Best GPU for Local AI Reasoning

Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated July 21, 2026

Ranked for reasoning and multi-step problem solving: Problems that need explicit multi-step thinking: planning, analysis, and chains of inference rather than recall.

Best overall: Intel Arc B580

12 GB VRAM at 456 GB/s. It runs 51 of the models that qualify for this workload; the strongest is Qwen 3 14B at an estimated 33 tokens/sec.

The picks

GPUVRAMMSRPModels that fitBest model it runsEst. speed
Best overallIntel Arc B58012 GB$24951Qwen 3 14B~33 tok/s
Best valueIntel Arc B57010 GB$21950Qwen 3 14B~27.8 tok/s
Budget pickIntel Arc B57010 GB$21950Qwen 3 14B~27.8 tok/s
Most memoryNVIDIA DGX Spark128 GB$4,69988GLM-5.1 72B~4.5 tok/s

Full ranking for reasoning and multi-step problem solving

GPUScoreVRAMMSRPModels fitEst. speedTok/s per wattCost per model
Intel Arc B58077.812 GB$24951~330.17$5
Intel Arc B57076.210 GB$21950~27.80.19$4
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX76.124 GB$99975~38.30.11$13
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 409075.524 GB$1,59975~40.10.09$21
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 509074.532 GB$1,99975~66.60.12$27
AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT74.216 GB$49958~43.90.17$9
AMD Radeon RX 907073.916 GB$54958~44.90.2$9
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 309073.824 GB$1,49975~37.40.11$20
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 507073.612 GB$54951~46.90.19$11
AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT73.316 GB$59958~49.70.23$10
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT71.620 GB$89964~32.40.1$14
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (10GB)71.110 GB$69950~52.40.16$14

How these numbers are calculated

FAQ

What is the best GPU for reasoning and multi-step problem solving?

The Intel Arc B580 — 12 GB of VRAM runs 51 qualifying models, the strongest being Qwen 3.

What is the cheapest GPU that works for reasoning and multi-step problem solving?

The Intel Arc B570 at $219, which runs 50 qualifying models.

How much VRAM do I need for reasoning and multi-step problem solving?

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

GPU Reviews

Best GPU for Other Workloads

Next Steps

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