NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB — 12GB

Budget king for 7B models. 12GB is the sweet spot for entry-level local AI.

Specifications

BrandNVIDIA
ModelRTX 3060 12GB
VRAM12GB
ArchitectureAmpere
CUDA / Stream Processors3,584
Memory Bandwidth360 GB/s
TDP170W
FP32 TFLOPS13

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For AI / LLM Use

Entry-level for local AI. Handles 7B-8B models well. Slower generation — usable but not snappy.

What Models Can It Run?

  • 14B Q4_K_M, 7B full precision
  • 7B Q6_K, 14B Q3_K (tight)
  • 7B Q4_K_M only

Estimated Performance

Generation: ~27 tokens/sec

Prefill: ~232 tokens/sec

Recommended Quantisations

  • Q4_K_M for 14B (tight fit)
  • Q6_K or Q8 for 7B models

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Ampere architecture — good software support
  • Consumer card — easy to install, display output

Cons

Community Verdict

  • r/LocalLLaMA

    Best entry point for local AI. 12GB handles 7B-8B models comfortably at a fraction of 3090 prices.

    Source