RTX 3060 12 GB vs Arc B580 for local LLMs
VRAM decides which models fit entirely on the GPU; bandwidth decides how fast they generate. Here is how the two cards compare.
Which one for local LLMs?
Both cards have 12 GB of VRAM, so the same models fit on both.
The Arc B580 has the higher memory bandwidth (456 GB/s vs 360 GB/s), so it should generate faster when a model fits on both.
RTX 3060 12 GB · Specifications
- VRAM
- 12 GB GDDR6
- Bandwidth
- 360 GB/s
- Board power
- 170 W
- Architecture
- Ampere
- Largest model fully in VRAM
- Qwen3 14B
Official specData updated 38 days agoSource: NVIDIA specifications
Arc B580 · Specifications
- VRAM
- 12 GB GDDR6
- Bandwidth
- 456 GB/s
- Board power
- 190 W
- Architecture
- Xe2 (Battlemage)
- Largest model fully in VRAM
- Qwen3 14B
Official specData updated 38 days agoSource: Intel specifications
| Model | RTX 3060 12 GB | Arc B580 · 12 GB |
|---|---|---|
| Qwen3 32B | Possible but slow1.8–3.5 tok/s | Possible but slow1.7–3.5 tok/s |
| gpt-oss-20b | CPU/GPU offload41–75 tok/s | CPU/GPU offload39–75 tok/s |
| Qwen3 30B-A3B | CPU/GPU offload16–31 tok/s | CPU/GPU offload17–32 tok/s |
| Llama 3.1 8B Instruct | Excellent46–63 tok/s | Excellent31–49 tok/s |
| Qwen3 14B | Compatible27–36 tok/s | Compatible18–28 tok/s |
| Qwen3 8B | Excellent45–60 tok/s | Excellent30–48 tok/s |
| Llama 3.3 70B Instruct | Not recommended0.6–1.1 tok/s | Not recommended0.6–1.1 tok/s |
| Gemma 3 27B IT | CPU/GPU offload2.5–5 tok/s | CPU/GPU offload2.5–5 tok/s |
For each model, the highest-precision quantization that runs entirely in fast memory; otherwise the one with the best result. Speeds are ranges; "estimate" unless a benchmark exists for this exact hardware.
EstimateData updated 38 days agoSource: Run LLM Locally engine