Gemma 2 9B vs Granite 3 8B
Size, context window, license, approximate VRAM and the minimum local hardware each model needs — computed from our catalog and compatibility engine, not benchmarks.
| Gemma 2 9B | Granite 3 8B | |
|---|---|---|
| Parameters | 9B | 8B |
| Context window | 8K tokens | 128K tokens |
| License | Gemma Terms of Use | Apache-2.0 |
| ~VRAM @ 4-bit (Q4_K_M) | ~7 GB | ~6 GB |
| ~VRAM @ 8-bit (Q8_0) | ~10 GB | ~9 GB |
| Minimum device | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB |
| Recommended device | Supermicro 8x H100 SuperServer | Supermicro 8x H100 SuperServer |
| Deployment | Local / on-prem | Local / on-prem |
| Capabilities | Multilingual | Tools, Multilingual, Long context |
Highlighted cells mark the lighter / longer / more permissive side per row, for local deployment. Informational rows have no winner.
Bottom line
Granite 3 8B (~8B) is lighter than Gemma 2 9B (~9B), so it runs on more modest hardware, while Gemma 2 9B trades a larger footprint for more capacity. At 4-bit, Granite 3 8B needs about 6GB versus ~7GB, a meaningful gap when choosing a GPU. Granite 3 8B advertises the longer context window (128K vs 8K), which helps with long documents. Granite 3 8B's Apache-2.0 license is the more permissive of the two for commercial use. Both can start on a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB-class machine. Figures are approximate working-set estimates, not benchmarks — verify the exact release before committing hardware.
Pick Gemma 2 9B if you have the memory to spare and want the larger model.
Pick Granite 3 8B if you want the lighter footprint and cheaper hardware, or you need the longer 128K context window, or you want the more permissive Apache-2.0 license.
8-12GB GPUs at 4-bit. Strong quality for its size, with a shorter native context window.
8GB+ GPUs at 4-bit. An openly-licensed enterprise model in the popular 8B class.
Run the winner on hardware you control
Pick the model that fits your footprint, then turn the right machine into a private AI Business OS — no per-seat data leaving your premises.