Best graphics cards for local AI under 500 €
Ranked by what each one runs fully in memory at 32k context, with prices in Germany today.
In short
The top pick in Germany right now is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB, 309 € at Amazon: it runs Gemma 4 12B fully in memory at 32k context at about 21 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. 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 3060 12GB | 12 GB | 309 €Amazon | Gemma 4 12BQ6_K21 tok/s | 10 | offload | – |
| 2 | Intel Arc B580 | 12 GB | 349 €eBay | Gemma 4 12BQ6_K21 tok/s | 10 | offload | – |
| 3 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB | 10 GB | 500 €Amazon | Gemma 4 12BQ4_K_M59 tok/s | 5 | offload | – |
Questions
- What is the best graphics card for running AI models locally under 500 €?
- The top pick in Germany right now is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB, 309 € at Amazon: it runs Gemma 4 12B fully in memory at 32k context at about 21 tok/s (estimated).