Best GPU for Local AI Privacy
Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated October 7, 2026
Ranked for privacy-sensitive work: Work with data that must never leave your machine — legal, medical, financial or personal records.
Best overall: Intel Arc Pro B70
32 GB VRAM at 608 GB/s. It runs 117 of the models that qualify for this workload; the strongest is Qwen 3.7 35B-A3B at an estimated 120.8 tokens/sec.
The picks
| GPU | VRAM | MSRP | Models that fit | Best model it runs | Est. speed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall | Intel Arc Pro B70 | 32 GB | $949 | 117 | Qwen 3.7 35B-A3B | ~120.8 tok/s |
| Best value | Intel Arc B580 | 12 GB | $249 | 82 | Qwen 3 14B | ~33 tok/s |
| Budget pick | Intel Arc B570 | 10 GB | $219 | 81 | Qwen 3 14B | ~27.8 tok/s |
| Most memory | NVIDIA DGX Spark | 128 GB | $4,699 | 131 | GPT-OSS 120B | ~53.3 tok/s |
Full ranking for privacy-sensitive work
| GPU | Score | VRAM | MSRP | Models fit | Est. speed | Tok/s per watt | Cost per model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Arc Pro B70 | 80.9 | 32 GB | $949 | 117 | ~120.8 | 0.54 | $8 |
| AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX | 80.1 | 24 GB | $999 | 117 | ~164.8 | 0.46 | $9 |
| AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 | 79.2 | 32 GB | $1,299 | 117 | ~125.4 | 0.42 | $11 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 | 78.5 | 24 GB | $1,499 | 117 | ~162.2 | 0.46 | $13 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 | 78.1 | 24 GB | $1,599 | 117 | ~169.9 | 0.38 | $14 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti | 77.5 | 24 GB | $1,999 | 117 | ~169.9 | 0.38 | $17 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 | 77.4 | 32 GB | $1,999 | 117 | ~233 | 0.41 | $17 |
| NVIDIA DGX Spark | 65.5 | 128 GB | $4,699 | 131 | ~53.3 | 0.36 | $36 |
| Intel Arc B580 | 59 | 12 GB | $249 | 82 | ~33 | 0.17 | $3 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 | 56.6 | 12 GB | $549 | 82 | ~46.9 | 0.19 | $7 |
| Intel Arc B570 | 55.9 | 10 GB | $219 | 81 | ~27.8 | 0.19 | $3 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 | 55.8 | 8 GB | $299 | 71 | ~49.5 | 0.34 | $4 |
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.
- Weighted toward models that are practical to run entirely on hardware you own: a high licence weight (0.8) plus a moderate quality floor, rather than chasing the largest model. A model you cannot actually run locally scores nothing here no matter how capable it is.
FAQ
What is the best GPU for privacy-sensitive work?
The Intel Arc Pro B70 — 32 GB of VRAM runs 117 qualifying models, the strongest being Qwen 3.7.
What is the cheapest GPU that works for privacy-sensitive work?
The Intel Arc B570 at $219, which runs 81 qualifying models.
How much VRAM do I need for privacy-sensitive work?
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 Intel Arc Pro B70
- Best models for the Intel Arc B580
- Best models for the Intel Arc B570
- Best models for the NVIDIA DGX Spark
GPU Reviews
- Intel Arc Pro B70 review
- AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX review
- AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 review
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 review