Gemma 3 27B it vs Ministral 3 8B

Gemma 3 27B it and Ministral 3 8B both score 5 on the intelligence index. The cheapest machine here that runs Gemma 3 27B it is the Framework Desktop, 32GB, at $1,269. Ministral 3 8B runs on the Mac mini M6, 16GB at $899, $370 less. On the Framework Desktop, 32GB, the cheapest machine here that runs both, Ministral 3 8B is about 2× quicker: 20 tok/s against 9.8, both estimated from memory bandwidth. At 500k tokens a day the Framework Desktop, 32GB pays for itself in 53 years running Ministral 3 8B, against 155 years running Gemma 3 27B it.

Run Gemma 3 27B it on the Framework Desktop, 32GB · or Ministral 3 8B on the Mac mini M6, 16GB

Jump to: Side by side on the Framework Desktop, 32GB · How much use it takes to pay for the machine · Machines that run one and not the other · The assumptions behind both columns

Side by side on the Framework Desktop, 32GB

The table above gives each model the cheapest machine that runs it, and those are two different machines, so nothing in it is a like-for-like race. The Strix Halo Framework Desktop, 32GB is the cheapest machine here that runs both, so this is the pair doing the same work on the same hardware.

Run Gemma 3 27B it on the Framework Desktop, 32GB · or Ministral 3 8B

How much use it takes to pay for the machine

Everything above is at 500k tokens a day. Pay-back moves with how much you actually run, so here are both models at the five levels of use the calculator names, on the Framework Desktop, 32GB. Ministral 3 8B pays for it sooner at every level of use, so which of them to run does not turn on how hard you work it.

The Framework Desktop, 32GB generates at most 13.5M tokens a day on Gemma 3 27B it, so that column's figure at 20M tokens a day is for the most it can do, not for the whole of what was asked.

Run Gemma 3 27B it at 20M tokens a day · or Ministral 3 8B

Machines that run one and not the other

Ministral 3 8B needs 9.8 GB of memory at 32k of context and Gemma 3 27B it needs 20 GB. That puts Ministral 3 8B on 7 of the 37 machines priced here that Gemma 3 27B it does not, starting at $899.

1 more, on the Ministral 3 8B page.

Gemma 3 27B it is also head to head with Qwen3 8B above it on the leaderboard and Gemma 4 31B it, the current Gemma nearest it in size. Three more models need much the same memory: Qwen3.6 27B, Devstral Small 2 24B and Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct. Ministral 3 8B is also head to head with Gemma 3 12B it below it on the leaderboard. One more model needs much the same memory: Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.

The assumptions behind both columns

Both columns use the same usage: 500k tokens a day at 15:1 input to output, 32k of context, $0.17 per kWh, and today's API prices held flat. Speeds marked estimated are worked out from memory bandwidth rather than measured, and pay-back scales with them. Where nobody rents an open model by the token, its API prices are the nearest hosted model's, named beside them. Machines are the 37 here with a published price that are still sold. Change any of it in the calculator.

More head to head: every machine that runs Gemma 3 27B it · every machine that runs Ministral 3 8B · every other match-up · both against the frontier · the quickest pay-back at each level of use