CanMyPCRunAILocal AI compatibility
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What AI models can you run with 12GB of VRAM?

With 12GB of VRAM, 167 of 228 models from the Ollama library run entirely on the GPU at 4K context. 34 more run by offloading part of the model to system RAM, which works but is slower.

167

run well

34

with trade-offs

228

models tested

Check my actual PC

Best AI models for 12GB of VRAM

Heaviest first — each of these fits entirely in 12GB at 4K context, counting weights, KV cache, compute buffers and runtime overhead.

Models that fit in 12GB of VRAM
ModelBuildMemory neededVerdict
everythinglm13B~10.9 GBGood fit
nexusraven13B~10.9 GBGood fit
open-orca-platypus213B~10.9 GBGood fit
codeup13B~10.9 GBGood fit
wizard-vicuna13B~10.9 GBGood fit
wizardlm-uncensored13B~10.9 GBGood fit
llama3.2-vision11B~10.8 GBGood fit
mistral-nemo12B~10.3 GBGood fit
gemma4e2b-it-q4_K_M~9.9 GBGood fit
falcon211B~9.5 GBGood fit
deepseek-ocr3B~9.3 GBGood fit
nous-hermes210.7B~9.0 GBGood fit
solar10.7B~9.0 GBGood fit
codegeex49B~8.7 GBExcellent fit
glm49B~8.7 GBExcellent fit
ornith-1.59B~7.9 GBExcellent fit
ornith9B~7.9 GBExcellent fit
gemma3ne2b-it-q4_K_M~7.9 GBExcellent fit
lfm2.58B~7.3 GBExcellent fit
granite4.1-guardian8B~7.2 GBExcellent fit
rnj-18B~7.2 GBExcellent fit
command-r7b-arabic7B~7.1 GBExcellent fit
command-r7b7B~7.1 GBExcellent fit
aya-expanse8B~7.1 GBExcellent fit
llama-pro8B~7.1 GBExcellent fit

Graphics cards with 12GB of VRAM

GeForce RTX 5070GeForce RTX 4070 TiGeForce RTX 4070GeForce RTX 3060 12GBRadeon RX 6700 XT

How this was calculated

Every model is evaluated at 4K context against 12GB of VRAM, minus a reserve for the display and operating system, and assuming 32GB of system RAM with working GPU drivers. Your own machine may differ, which is what the PC scan measures directly.

12GB VRAM and local AI — frequently asked questions

Is 12GB of VRAM enough to run AI models locally?
Yes — 167 of the 228 models tested run entirely on the GPU with 12GB at 4K context, and 34 more run with part of the model offloaded to system RAM. The heaviest that fits is everythinglm:13b-16k-q4_K_M, needing about 10.9 GB.
What is the best AI model for 12GB VRAM?
For maximum capability, everythinglm (everythinglm:13b-16k-q4_K_M) is the heaviest build that still fits entirely in 12GB. Smaller models leave headroom for a longer context window, which often matters more than raw parameter count.
Which graphics cards have 12GB of VRAM?
Cards with 12GB include GeForce RTX 5070, GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, GeForce RTX 4070, GeForce RTX 3060 12GB, Radeon RX 6700 XT.

Other VRAM amounts

4GB6GB8GB10GB16GB24GB32GB