readygpu

Mac mini M4 32GB vs AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX

For running models locally, priced in the UK. At 64k context the first runs 17 models fully in memory, the second 22.

In short

The Mac mini M4 32GB has more memory for models: 32 GB against 24 GB. At 64k context the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX runs 22 of the models we track fully in memory and the Mac mini M4 32GB 17; only the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX holds Qwen 3.6 35B-A3B. On the models both run fully in memory, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is about 6.8× as fast as the Mac mini M4 32GB (estimated, median across models). In the UK the Mac mini M4 32GB costs £1,200 at eBay (used) and the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX £999 at Amazon: the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is £201 cheaper.

Updated . Speeds are estimates; how they are worked out.

Mac mini M4 32GB

£1,200

eBay, used (asking)

Add to build
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX

£999

Amazon

Add to build

Specifications

SpecMac mini M4 32GBAMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
ChipApple M4 (10-core GPU)–
Memory bus128-bit384-bit
Memory bandwidth120 GB/s960 GB/s
FP16 compute3.76 TFLOPS123 TFLOPS
SoftwareMetalROCm
Unified memory32 GB–
GPU can use by default21.3 GB–
GPU can use, tuned24 GB–
Operating systemmacos–
ProcessorM4 10-core–
Storage512 GB–
GPU–Radeon RX 7900 XTX
Memory–24 GB GDDR6
Board power–355 W
PCIe generation–Gen 4
PCIe lanes–x16

What each runs

Estimated decode speed with the most precise quant that fits each one est.

ModelMac mini M4 32GBAMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
Qwen 3.8 27B4tok/sUD-Q4_K_M25tok/sUD-Q4_K_M
Qwen 3.6 27B4tok/sQ4_K_M25tok/sQ4_K_M
Qwen 3.5 27B4tok/sQ4_K_M25tok/sQ4_K_M
Qwen 3.6 35B-A3Bwon't run97tok/sUD-Q4_K_M
Gemma 4 26B-A4B11tok/sUD-Q4_K_M66tok/sUD-Q5_K_M
GLM 4.7 Flashwon't run48tok/sQ4_K_M
Qwen 3.5 35B-A3Bwon't run98tok/sQ4_K_M
gpt-oss 20B12tok/sMXFP478tok/sMXFP4
Gemma 4 12B6tok/sQ8_038tok/sQ8_0
Qwen 3.5 9B7tok/sQ8_045tok/sQ8_0
Gemma 3 27Bwon't run24tok/sQ4_K_M
Ministral 3 14B4tok/sQ5_K_M24tok/sQ6_K
Qwen3 14B4tok/sQ5_K_M23tok/sQ6_K
DeepSeek R1 0528 Qwen3 8B4tok/sQ8_029tok/sQ8_0
Qwen3 8B4tok/sQ8_029tok/sQ8_0
Phi-4 14Bwon't run24tok/sQ4_K_M
Qwen 3.5 4B12tok/sQ8_079tok/sQ8_0
Ministral 3 8B4tok/sQ8_029tok/sQ8_0
Granite 4.2 8B4tok/sQ8_026tok/sQ8_0
Gemma 4 E4B8tok/sQ8_052tok/sQ8_0
LFM2.5 8B-A1B11tok/sQ8_074tok/sQ8_0
Llama 3.1 8B5tok/sQ6_K35tok/sQ6_K
Qwen 3.5 122B-A10Bwon't runoffload
Gemma 4 31Bwon't runoffload
Qwen3 Coder Nextwon't runoffload
Mistral Small 4 119Bwon't runoffload
Devstral Small 2 24Bwon't runoffload
Qwen3 Next 80B-A3Bwon't runoffload
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3Bwon't runoffload
Kimi Linear 48B-A3Bwon't runoffload
Qwen3 Coder 30B-A3Bwon't runoffload
Qwen3 32Bwon't runoffload
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32Bwon't runoffload
Mistral Small 3.2 24Bwon't runoffload
DeepSeek V4 Flashwon't runwon't run
GLM 5.3 Flashwon't runwon't run
Qwen 3.8 Flash Nextwon't runwon't run
MiniMax M2.7won't runwon't run
Nemotron 3 Super 120B-A12Bwon't runwon't run
gpt-oss 120Bwon't runwon't run
GLM 4.5 Airwon't runwon't run
Llama 3.3 70Bwon't runwon't run

Questions

Which is better for local AI, the Mac mini M4 32GB or the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX?
Choose the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX to run bigger models. Choose the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX for speed. Choose the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX to spend less.
Which can run bigger models, the Mac mini M4 32GB or the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX?
At 64k context the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX runs 22 of the models we track fully in memory and the Mac mini M4 32GB 17; only the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX holds Qwen 3.6 35B-A3B.
Which is faster for local AI, the Mac mini M4 32GB or the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX?
On the models both run fully in memory, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is about 6.8× as fast as the Mac mini M4 32GB (estimated, median across models).
What is the price difference between the Mac mini M4 32GB and the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX?
In the UK the Mac mini M4 32GB costs £1,200 at eBay (used) and the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX £999 at Amazon: the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is £201 cheaper.

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