llmrun

NVIDIA · Ampere · 12 GB VRAM tier

Best AI Models for NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB

Runs 7–9B models well; 14B only just fits.

12 GB GDDR6360 GB/s26 TFLOPS FP16170 WAmpere 2021
Buyabout $329

What LLMs can the RTX 3060 12GB run?

#ModelSpeedllmrun ScoreQuant · VRAM
1
Qwen3.5 9BAlibabaHow to run →
Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB · 36.8 t/s
36.8 tok/sQ4_K_M · 6.6 GB
2
Qwen3.5 4BAlibaba
Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB · 71.8 t/s
71.8 tok/sQ4_K_M · 3.4 GB
3
Gemma 3 12B ITGoogle
Q4_K_M · 10.9 GB · 29.1 t/s
29.1 tok/sQ4_K_M · 10.9 GB
4
Gemma 2 9B ITGoogle
Q4_K_M · 7.3 GB · 38.4 t/s
38.4 tok/sQ4_K_M · 7.3 GB
5
Ling 3.0 TinyInclusion AI
Q4_K_M · 5.5 GB · 188 t/s
188 tok/sQ4_K_M · 5.5 GB
See all 276 models on the RTX 3060 12GB →Best quant that fits · speeds estimated on this card

About the RTX 3060 12GB

The RTX 3060 12GB is an entry card in the 12 GB class: it runs 7–9B models well. It is more efficient per watt than most 12 GB cards, and among the best speed per dollar of the cards compared at ≈$329 used. Ampere generation, released 2021.

Speed in 12 GB#8360 GB/s
Per watt#50.22 tok/s per W on Qwen3.5 9B (9B params)
Per dollar#211.2 tok/s per $100 on Qwen3.5 9B (9B params)
GenerationAmperereleased 2021

RTX 3060 12GB strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

  • Runs 14B models: Qwen3 14B at 24.6 tok/s in 11.9 GB

Weaknesses

  • 27–31B models don't fit: Qwen3.8 27B needs 17.9 GB at Q4 vs 12 GB here
  • Little room for context: Qwen3 14B uses 11.9 of 12 GB, 0.1 GB left
  • Slow prompt reading: A 4K-token prompt on Qwen3.5 9B waits 6.9 s for the first token
  • No FP8 or NVFP4: Ampere predates both; use GGUF, AWQ or GPTQ builds

Speed per dollar and per watt

On Qwen3.5 9B (9B params) at Q4_K_M. New prices are compared with new, used with used. The last two columns are the speed you get per $100 of price and per 100 W of board power; higher is better. The RTX 3060 12GB has no new price, so the New view shows it at its MSRP.

CardNew pricetok/stok/s per $100tok/s per 100 W
RTX 3060 12GB12 GB
about $32936.8
11.2
21.6
RTX 50608 GBBest new value
about $46045.8
10.0
31.6
RTX 507012 GB
about $84068.7
8.2
27.5
RTX 5070 Ti16 GB
about $1,17091.6
7.8
30.5
RX 907016 GB
about $80060.4
7.6
27.5
RX 9070 XT16 GB
about $81560.4
7.4
19.9
RTX 40608 GB
about $52027.8
5.3
24.2
RX 9060 XT 16GB16 GB
about $59030.2
5.1
18.9
CardUsed pricetok/stok/s per $100tok/s per 100 W
RTX 50608 GBBest used value
about $38845.8
11.8
31.6
RTX 3060 12GB12 GB
about $32936.8
11.2
21.6
RTX 507012 GB
about $73668.7
9.3
27.5
RX 907016 GB
about $65060.4
9.3
27.5
RTX 407012 GB
about $57551.5
9.0
25.8
RTX 40608 GB
about $33527.8
8.3
24.2
RTX 4060 Ti 8GB8 GB
about $36229.4
8.1
18.4
RX 9060 XT 16GB16 GB
about $48030.2
6.3
18.9

Cost per token: the RTX 3060 12GB against 8–16 GB cards

On Qwen3.5 9B (9B params, Q4_K_M, 4K context). Speed, cost per token and power per token depend on the model.

