Best Local AI Models for NVIDIA RTX 3060 12 GB (12 GB VRAM)
The NVIDIA RTX 3060 12 GB has 12 GB of VRAM. Here are the popular AI models it can run locally (4,096-token context, ~16.0 GB system RAM assumed), ranked by popularity.
See also: Best GPU for running local LLMs.
The NVIDIA RTX 3060 12 GB is built on NVIDIA's Ampere architecture featuring GDDR6 192-bit delivering 360 GB/s of raw memory bandwidth. The undisputed budget champion of local AI: 12 GB VRAM on a sub-$300 GPU enables native 14B inference.
Equipped with 12 GB of dedicated VRAM, the NVIDIA RTX 3060 12 GB can run 33 popular open-source models completely in GPU memory without offloading. This includes full-speed execution for weights like Qwen3-Coder-30B-A3B-Instruct-GGUF, LFM2.5-2.6B-GGUF, LFM2.5-8B-A1B-GGUF. For a comprehensive breakdown of compatible model weights, see our guide to the best LLMs for 12 GB VRAM.
With a memory bandwidth of 360 GB/s, this card can generate tokens at an estimated peak rate of ~60.0 tokens/second on an 8B parameter model (Q4_K_M). Its rated power draw is 170W TDP, so ensure your system's power supply and case ventilation are adequate for sustained local inferencing.
33 fit fully in VRAM · 3 run with offload
| Model | Size | Quant. | Quality | Memory | Speed~ | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unsloth/Qwen3-Coder-30B-A3B-Instruct-GGUF | 30.53B | Q2_K_L | Low |
11.73 GB
|
37.9 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| LiquidAI/LFM2.5-2.6B-GGUF | 2.7B | BF16 | Excellent |
5.89 GB
|
79.5 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| LiquidAI/LFM2.5-8B-A1B-GGUF | 8.47B | Q8_0 | Excellent |
9.24 GB
|
47.7 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| LiquidAI/LFM2.5-230M-GGUF | 0.23B | BF16 | Excellent |
1.28 GB
|
929.9 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| unsloth/gpt-oss-20b-GGUF | 20.91B | Q4_K_XL | Good |
11.95 GB
|
36.2 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| Qwen/Qwen3-8B-GGUF | 8.19B | Q8_0 | Excellent |
9.47 GB
|
49.3 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| unsloth/Ornith-1.0-9B-GGUF | — | Q8_0 | Excellent |
9.8 GB
|
45.1 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| bartowski/DeepSeek-Coder-V2-Lite-Instruct-GGUF | 15.71B | Q5_K_S | Very good |
11.85 GB
|
38.5 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| unsloth/Qwen3-4B-GGUF | 4.02B | BF16 | Excellent |
8.86 GB
|
53.3 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| unsloth/Qwen-AgentWorld-35B-A3B-GGUF | 34.66B | IQ2_M | Low |
11.65 GB
|
37.1 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| bartowski/Kwaipilot_KAT-Coder-V2.5-Dev-GGUF | 34.66B | IQ2_S | Very low |
11.13 GB
|
39.0 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| Qwen/Qwen3-0.6B-GGUF | 0.75B | Q8_0 | Excellent |
1.83 GB
|
671.7 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| bartowski/Meta-Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct-GGUF | 8.03B | Q8_0 | Excellent |
9.23 GB
|
50.3 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| LiquidAI/LFM2.5-1.2B-Instruct-GGUF | 1.17B | BF16 | Excellent |
3.03 GB
|
183.3 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| Qwen/Qwen2.5-Coder-7B-Instruct-GGUF | 7.62B | Q8_0 | Excellent |
8.56 GB
|
53.0 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| janhq/Jan-v3.5-4B-gguf | 4.41B | GGUF | Excellent |
9.59 GB
|
48.6 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| MaziyarPanahi/Qwen3-14B-GGUF | 14.77B | Q5_K_M | Very good |
11.22 GB
|
40.8 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| MaziyarPanahi/Qwen3-1.7B-GGUF | 2.03B | GGUF | Excellent |
