NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB vs NVIDIA RTX 4070
Side-by-side local AI comparison: VRAM, memory bandwidth, model compatibility, and estimated tokens per second across 94 open-weight models.
Quick verdict
NVIDIA RTX 4070 wins for local AI inference. It has 40% more memory bandwidth, runs 30 models natively (vs 30), and exclusively fits 0 models the other cannot.
Analysis
The RTX 3060 12GB and RTX 4070 are two generations apart (Ampere launched February 2021 at $329, Ada Lovelace launched April 2023 at $599) but they share the one number that decides what fits: 12GB. That makes this comparison unusually clean for local LLM shoppers: the same VRAM ceiling at nearly double the price, so what does the extra money actually buy?
Both cards carry 12GB, but on very different memory subsystems: the RTX 3060 12GB's GA106 die runs GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus at 360 GB/s, while the RTX 4070's AD104-250 die runs GDDR6X on the same 192-bit width at 504 GB/s, 40% more bandwidth. Since VRAM capacity, not bandwidth, decides what fits at all, this site's calculator returns the exact same fit/offload line for both cards across every one of the 94 models it tracks: 30 fit natively in each card's 12GB at 8k context, the identical count. What the RTX 4070's extra bandwidth buys is speed on that shared list, not access to a longer one: Llama 3.1 8B at Q8_0 (10.73 GB) decodes at 24.4 tok/s on the RTX 3060 12GB versus 34.2 tok/s on the RTX 4070, a 40% gain that tracks the bandwidth ratio almost exactly, and Qwen3 14B at its recommended Q3_K_M (9.48 GB) goes from 27.7 to 38.7 tok/s, the same roughly 40% gap. Past the 12GB ceiling both cards hit the identical wall: GPT-OSS 20B needs CPU offload on both (25.23 GB, 3.5 tok/s on the RTX 3060 12GB versus 3.6 tok/s on the RTX 4070, nearly identical since offloaded decode is bottlenecked by system RAM bandwidth, not the GPU), and so does Qwen 3.6 27B (32.75 GB, 1.3 tok/s on both).
Bottom line: For local LLM inference specifically, the RTX 4070's roughly 80% higher launch price over the RTX 3060 12GB buys a real, consistent 40% decode speed gain on anything both cards fit, but not one additional model. Anyone whose workload already fits in 12GB and just wants it faster should pay for the RTX 4070; anyone shopping strictly for VRAM capacity, and willing to accept slower tokens per second, gets the identical model compatibility from the much cheaper RTX 3060 12GB, still a common and inexpensive used-market card years after its Ampere-generation launch. Neither card is the right pick for anything that needs more than 12GB; that requires stepping up to a 16GB card like the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER instead.
Specs comparison
| Spec | NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB | NVIDIA RTX 4070 |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 12 GB | 12 GB |
| Memory type | GDDR6 | GDDR6X |
| Bandwidth | 360 GB/s | 504 GB/s(+40%) |
| Architecture | Ampere | Ada Lovelace |
| Backend | CUDA | CUDA |
| Tier | Consumer | Consumer |
| Released | 2021 | 2023 |
| Models (native) | 30 | 30 |
Estimated tokens per second
Computed from memory bandwidth and model active-parameter weight. Assumes model fits natively in VRAM.
| Model | NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB | NVIDIA RTX 4070 | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Llama 3.3 70B Instruct(70B) | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Qwen 3.6 27B(27B) | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Llama 3.1 8B Instruct(8B) | 24.4 t/s(Q8_0) | 34.2 t/s(Q8_0) | -29% |
| Qwen 2.5 7B Instruct(7.6B) | 27.4 t/s(Q8_0) | 38.3 t/s(Q8_0) | -28% |
Delta is NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB relative to NVIDIA RTX 4070.
Only NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB can run(0)
No exclusive models: NVIDIA RTX 4070 can run everything NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB can.
Only NVIDIA RTX 4070 can run(0)
No exclusive models: NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB can run everything NVIDIA RTX 4070 can.
Both run natively(30)
These models fit in VRAM on both GPUs. Bandwidth determines which runs them faster.
- Bonsai 27B26.6 t/svs37.2 t/s
- Gemma 4 26B (MoE)45 t/svs63 t/s
- Qwen3 14B27.7 t/svs38.7 t/s
- Qwen 2.5 14B Instruct27 t/svs37.7 t/s
- Phi-4 14B Instruct23.7 t/svs33.2 t/s
- Mistral Nemo 12B Instruct23.3 t/svs32.7 t/s
- Gemma 3 12B Instruct24 t/svs33.6 t/s
- Gemma 4 12B (Unified)26 t/svs36.4 t/s
- Gemma 2 9B Instruct25 t/svs35 t/s
- Qwen 3.5 9B23.8 t/svs33.3 t/s
- Ornith 1.5 9B23.8 t/svs33.3 t/s
- Llama 3.1 8B Instruct24.4 t/svs34.2 t/s
- DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B24.4 t/svs34.2 t/s
- Qwen3 8B24.1 t/svs33.7 t/s
- Qwen 2.5 7B Instruct27.4 t/svs38.3 t/s
- Mistral 7B Instruct v0.326.6 t/svs37.3 t/s
- +14 more on both
Which should you choose?
- • Faster token generation is the priority
- • You want the newer architecture and longer driver support lifecycle
Frequently asked questions
- Which is better for local AI, the NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB or NVIDIA RTX 4070?
- For local AI inference, the NVIDIA RTX 4070 has the edge. It offers 12 GB VRAM (vs 12 GB) and 504 GB/s bandwidth (vs 360 GB/s), letting it run 30 models natively in VRAM vs 30 for its rival.
- How much VRAM does the NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB have vs the NVIDIA RTX 4070?
- The NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB has 12 GB of GDDR6 at 360 GB/s. The NVIDIA RTX 4070 has 12 GB of GDDR6X at 504 GB/s. Both GPUs have the same VRAM amount; bandwidth determines which generates tokens faster.
- Can the NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB run Llama 3.3 70B?
- The NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB can run Llama 3.3 70B with CPU offload at Q2_K, but at reduced speed.
- Can the NVIDIA RTX 4070 run Llama 3.3 70B?
- The NVIDIA RTX 4070 can run Llama 3.3 70B with CPU offload at Q2_K, but at reduced speed.
- What is the difference between the NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB and NVIDIA RTX 4070 for AI?
- The key difference for AI inference is VRAM and memory bandwidth. The NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB has 12 GB VRAM at 360 GB/s (CUDA backend). The NVIDIA RTX 4070 has 12 GB VRAM at 504 GB/s (CUDA backend). VRAM determines which models fit; bandwidth determines tokens per second. The NVIDIA RTX 3060 12GB runs 30 models natively vs 30 for the NVIDIA RTX 4070.