GPU comparison
NVIDIA RTX 3060 (12GB) vs NVIDIA RTX 5090 (32GB) for local LLMs
How the two stack up for running open-source LLMs locally — memory, bandwidth, price, and how many of the 18 tracked models each one can run.
| NVIDIA RTX 3060 (12GB) | NVIDIA RTX 5090 (32GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Memory | 12.0 GB | 32.0 GB |
| Bandwidth | 360 GB/s | 1792 GB/s |
| Price (approx) | $289 | $2,499 |
| LLMs it runs | 8 of 18 | 15 of 18 |
| Best model it runs | Gemma 4 12B · 31–46 tok/s | Gemma 4 31B · 55–83 tok/s |
The NVIDIA RTX 5090 (32GB) runs 7 more of the tracked models (15 vs 8), thanks to its 32.0 GB of memory. The NVIDIA RTX 5090 (32GB) has more memory bandwidth (1792 GB/s), so it generates tokens faster at the same model and quant.