Best Local LLMs for the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated September 6, 2026
Best all-round pick: Gemma 4 27B ⭐
The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT has 20 GB of VRAM, of which about 20 GB is available to a model. The largest model it can hold is Nemotron-Cascade 2 30B-A3B (32B, 19.9 GB at Q4_K_M).
Best models overall on the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
| Model | Score | Memory at Q4_K_M | Context | Licence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gemma 4 27B ⭐ | 97.4 | 17.1 GB | 125K | Gemma License (commercial OK) |
| Mistral Small 3.1 24B | 95.9 | 15 GB | 125K | Apache 2.0 |
| Qwen3.8 27B | 95.9 | 17.6 GB | 256K | Apache-2.0 |
| Gemma 4 31B | 94.8 | 19.5 GB | 250K | Apache-2.0 |
| Qwen 3 30B-A3B (MoE) | 94 | 19.2 GB | 125K | Apache 2.0 |
| Gemma 3 27B Instruct | 93.8 | 17.1 GB | 128K | Gemma |
Best model by what you are doing
| Workload | Recommended on this GPU |
|---|---|
| Coding | Gemma 4 31B (97.4) Gemma 4 27B ⭐ (96.8) Qwen 3.6 27B (96.8) |
| General assistant | Gemma 4 27B ⭐ (97.4) Mistral Small 3.1 24B (95.9) Qwen3.8 27B (95.9) |
| Reasoning | Gemma 4 27B ⭐ (100) Gemma 4 31B (97.8) Qwen 3.6 27B (96.5) |
| RAG | Gemma 4 31B (97.5) Qwen 3.6 27B (96.7) Qwen3.8 27B (95.9) |
| Agents | Ternary Bonsai 27B (94) Nemotron-Cascade 2 30B-A3B (92.8) Devstral Small 2 24B (92.6) |
| Vision | Gemma 4 31B (97.8) Gemma 4 27B ⭐ (96.8) Qwen3.8 27B (95.7) |
What the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT cannot run
These models are strong picks generally but exceed the 20 GB this card makes available.
| Model | Needs at Q4_K_M | Short by |
|---|---|---|
| Qwen 3.7 35B-A3B | 22 GB | ~2 GB |
| Qwen 3.6 35B-A3B | 22 GB | ~2 GB |
| Qwen 3.5 35B-A3B | 22 GB | ~2 GB |
| Command R (35B) | 22 GB | ~2 GB |
How these numbers are calculated
- Usable memory is 20 GB of the card's 20 GB.
- Fit is measured at Q4_K_M — quantized weights plus KV cache plus 0.8 GB runtime overhead.
- Within this card's budget, models are ranked on how well they use the memory available, not on being small — so the recommendation scales with the hardware.
FAQ
What is the best LLM for the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT?
Gemma 4 27B ⭐ is the strongest all-round pick that fits its 20 GB.
What is the largest model the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT can run?
Nemotron-Cascade 2 30B-A3B — 32B parameters, needing 19.9 GB at Q4_K_M.
How much of the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT's memory can a model actually use?
About 20 GB of its 20 GB, before the desktop and runtime overhead are accounted for.
Compatibility Checks for the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
- Can I run DeepSeek R1 on the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT?
- Can I run Llama 3.3 on the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT?
- Can I run Nemotron 70B on the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT?
- Can I run Command R Family on the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT?
- Can I run Phi-4 Family on the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT?
Similar GPUs
- Best models for the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
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By Workload
- Best local LLMs for coding
- Best local LLMs for general assistant
- Best local LLMs for reasoning
- Best local LLMs for rag