Best used graphics cards for local AI
Ranked by what each one runs fully in memory at 32k context, with prices in Canada today.
In short
The top pick in Canada right now is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, $9,500 at eBay (used, asking price): it runs Qwen 3.8 27B fully in memory at 32k context at about 35 tok/s (estimated). Ranked by the most capable open model each one runs fully in memory at 32k context and a usable speed, then by how many models it runs, then by speed on Qwen 3.8 27B, then by price.
Updated . Speeds are estimates; how they are worked out.
The list
Best first. Used prices are eBay asking prices. Speeds are estimates est.
| # | Card | Memory | Price | Best model it runs at 32k | Models in memory | Qwen 3.8 27B | tok/s per $1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 | 32 GB | $9,500eBay, asking | Qwen 3.8 27BQ8_035 tok/s | 52 | 35 tok/s | 3.7 |
| 2 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti | 24 GB | $3,000eBay, asking | Qwen 3.8 27BQ5_K_M27 tok/s | 48 | 27 tok/s | 9 |
| 3 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 | 24 GB | $4,450eBay, asking | Qwen 3.8 27BQ5_K_M27 tok/s | 48 | 27 tok/s | 6 |
| 4 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 | 24 GB | $2,149eBay, asking | Qwen 3.8 27BQ5_K_M25 tok/s | 48 | 25 tok/s | 11.6 |
| 5 | AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX | 24 GB | $2,500eBay, asking | Qwen 3.8 27BQ5_K_M23 tok/s | 48 | 23 tok/s | 9.1 |
| 6 | AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 | 32 GB | $2,800eBay, asking | Qwen 3.6 35B-A3BQ6_K64 tok/s | 38 | 11 tok/s | 4 |
| 7 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super | 16 GB | $1,499eBay, asking | gpt-oss 20BMXFP477 tok/s | 30 | offload | – |
| 8 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti | 16 GB | $1,600eBay, asking | gpt-oss 20BMXFP4103 tok/s | 30 | offload | – |
| 9 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Super | 16 GB | $1,800eBay, asking | gpt-oss 20BMXFP485 tok/s | 30 | offload | – |
| 10 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 | 16 GB | $2,850eBay, asking | gpt-oss 20BMXFP4110 tok/s | 30 | offload | – |
| 11 | AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT | 16 GB | $950eBay, asking | gpt-oss 20BMXFP464 tok/s | 29 | offload | – |
| 12 | AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT | 16 GB | $1,000eBay, asking | gpt-oss 20BMXFP465 tok/s | 29 | offload | – |
Questions
- What is the best used graphics card for local AI in Canada?
- The top pick in Canada right now is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, $9,500 at eBay (used, asking price): it runs Qwen 3.8 27B fully in memory at 32k context at about 35 tok/s (estimated).
- Which gives the most speed for the money?
- The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090: about 25 tok/s on Qwen 3.8 27B for $2,149 (used, asking price), the most tokens per second per unit of price on this list (estimated).
- What is the cheapest option here that runs Qwen 3.8 27B fully in memory?
- The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, $2,149 at eBay (used, asking price), at about 25 tok/s at 32k context (estimated).