5.03 GB
|
105.5 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| MaziyarPanahi/Qwen3-30B-A3B-GGUF | 30.53B | Q2_K | Low |
11.66 GB
|
38.1 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| Qwen/Qwen2.5-1.5B-Instruct-GGUF | 1.54B | GGUF | Excellent |
4.23 GB
|
120.6 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| MaziyarPanahi/Yi-Coder-9B-Chat-GGUF | 8.83B | Q5_K_M | Very good |
7.0 GB
|
68.6 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| bartowski/Qwen2.5-32B-Instruct-GGUF | 32.76B | IQ2_S | Very low |
11.47 GB
|
41.3 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| MaziyarPanahi/Qwen3-4B-Instruct-2507-GGUF | 4.02B | GGUF | Excellent |
8.86 GB
|
53.3 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| Qwen/Qwen2.5-0.5B-Instruct-GGUF | 0.49B | GGUF | Excellent |
2.03 GB
|
339.1 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| Qwen/Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct-GGUF | 3.09B | GGUF | Excellent |
7.27 GB
|
63.2 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| bartowski/Qwen2.5-7B-Instruct-GGUF | 7.62B | Q8_0 | Excellent |
8.56 GB
|
53.0 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| unsloth/Llama-3.2-3B-Instruct-GGUF | 3.21B | F16 | Excellent |
7.23 GB
|
66.8 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| MaziyarPanahi/Meta-Llama-3-8B-Instruct-GGUF | 8.03B | Q8_0 | Excellent |
9.23 GB
|
50.3 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| MaziyarPanahi/Yi-Coder-1.5B-Chat-GGUF | 1.48B | GGUF | Excellent |
4.3 GB
|
145.4 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| MaziyarPanahi/Phi-3.5-mini-instruct-GGUF | 3.82B | Q8_0 | Excellent |
6.08 GB
|
105.8 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| MaziyarPanahi/Mistral-7B-Instruct-v0.3-GGUF | 7.25B | Q8_0 | Excellent |
8.47 GB
|
55.8 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| MaziyarPanahi/gemma-3-4b-it-GGUF | 4.3B | GGUF | Excellent |
8.38 GB
|
55.3 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| MaziyarPanahi/Llama-3.2-1B-Instruct-GGUF | 1.24B | GGUF | Excellent |
3.3 GB
|
173.2 t/s | Fits in VRAM |
| MaziyarPanahi/Qwen3-32B-GGUF | 32.76B | Q6_K | Excellent |
26.84 GB
|
2.0 t/s | Offload |
| ggml-org/NVIDIA-Nemotron-3.5-Lightning-30B-A3B-GGUF | 31.58B | Q4_0 | Good |
18.42 GB
|
2.8 t/s | Offload |
| unsloth/Qwen3-Coder-Next-GGUF | 79.67B | IQ3_XXS | Low |
27.7 GB
|
1.9 t/s | Offload |
"Fits in VRAM" = fast, fully on GPU. "Offload" = part on system RAM, slower. Speed is a rough estimate.
Frequently asked questions
What is the VRAM and memory bandwidth of the NVIDIA RTX 3060 12 GB?
The NVIDIA RTX 3060 12 GB features 12 GB of VRAM and a memory bandwidth of 360 GB/s (GDDR6 192-bit). In local language model inference, VRAM determines which model sizes fit on the card, while memory bandwidth dictates how many tokens per second the GPU generates.
What is the best local AI model to run on a NVIDIA RTX 3060 12 GB?
The best overall model for the NVIDIA RTX 3060 12 GB is unsloth/Qwen3-Coder-30B-A3B-Instruct-GGUF using the recommended Q2_K_L quantization (11.73 GB total memory). With 12 GB of VRAM, this GPU typically runs a 14B model at Q5, comfortably at full GPU speed. Check our guide to the best LLMs for 12 GB VRAM for details.
Can the NVIDIA RTX 3060 12 GB run 14B models locally?
Yes. The NVIDIA RTX 3060 12 GB's 12 GB VRAM is the exact sweet spot for running 14B models (such as Qwen 2.5 Coder 14B) in Q4_K_M quantization (~9.2 GB footprint) with full 4,096-token context entirely in VRAM.
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