · 128K 15.1 GB

IQ2_XS

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.3 GB~0.3 GB file

32K 3.4 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

9.1 GB9.1 GB file

32K 10.4 GB · 128K 15.8 GB

IQ2_S

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.3 GB~0.3 GB file

32K 3.4 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

9.4 GB8.4 GB file

32K 10.8 GB · 128K 16.1 GB

IQ2_M

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.4 GB~0.3 GB file

32K 3.4 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

10.1 GB10.5 GB file

32K 11.5 GB · 128K 16.8 GB

IQ3_XXS

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.4 GB~0.4 GB file

32K 3.5 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

11.5 GB10.9 GB file

32K 12.9 GB · 128K 18.2 GB

Q2_K_S

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.4 GB~0.4 GB file

32K 3.5 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

not listed

IQ3_XS

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.5 GB~0.4 GB file

32K 3.5 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

12.2 GB10.4 GB file

32K 13.6 GB · 128K 18.9 GB

IQ3_S

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.5 GB~0.4 GB file

32K 3.5 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

12.6 GB12.0 GB file

32K 13.9 GB · 128K 19.3 GB

IQ3_M

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.5 GB~0.5 GB file

32K 3.6 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

13.3 GB14.9 GB file

32K 14.6 GB · 128K 20.0 GB

Q3_K_L

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.6 GB0.8 GB file

32K 3.6 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

15.0 GB14.1 GB file

32K 16.3 GB · 128K 21.7 GB

IQ4_XS

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.6 GB0.7 GB file

32K 3.7 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

15.7 GB14.3 GB file

32K 17.0 GB · 128K 22.4 GB

IQ4_NL

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.6 GB0.7 GB file

32K 3.7 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

16.4 GB17.4 GB file

32K 17.7 GB · 128K 23.1 GB

Q4_1

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.6 GB0.8 GB file

32K 3.7 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

16.4 GB17.5 GB file

32K 17.7 GB · 128K 23.1 GB

Q4_K_S

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.6 GB0.8 GB file

32K 3.7 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

16.4 GB15.4 GB file

32K 17.7 GB · 128K 23.1 GB

Q4_K_L

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.7 GB0.8 GB file

32K 3.7 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

17.8 GB18.8 GB file

32K 19.1 GB · 128K 24.5 GB

Q5_0

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.7 GB0.8 GB file

32K 3.8 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

not listed

Q5_1

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.8 GB0.9 GB file

32K 3.8 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

not listed

Q5_K_S

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.8 GB0.8 GB file

32K 3.8 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

19.9 GB18.7 GB file

32K 21.2 GB · 128K 26.6 GB

Q5_K_L

Gemma 3 1B IT

0.8 GB0.9 GB file

32K 3.9 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

20.9 GB21.5 GB file

32K 22.2 GB · 128K 27.6 GB

BF16

Gemma 3 1B IT

2.2 GB2.0 GB file

32K 5.3 GB · 128K —

Qwen3.8 27B

56.3 GB54.7 GB file

32K 57.7 GB · 128K 63.0 GB

How to run each

Specifications

Specifications of Gemma 3 1B IT and Qwen3.8 27B
SpecGemma 3 1B ITQwen3.8 27B
PublisherGoogleAlibaba
Parameters1000M27.8B
Architecture—Qwen3_5ForConditionalGeneration
Context32K tokens256K tokens
ModalitiesChatVision, Function-calling
LicenseGemma TermsApache 2.0
ReleasedMar 2025Aug 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better, Gemma 3 1B IT or Qwen3.8 27B?

Qwen3.8 27B leads llmrun Score 121.5 to 44.6; both fit 24 GB at Q4_K_M; Gemma 3 1B IT is 26× faster on RTX 4090 (~993 vs ~38 tok/s). Choose Gemma 3 1B IT for fits an 8 GB GPU and 26× faster on RTX 4090; choose Qwen3.8 27B for higher llmrun Score and longer context window.

Which needs less VRAM, Gemma 3 1B IT or Qwen3.8 27B?

At Q4_K_M, Gemma 3 1B IT requires 0.7 GB while Qwen3.8 27B needs 17.4 GB, making Gemma 3 1B IT the easier model to run on your local setup.

Which is faster on RTX 4090?

Estimated decode speed on RTX 4090 is about 993 tok/s for Gemma 3 1B IT (Q4_K_M) and 38 tok/s for Qwen3.8 27B (Q4_K_M), so Gemma 3 1B IT is faster. Estimates, ±20%.

Can I run Gemma 3 1B IT or Qwen3.8 27B on a 16 GB GPU?

Gemma 3 1B IT fits at Q4_K_M; Qwen3.8 27B fits at Q3_K_L.

Which has a longer context window, Gemma 3 1B IT or Qwen3.8 27B?

Gemma 3 1B IT supports 32,768 tokens and Qwen3.8 27B supports 262,144 tokens.

Gemma 3 1B IT vs Qwen3.8 27B — VRAM & GPU Comparison | llmrun