What AI models can the RTX 3060 12GB run?
The GeForce RTX 3060 12GB has 12 GB of GDDR6 at 360 GB/s. With an 8K-token context it fits 11 of 21 models we track at Q4, 6 at Q8 and 2 at FP16; the largest text model it runs at Q4 is DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B. The cheapest price we found today is $340 (used, GPU Sold, 2026-11-10), or you can rent one from $0.056/hr on Vast.ai.
Prices updated Nov 12, 2026 · CUDA - best support in llama.cpp, vLLM, ComfyUIBuy vs rent: at $340 to buy and $0.056/hr to rent, buying only pays off after about 6,071 GPU-hours (ignoring electricity and resale value). Run your own numbers →
Every model we track on the RTX 3060 12GB
| Model | Q4 | Q8 | FP16 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mistral 7B Instruct v0.37.2B | ✓ ~39 tok/s6.1 GB | ✓ ~24 tok/s9.2 GB | ✗needs 16 GB |
| Llama 3.1 8B Instruct8.0B | ✓ ~36 tok/s6.5 GB | ✓ ~22 tok/s9.9 GB | ✗needs 17 GB |
| DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B8.0B | ✓ ~36 tok/s6.5 GB | ✓ ~22 tok/s9.9 GB | ✗needs 17 GB |
| Qwen3 8B8.2B | ✓ ~34 tok/s6.7 GB | ✓ ~21 tok/s10.2 GB | ✗needs 17 GB |
| Gemma 3 12B IT12.2B | ✓ ~26 tok/s8.7 GB | ✗needs 14 GB | ✗needs 25 GB |
| Qwen3 14B14.8B | ✓ ~20 tok/s10.6 GB | ✗needs 17 GB | ✗needs 30 GB |
| DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B14.8B | ✓ ~20 tok/s10.8 GB | ✗needs 17 GB | ✗needs 30 GB |
| Mistral Small 24B Instruct (2501)23.6B | ✗needs 16 GB | ✗needs 26 GB | ✗needs 46 GB |
| Gemma 3 27B IT27.4B | ✗needs 18 GB | ✗needs 29 GB | ✗needs 53 GB |
| Qwen3 30B-A3B (MoE)30.5B | ✗needs 19 GB | ✗needs 32 GB | ✗needs 59 GB |
| Qwen3 32B32.8B | ✗needs 21 GB | ✗needs 35 GB | ✗needs 64 GB |
| Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct32.8B | ✗needs 21 GB | ✗needs 35 GB | ✗needs 64 GB |
| DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B32.8B | ✗needs 21 GB | ✗needs 35 GB | ✗needs 64 GB |
| Mixtral 8x7B Instruct (MoE)46.7B | ✗needs 28 GB | ✗needs 48 GB | ✗needs 89 GB |
| Llama 3.3 70B Instruct70.6B | ✗needs 43 GB | ✗needs 73 GB | ✗needs 135 GB |
| Qwen3 235B-A22B (MoE)235.1B | ✗needs 135 GB | ✗needs 235 GB | ✗needs 440 GB |
| FLUX.1 [dev]11.9B · image | ✓ fits9.9 GB | ✗needs 15 GB | ✗needs 25 GB |
| FLUX.1 [schnell]11.9B · image | ✓ fits9.9 GB | ✗needs 15 GB | ✗needs 25 GB |
| Stable Diffusion XL 1.02.6B · image | ✓ fits5.2 GB | ✓ fits6.3 GB | ✓ fits8.6 GB |
| Wan 2.1 T2V 14B (video)14.3B · video | ✗needs 15 GB | ✗needs 21 GB | ✗needs 33 GB |
| Wan 2.1 T2V 1.3B (video)1.4B · video | ✓ fits4.6 GB | ✓ fits5.2 GB | ✓ fits6.4 GB |
✓ = fits in 12 GB with an 8K-token context (text models) and ~1 GB runtime overhead; tok/s is a rough single-user estimate (0.6 × bandwidth ÷ bytes per token), not a benchmark. Leave ~0.5–1 GB free if this card also drives your display. Method.
RTX 3060 12GB head-to-head
Similar-VRAM cards, cheapest first
FAQ
How much VRAM does the RTX 3060 12GB have?
12 GB of GDDR6 with 360 GB/s of memory bandwidth on a 192-bit bus.
What is the biggest AI model the RTX 3060 12GB can run?
Of the models we track, DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B (15B) is the largest text model that fits at 4-bit (Q4) with an 8K context. Bigger models need a second GPU or CPU offload.
Can the RTX 3060 12GB run Llama 3.3 70B Instruct?
Not on a single card: it needs about 43 GB at Q4 and the RTX 3060 12GB has 12 GB.
Can the RTX 3060 12GB run Qwen3 32B?
Not on a single card: it needs about 21 GB at Q4 and the RTX 3060 12GB has 12 GB.
Can the RTX 3060 12GB run FLUX.1 [dev]?
Yes, at Q4 (about 10 GB needed at Q4).
How much does the RTX 3060 12GB cost right now?
About $340 (used, GPU Sold, observed 2026-11-10). Prices change daily; check the retailer.
Is it cheaper to rent the RTX 3060 12GB?
For occasional use, yes. The cheapest on-demand rental we found was $0.06/hour (Vast.ai), so $340 buys about 6,071 hours of rental before electricity and resale value are considered.
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