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Gemma 4 E4B

Gemma 4 E4B loads in 4 GB at Q4_K_M, comfortably from 12 GB of memory — Macs included, starting at the Mac Mini M6 16GB. Below is the memory math we ran for it, the cheapest card that fits, and the fastest machine we track.

PARAMETERS
4.5B
FORMAT
Q4_K_M
MIN MEMORY
6 GB
BEST FOR
On-device, Mobile, Chat

How much memory does Gemma 4 E4B need?

Gemma 4 E4B is a 4.5B dense model built for on-device, mobile, chat. The weights alone take 4 GB at Q4_K_M; add context and the OS, and it belongs in the 12 GB memory class. Every number below comes from the ModelFit engine — speeds are estimates, labeled est., because we do not benchmark hardware ourselves.

Weights (Q4_K_M)
4 GB
+ KV cache (16k)
~2.0 GB
Total at 16k
~6.0 GB
Comfortable from
12 GB

KV = fp16 estimate (q8_0 cache roughly halves it). "Comfortable" = weights + KV within the engine's tiered budget (~70-85% of memory).

Which machines run Gemma 4 E4B?

Cheapest GPU
~121 tok/s est. — ~$550 used
Fastest
~237 tok/s est.
Runs on a Mac?
~50 tok/s est.

Verdicts come from the same engine that powers our fit checker — memory capacity first, bandwidth for speed. How we compute these numbers · Hugging Face model card

Go deeper

Every Gemma 4 E4B quant by real GGUF file sizeAlso tracked: Gemma 4 E4B (Q8) (Q8_0, 7.5 GB, min 16 GB)

More Gemma models

Frequently asked questions

How much memory does Gemma 4 E4B need?

4 GB for the Q4_K_M weights, plus ~2.0 GB of KV-cache at 16k context — about 6.0 GB total. Comfortable from 12 GB of VRAM or unified memory.

Does Gemma 4 E4B run on a Mac?

Yes — from the Mac Mini M6 16GB (~50 tok/s est.). Unified memory means the RAM budget is the only limit.

What is the cheapest GPU for Gemma 4 E4B?

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is the cheapest tracked card that runs Gemma 4 E4B comfortably — ~121 tok/s est. at ~$550 used.

Which Gemma 4 E4B quant should I pick?

The tracked Q4_K_M build at 4 GB is the one we recommend for most machines. Every published build, ranked by real GGUF file size rather than a formula, is on the quant comparison page linked below.

Cite this page

ModelFit: Gemma 4 E4B — specs, memory math and hardware verdicts.
https://modelfit.io/models/gemma4-e4b/ (dataset updated 2026-09-03, CC BY 4.0).