GPU comparison
MacBook Pro M5 Max (128GB) vs NVIDIA RTX 4090 (24GB) for local LLMs
How the two stack up for running open-source LLMs locally — memory, bandwidth, price, and how many of the 34 tracked models each one can run.
| MacBook Pro M5 Max (128GB) | NVIDIA RTX 4090 (24GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Memory | 128.0 GB | 24.0 GB |
| Bandwidth | 614 GB/s | 1008 GB/s |
| Price (approx) | $5,099 | $2,999 |
| LLMs it runs | 30 of 34 | 25 of 34 |
| Best model it runs | Gemma 4 31B · 14–22 tok/s | Gemma 4 31B · 41–62 tok/s |
The MacBook Pro M5 Max (128GB) runs 5 more of the tracked models (30 vs 25), thanks to its 128.0 GB of memory. The NVIDIA RTX 4090 (24GB) has more memory bandwidth (1008 GB/s), so it generates tokens faster at the same model and quant.