12 GB VRAM · ~10.8 GB for a model
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 12 GB
- Qwen3.5-4B~131 tok/s
- Qwen2.5-1.5B-Instruct~259 tok/s
- Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct~165 tok/s
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All models for this device →Best hardware for running AI at home
The one spec that decides which AI models you can run at home is memory: VRAM on a graphics card, or unified memory on a Mac. Each card shows the most downloaded open models that fit and their estimated speed.
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Graphics cards
For a desktop PC. VRAM decides which models fit; more of it runs bigger models.
24 GB VRAM · ~21.6 GB for a model
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 24 GB
- Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct~123 tok/s
- Qwen3-8B~117 tok/s
- Qwen2.5-7B-Instruct~135 tok/s
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All models for this device →Macs
Apple silicon shares one pool of unified memory between the chip and the GPU, so a model can use most of it.
24 GB unified memory · ~16.8 GB for a model
M5, 10-core GPU
- Qwen3.5-4B~46 tok/s
- Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct~61 tok/s
- Llama-3.2-3B-Instruct~51 tok/s
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All models for this device →32 GB unified memory · ~22.4 GB for a model
M5, 10-core GPU
- Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct~26 tok/s
- Qwen3-8B~24 tok/s
- Qwen3.5-9B~26 tok/s
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All models for this device →Powerful laptops
Gaming laptops with NVIDIA GPUs and MacBook Pros that run local models on the go.
8 GB VRAM · ~7.2 GB for a model
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU 8 GB
- Qwen2.5-1.5B-Instruct~164 tok/s
- Llama-3.2-1B-Instruct~185 tok/s
- gemma-3-1b-it~204 tok/s
Speeds estimated from the desktop RTX 4060; expect somewhat less on a laptop.
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All models for this device →
24 GB unified memory · ~16.8 GB for a model
M4 Pro, 20-core GPU
- Qwen3-4B~10 GB
- Qwen3.5-4B~10 GB
- Ornith-1.5-9B-GGUF~6 GB
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All models for this device →Compare at a glance
| Device | Type | Memory | Usable | Budget | Shop |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 4070 12 GB | Graphics cards | 12 GB VRAM | ~10.8 GB | Mid | Check price |
| RTX 3090 24 GB | Graphics cards | 24 GB VRAM | ~21.6 GB | Mid | Check price |
| MacBook Air with 24 GB | Macs | 24 GB unified memory | ~16.8 GB | Mid | Check price |
| MacBook Air with 32 GB | Macs | 32 GB unified memory | ~22.4 GB | Mid | Check price |
| RTX 4070 Laptop 8 GB | Powerful laptops | 8 GB VRAM | ~7.2 GB | Mid | Check price |
| MacBook Pro M4 Pro with 24 GB | Powerful laptops | 24 GB unified memory | ~16.8 GB | Mid | Check price |
How we pick
Usable memory is about 70% of a Mac's unified memory and 90% of a graphics card's VRAM. Models are the most downloaded open language models on Hugging Face that fit. Speed data: ModelFit (CC BY 4.0), modelled decode estimates for a 4-bit build at a 4K context, not measured benchmarks and not an endorsement by ModelFit.
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