RTX 3060 12GB vs RTX 4060 Ti 16GB for local AI (2026)
VRAM, memory bandwidth, today's prices (new, used and rental) and which local AI models each card can run.
Prices updated Nov 12, 2026The short version
- VRAM: the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB has 4 GB more, so it fits bigger models: at Q4 it runs Mistral Small 24B Instruct (2501), Wan 2.1 T2V 14B (video), which the RTX 3060 12GB can't.
- Speed: the RTX 3060 12GB has about 25% more memory bandwidth, so expect roughly 25% faster token generation on models that fit both (estimate; prompt processing and image generation depend on compute, not shown).
- Price: the RTX 3060 12GB is $320 cheaper today ($340 used vs $660 used); per GB of VRAM that's $28 vs $41.
- Renting: RTX 3060 12GB from $0.056/hr, RTX 4060 Ti 16GB from $0.096/hr. Try both by the hour before you buy.
Specs and prices
| RTX 3060 12GB | RTX 4060 Ti 16GB | |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 12 GB GDDR6 | 16 GB GDDR6 |
| Memory bandwidth | 360 GB/s | 288 GB/s |
| Memory bus | 192-bit | 128-bit |
| Cheapest today | $340 usedGPU Sold · 2026-11-10 | $660 usedGPU Sold · 2026-11-10 |
| Lowest new | — | — |
| Used (median eBay ask) | $340GPU Sold | $660GPU Sold |
| $ per GB VRAM | $28 | $41 |
| Rent from | $0.056/hrVast.ai | $0.096/hrVast.ai |
| Launch MSRP | $329 | $499 |
| Launched | 2021-02 | 2023-07 |
| Software | CUDA - best support in llama.cpp, vLLM, ComfyUI | CUDA - best support in llama.cpp, vLLM, ComfyUI |
| Check priceused · eBayor new on Amazon | Check priceused · eBayor new on Amazon |
Which models fit
| Model | RTX 3060 12GB Q4 | RTX 4060 Ti 16GB Q4 | RTX 3060 12GB Q8 | RTX 4060 Ti 16GB Q8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Llama 3.1 8B Instruct | ✓ ~36 tok/s6.5 GB | ✓ ~29 tok/s6.5 GB | ✓ ~22 tok/s9.9 GB | ✓ ~17 tok/s9.9 GB |
| Llama 3.3 70B Instruct | ✗needs 43 GB | ✗needs 43 GB | ✗needs 73 GB | ✗needs 73 GB |
| Qwen3 8B | ✓ ~34 tok/s6.7 GB | ✓ ~27 tok/s6.7 GB | ✓ ~21 tok/s10.2 GB | ✓ ~17 tok/s10.2 GB |
| Qwen3 14B | ✓ ~20 tok/s10.6 GB | ✓ ~16 tok/s10.6 GB | ✗needs 17 GB | ✗needs 17 GB |
| Qwen3 32B | ✗needs 21 GB | ✗needs 21 GB | ✗needs 35 GB | ✗needs 35 GB |
| Qwen3 30B-A3B (MoE) | ✗needs 19 GB | ✗needs 19 GB | ✗needs 32 GB | ✗needs 32 GB |
| Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct | ✗needs 21 GB | ✗needs 21 GB | ✗needs 35 GB | ✗needs 35 GB |
| Qwen3 235B-A22B (MoE) | ✗needs 135 GB | ✗needs 135 GB | ✗needs 235 GB | ✗needs 235 GB |
| Gemma 3 12B IT | ✓ ~26 tok/s8.7 GB | ✓ ~20 tok/s8.7 GB | ✗needs 14 GB | ✓ ~12 tok/s13.9 GB |
| Gemma 3 27B IT | ✗needs 18 GB | ✗needs 18 GB | ✗needs 29 GB | ✗needs 29 GB |
| Mistral 7B Instruct v0.3 | ✓ ~39 tok/s6.1 GB | ✓ ~31 tok/s6.1 GB | ✓ ~24 tok/s9.2 GB | ✓ ~19 tok/s9.2 GB |
| Mistral Small 24B Instruct (2501) | ✗needs 16 GB | ✓ ~11 tok/s15.6 GB | ✗needs 26 GB | ✗needs 26 GB |
| Mixtral 8x7B Instruct (MoE) | ✗needs 28 GB | ✗needs 28 GB | ✗needs 48 GB | ✗needs 48 GB |
| DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B | ✓ ~36 tok/s6.5 GB | ✓ ~29 tok/s6.5 GB | ✓ ~22 tok/s9.9 GB | ✓ ~17 tok/s9.9 GB |
| DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B | ✓ ~20 tok/s10.8 GB | ✓ ~16 tok/s10.8 GB | ✗needs 17 GB | ✗needs 17 GB |
| DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B | ✗needs 21 GB | ✗needs 21 GB | ✗needs 35 GB | ✗needs 35 GB |
| FLUX.1 [dev] | ✓ fits9.9 GB | ✓ fits9.9 GB | ✗needs 15 GB | ✓ fits15.0 GB |
| FLUX.1 [schnell] | ✓ fits9.9 GB | ✓ fits9.9 GB | ✗needs 15 GB | ✓ fits15.0 GB |
| Stable Diffusion XL 1.0 | ✓ fits5.2 GB | ✓ fits5.2 GB | ✓ fits6.3 GB | ✓ fits6.3 GB |
| Wan 2.1 T2V 14B (video) | ✗needs 15 GB | ✓ fits14.9 GB | ✗needs 21 GB | ✗needs 21 GB |
| Wan 2.1 T2V 1.3B (video) | ✓ fits4.6 GB | ✓ fits4.6 GB | ✓ fits5.2 GB | ✓ fits5.2 GB |
8K-token context. tok/s = rough bandwidth-based estimate. Method.
FAQ
Is the RTX 3060 12GB or RTX 4060 Ti 16GB better for local AI?
VRAM: the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB has 4 GB more, so it fits bigger models: at Q4 it runs Mistral Small 24B Instruct (2501), Wan 2.1 T2V 14B (video), which the RTX 3060 12GB can't. Speed: the RTX 3060 12GB has about 25% more memory bandwidth, so expect roughly 25% faster token generation on models that fit both (estimate; prompt processing and image generation depend on compute, not shown). Price: the RTX 3060 12GB is $320 cheaper today ($340 used vs $660 used); per GB of VRAM that's $28 vs $41. Renting: RTX 3060 12GB from $0.056/hr, RTX 4060 Ti 16GB from $0.096/hr. Try both by the hour before you buy.
Which has more VRAM, RTX 3060 12GB or RTX 4060 Ti 16GB?
RTX 3060 12GB: 12 GB; RTX 4060 Ti 16GB: 16 GB.
Is the RTX 3060 12GB faster than the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB for LLMs?
For token generation, likely yes by roughly 25% (memory bandwidth 360 vs 288 GB/s). This is an estimate, not a benchmark.
How much do the RTX 3060 12GB and RTX 4060 Ti 16GB cost today?
RTX 3060 12GB: about $340 (used, GPU Sold). RTX 4060 Ti 16GB: about $660 (used, GPU Sold). Observed Nov 12, 2026.
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