Running Gemma 4 e4b (9.6GB RAM req) on RPi 5 8GB! Stable 2.8GHz Overclock & Custom Cooling
r/LocalLLaMA
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Open Source AI
Finally got the Gemma 4 (E4B) model running on my Raspberry Pi 5 (8GB). Since the model requires about 9.6GB of RAM, I had to get creative with memory management. The Setup: Raspberry Pi OS. Lexar SSD (Essential for fast Swap). Memory Management: Combined ZRAM and RAM Swap to bridge the gap. It's a bit slow, but it works stably! Overclock: Pushed to 2.8GHz (arm_freq=2800) to help with the heavy lifting. Thermal Success: Using a custom DIY "stacked fan" cooling rig. Even under 100% load during long generations, temps stay solid between 50°C and 55°C.