Best GPU for Local AI Reasoning
Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated October 7, 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 79 of the models that qualify for this workload; the strongest is Qwen 3 14B at an estimated 33 tokens/sec.
The picks
| GPU | VRAM | MSRP | Models that fit | Best model it runs | Est. speed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall | Intel Arc B580 | 12 GB | $249 | 79 | Qwen 3 14B | ~33 tok/s |
| Best value | Intel Arc B570 | 10 GB | $219 | 78 | Qwen 3 14B | ~27.8 tok/s |
| Budget pick | Intel Arc B570 | 10 GB | $219 | 78 | Qwen 3 14B | ~27.8 tok/s |
| Most memory | NVIDIA DGX Spark | 128 GB | $4,699 | 129 | GLM-5.1 72B | ~4.5 tok/s |
Full ranking for reasoning and multi-step problem solving
| GPU | Score | VRAM | MSRP | Models fit | Est. speed | Tok/s per watt | Cost per model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Arc B580 | 78 | 12 GB | $249 | 79 | ~33 | 0.17 | $3 |
| AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX | 76.4 | 24 GB | $999 | 115 | ~38.3 | 0.11 | $9 |
| Intel Arc B570 | 76.3 | 10 GB | $219 | 78 | ~27.8 | 0.19 | $3 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 | 75.8 | 24 GB | $1,599 | 115 | ~40.1 | 0.09 | $14 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti | 75.3 | 24 GB | $1,999 | 115 | ~40.1 | 0.09 | $17 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 | 74.9 | 32 GB | $1,999 | 115 | ~66.6 | 0.12 | $17 |
| AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT | 74.5 | 16 GB | $499 | 89 | ~43.9 | 0.17 | $6 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 | 74.1 | 24 GB | $1,499 | 115 | ~37.4 | 0.11 | $13 |
| AMD Radeon RX 9070 | 74.1 | 16 GB | $549 | 89 | ~44.9 | 0.2 | $6 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 | 73.8 | 12 GB | $549 | 79 | ~46.9 | 0.19 | $7 |
| AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT | 72.6 | 16 GB | $599 | 89 | ~44.9 | 0.15 | $7 |
| AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT | 71.9 | 20 GB | $899 | 104 | ~32.4 | 0.1 | $9 |
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.
- Reasoning score dominates at 75%. The quality floor is the strictest of any workload (65) because a weak reasoning model is not merely slower — it is confidently wrong. Latency is deliberately down-weighted to 0.3: reasoning models emit long thinking traces, so tokens/sec matters less than whether the conclusion is right.
FAQ
What is the best GPU for reasoning and multi-step problem solving?
The Intel Arc B580 — 12 GB of VRAM runs 79 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 78 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
- 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 B580 review
- AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX review
- Intel Arc B570 review
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 review