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Mac mini M4 16GB vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB

For running models locally, priced in the US. At 8k context the first runs 13 models fully in memory, the second 10.

In short

The Mac mini M4 16GB has more memory for models: 16 GB against 10 GB. At 8k context the Mac mini M4 16GB runs 13 of the models we track fully in memory and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB 10; only the Mac mini M4 16GB holds Ministral 3 14B. On the models both run fully in memory, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB is about 7.2× as fast as the Mac mini M4 16GB (estimated, median across models). In the US the Mac mini M4 16GB costs $749 at eBay and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB $469 at Amazon: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB is $280 cheaper.

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

Mac mini M4 16GB

$749

eBay

Add to build
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB

$469

Amazon

Add to build

Specifications

SpecMac mini M4 16GBNVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB
ChipApple M4 (10-core GPU)–
Memory bus128-bit320-bit
Memory bandwidth120 GB/s760 GB/s
FP16 compute3.76 TFLOPS59.5 TFLOPS
SoftwareMetalCUDA
Unified memory16 GB–
GPU can use by default10.7 GB–
GPU can use, tuned10.666666666666666 GB–
Operating systemmacos–
ProcessorM4 10-core–
Storage256 GB–
GPU–GeForce RTX 3080 10GB
Memory–10 GB GDDR6X
Board power–320 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 16GBNVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB
Gemma 4 12B8tok/sQ6_K53tok/sQ5_K_M
Qwen 3.5 9B8tok/sQ8_061tok/sQ6_K
Ministral 3 14B8tok/sQ4_K_Moffload
Qwen3 14B8tok/sQ4_K_Moffload
DeepSeek R1 0528 Qwen3 8B8tok/sQ8_059tok/sQ6_K
Qwen3 8B8tok/sQ8_059tok/sQ6_K
Phi-4 14B7tok/sQ4_K_Moffload
Qwen 3.5 4B16tok/sQ8_098tok/sQ8_0
Ministral 3 8B8tok/sQ8_058tok/sQ6_K
Granite 4.2 8B7tok/sQ8_053tok/sQ6_K
Gemma 4 E4B9tok/sQ8_056tok/sQ8_0
LFM2.5 8B-A1B32tok/sQ8_0228tok/sUD-Q6_K
Llama 3.1 8B10tok/sQ6_K61tok/sQ6_K
Qwen 3.8 27Bwon't runoffload
Qwen 3.6 27Bwon't runoffload
Gemma 4 31Bwon't runoffload
Qwen 3.5 27Bwon't runoffload
Qwen 3.6 35B-A3Bwon't runoffload
Gemma 4 26B-A4Bwon't runoffload
Devstral Small 2 24Bwon't runoffload
GLM 4.7 Flashwon't runoffload
Qwen 3.5 35B-A3Bwon't runoffload
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3Bwon't runoffload
Kimi Linear 48B-A3Bwon't runoffload
Qwen3 Coder 30B-A3Bwon't runoffload
gpt-oss 20Bwon't runoffload
Qwen3 32Bwon't runoffload
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32Bwon't runoffload
Gemma 3 27Bwon'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
Qwen 3.5 122B-A10Bwon't runwon't run
Nemotron 3 Super 120B-A12Bwon't runwon't run
Qwen3 Coder Nextwon't runwon't run
gpt-oss 120Bwon't runwon't run
Mistral Small 4 119Bwon't runwon't run
GLM 4.5 Airwon't runwon't run
Qwen3 Next 80B-A3Bwon't runwon't run
Llama 3.3 70Bwon't runwon't run

Questions

Which is better for local AI, the Mac mini M4 16GB or the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB?
Choose the Mac mini M4 16GB to run bigger models. Choose the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB for speed. Choose the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB to spend less.
Which can run bigger models, the Mac mini M4 16GB or the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB?
At 8k context the Mac mini M4 16GB runs 13 of the models we track fully in memory and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB 10; only the Mac mini M4 16GB holds Ministral 3 14B.
Which is faster for local AI, the Mac mini M4 16GB or the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB?
On the models both run fully in memory, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB is about 7.2× as fast as the Mac mini M4 16GB (estimated, median across models).
What is the price difference between the Mac mini M4 16GB and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB?
In the US the Mac mini M4 16GB costs $749 at eBay and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB $469 at Amazon: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB is $280 cheaper.

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