What GPU do I need to run AI locally?

For running AI models locally, a GPU with at least 8 GB of VRAM is recommended. The NVIDIA RTX 3060 (12 GB VRAM) is the best entry-level option. It runs Llama 3.1 8B at 30 tokens/second in Q4 quantization.

How much VRAM do I need to run Llama 3?

Llama 3.1 8B needs 5 GB of VRAM in Q4 quantization. Any gaming GPU with 8 GB+ runs it comfortably. For Llama 3.3 70B, you need at least 42 GB of VRAM or Apple Silicon with 48 GB unified memory.

Can I run AI without a GPU?

Yes. Small models like Phi-3-mini run on CPU only at 10-15 tokens per second on a modern i7. You need at least 16 GB of RAM. Performance is slower than GPU but functional for testing and lightweight use.

Pick a model.
We'll tell you what hardware you need.

Name: RunAIatHome
Author: RunAIatHome

Exact VRAM requirements, real benchmarks, and compatible GPUs — no guesswork.

Stop guessing. Find the exact GPU that determines which AI models you can run">VRAM and GPU you need in under 5 minutes.

Active Model Selection

Llama 3.1 8B Phi-4 Stable Diffusion Qwen2.5 Coder

Start with a model See real setups

Model Profile

Phi-4

Microsoft · 14B parameters

OPTIMIZED

VRAM Requirement

8.4 GB

4GB8GB12GB16GB 24GB+

Recommended Local Nodes

Inference FP16

Latency 24ms

Why this is hard

Running AI locally is harder than it should be

Specs don't mean anything

TFLOPS, CUDA cores, tensor ops… none of that tells you which models you can actually run. Real performance depends on memory bandwidth and quantization efficiency.

Wrong hardware decisions

Buying the wrong GPU can limit you for years. VRAM is the ultimate bottleneck for LLMs — yet most consumer cards are underspecified for local inference.

No clear answers

Most guides are vague or outdated. By the time a tutorial ships, the model architectures and runtime optimizations have already evolved past it.

Eliminate the guesswork.

Our hardware diagnostic engine maps your machine’s exact capabilities against every model in the registry. No synthetic benchmarks — real inference on real hardware.

Check your hardware in 2 minutes

How it works