Best GPU for Local AI General assistant
Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated October 7, 2026
Ranked for a general-purpose local assistant: Everyday questions, drafting, explanation and light analysis — the local replacement for a hosted chat assistant.
Best overall: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
24 GB VRAM at 960 GB/s. It runs 117 of the models that qualify for this workload; the strongest is Gemma 4 27B ⭐ at an estimated 38.3 tokens/sec.
The picks
| GPU | VRAM | MSRP | Models that fit | Best model it runs | Est. speed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall | AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX | 24 GB | $999 | 117 | Gemma 4 27B ⭐ | ~38.3 tok/s |
| Best value | Intel Arc B570 | 10 GB | $219 | 81 | Qwen 3 8B | ~46 tok/s |
| Budget pick | Intel Arc B570 | 10 GB | $219 | 81 | Qwen 3 8B | ~46 tok/s |
| Most memory | NVIDIA DGX Spark | 128 GB | $4,699 | 131 | GPT-OSS 120B | ~53.3 tok/s |
Full ranking for a general-purpose local assistant
| GPU | Score | VRAM | MSRP | Models fit | Est. speed | Tok/s per watt | Cost per model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX | 75.9 | 24 GB | $999 | 117 | ~38.3 | 0.11 | $9 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 | 75.5 | 24 GB | $1,599 | 117 | ~40.1 | 0.09 | $14 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti | 74.9 | 24 GB | $1,999 | 117 | ~40.1 | 0.09 | $17 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 | 74.6 | 32 GB | $1,999 | 117 | ~66.6 | 0.12 | $17 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 | 73.3 | 24 GB | $1,499 | 117 | ~37.4 | 0.11 | $13 |
| AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT | 70.2 | 20 GB | $899 | 106 | ~32.4 | 0.1 | $8 |
| NVIDIA DGX Spark | 66.7 | 128 GB | $4,699 | 131 | ~53.3 | 0.36 | $36 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti | 64.8 | 16 GB | $749 | 92 | ~40.9 | 0.14 | $8 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 | 62.9 | 16 GB | $999 | 92 | ~43.5 | 0.12 | $11 |
| Intel Arc Pro B70 | 62.6 | 32 GB | $949 | 117 | ~25.1 | 0.11 | $8 |
| AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 | 62 | 32 GB | $1,299 | 117 | ~26.3 | 0.09 | $11 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Super | 56.8 | 16 GB | $999 | 92 | ~34.2 | 0.11 | $11 |
How these numbers are calculated
- GPUs are scored on four axes: capability (45%), speed (30%), value (20%) and efficiency (5%), each normalised across the whole ranking.
- Capability means the intrinsic strength of the best model the card can hold — not how many models fit, and not how fast it streams a small one.
- Speed is capped at 40 tok/s: past that, more throughput does not change how the model feels to use.
- Apple Silicon is excluded from this ranking. Those entries price a whole computer and rate a chip's package power, so on price-per-capability and performance-per-watt they would beat every add-in card by construction. Apple hardware is covered on the macOS platform page instead.
- Balanced capability weighting with reasoning slightly ahead, since a general assistant is judged mostly on whether its answers hold up. Latency carries the highest weight of any workload (0.8): conversational use is the one case where waiting is immediately obvious. Context requirements are modest — most chat turns are short.
FAQ
What is the best GPU for a general-purpose local assistant?
The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX — 24 GB of VRAM runs 117 qualifying models, the strongest being Gemma 4 (Withdrawn Listings).
What is the cheapest GPU that works for a general-purpose local assistant?
The Intel Arc B570 at $219, which runs 81 qualifying models.
How much VRAM do I need for a general-purpose local assistant?
8 GB is the entry point at which a model for this workload will run at all. More memory buys a stronger model, not just a faster one.
What These GPUs Run
- Best models for the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
- Best models for the Intel Arc B570
- Best models for the NVIDIA DGX Spark
GPU Reviews
- AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX review
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 review
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti review
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 review