8 GB12 GB16 GBthis cardat MSRP
$0.00$0.50$1.00$1.50$0$1,000$2,000$ per 1M output tokens · lower is betterused price →RTX 5070 · 12 GB · ≈$736 · $0.83 per 1M tokensRX 9070 · 16 GB · ≈$650 · $0.83 per 1M tokensRX 9060 XT 16GB · 16 GB · ≈$480 · $1.23 per 1M tokensRTX 5060 · 8 GB · ≈$388 · $0.67 per 1M tokensRTX 5080 · 16 GB · ≈$1,640 · $1.21 per 1M tokensRTX 5070 Ti · 16 GB · ≈$1,100 · $0.90 per 1M tokensRTX 4080 SUPER · 16 GB · ≈$1,155 · $1.15 per 1M tokensRTX 4070 Ti SUPER · 16 GB · ≈$900 · $1.00 per 1M tokensRTX 4080 · 16 GB · ≈$1,100 · $1.13 per 1M tokensRX 9070 XT · 16 GB · ≈$790 · $1.04 per 1M tokensRTX 4070 SUPER · 12 GB · ≈$675 · $1.01 per 1M tokensRTX 4070 Ti · 12 GB · ≈$722 · $1.12 per 1M tokensRTX 4060 · 8 GB · ≈$335 · $0.94 per 1M tokensRTX 4070 · 12 GB · ≈$575 · $0.87 per 1M tokensRTX 4060 Ti 8GB · 8 GB · ≈$362 · $1.01 per 1M tokensRTX 3060 12GB · 12 GB · ≈$329 · $0.76 per 1M tokensRTX 3060 12GBRTX 5060RTX 5080RTX 5070 TiRTX 4080 SUPERRTX 4080RTX 5070
$0.00$0.50$1.00$1.50$0$1k$2k$ per 1M output tokens · lower is betterused price →RTX 5070 · 12 GB · ≈$736 · $0.83 per 1M tokensRX 9070 · 16 GB · ≈$650 · $0.83 per 1M tokensRX 9060 XT 16GB · 16 GB · ≈$480 · $1.23 per 1M tokensRTX 5060 · 8 GB · ≈$388 · $0.67 per 1M tokensRTX 5080 · 16 GB · ≈$1,640 · $1.21 per 1M tokensRTX 5070 Ti · 16 GB · ≈$1,100 · $0.90 per 1M tokensRTX 4080 SUPER · 16 GB · ≈$1,155 · $1.15 per 1M tokensRTX 4070 Ti SUPER · 16 GB · ≈$900 · $1.00 per 1M tokensRTX 4080 · 16 GB · ≈$1,100 · $1.13 per 1M tokensRX 9070 XT · 16 GB · ≈$790 · $1.04 per 1M tokensRTX 4070 SUPER · 12 GB · ≈$675 · $1.01 per 1M tokensRTX 4070 Ti · 12 GB · ≈$722 · $1.12 per 1M tokensRTX 4060 · 8 GB · ≈$335 · $0.94 per 1M tokensRTX 4070 · 12 GB · ≈$575 · $0.87 per 1M tokensRTX 4060 Ti 8GB · 8 GB · ≈$362 · $1.01 per 1M tokensRTX 3060 12GB · 12 GB · ≈$329 · $0.76 per 1M tokensRTX 3060 12GBRTX 5060RTX 5080
Cost per 1M output tokenson Qwen3.5 9B · card over 3 years + power
$0.76
Card, used price
$0.57
Power
$0.19
3-year cost of ownership$441
Or rent in the cloud$0.06/hr

Renting costs as much as buying after ≈5,600 hours (≈3.8 years at 4 h a day).

Include card price

Each dot is a card; hover or tap it for its numbers, click to open it. Cards without a price for the chosen basis are left out. How we calculate cost per token

Similar GPUs

Cards people weigh against the RTX 3060 12GB, each with the one reason it is worth a look. Speeds on Qwen3.5 9B.

11% faster, same 12 GBRX 9070 GREAMD · 12 GB · RDNA 4
▲ 11% speedsame 12 GBabout $549
4 GB more and 64% fasterRX 9070AMD · 16 GB · RDNA 4
▲ 64% speed▲ 4 GBabout $800
Same 12 GB, new with warrantyRTX 5070NVIDIA · 12 GB · Blackwell
▲ 87% speedsame 12 GBabout $840rent $0.16/hr
4 GB more, but slowerRX 9060 XT 16GBAMD · 16 GB · RDNA 4
▼ 18% speed▲ 4 GBabout $590
About as fast, same 12 GBB580Intel · 12 GB · Battlemage
same speedsame 12 GBabout $249
12 GB more and 2.5× the speedRX 7900 XTXAMD · 24 GB · RDNA 3
▲ 146% speed▲ 12 GBabout $1,130

RTX 3060 12GB tokens per second by model size

Output speed depends on memory bandwidth (360 GB/s). Grey rows need more than 12 GB.

  1. 9BQwen3.5 9B · Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB
    36.8tok/s
  2. 14BQwen3 14B · Q4_K_M · 11.9 GB tight · Q4_K_M
    24.6tok/s
  3. 27–31BQwen3.8 27B · not at 4-bit
    needs 17.9 GB
  4. 35B MoEQwen3.6 35B A3B · not at 4-bit
    needs 22.0 GB
  5. 70BLlama 3.3 70B Instruct · not at 4-bit
    needs 51.3 GB
  6. 120B MoEGPT OSS 120B · not at 4-bit
    needs 70.8 GB

Estimated speeds: Q4_K_M, 4K context, one user. How we estimate

All 956 models on the RTX 3060 12GB

Featured only

Best quant that fits, ordered by llmrun Score. Fit grades how well it runs here, S best. How ranking works

LLM models compatible with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB — ranked by Score, recency and Fit
ModelVRAMScoreFit
SpatialLM1.1 Qwen 0.5B
BF16·152.9 t/s
1.7 GBS97, Runs great
Hunyuan 0.5B Instruct
Q4_K_M·325.0 t/s
1.4 GBS100, Runs great
Qianfan OCR
Q4_K_M·70.3 t/s
4.7 GBS86, Runs great
Nanonets OCR2 3B
Q4_K_M·89.0 t/s
3.2 GBS89, Runs great
Jan Code 4B
Q4_K_M·74.5 t/s
4.5 GBS86, Runs great
Mailguard Jev Style 1.5B
Q4_K_M·182.8 t/s
1.7 GBS99, Runs great
TIPO 500M Ft
Q4_K_M·288.9 t/s
0.8 GBS100, Runs great
Llama XLAM 2 8B Fc R
Q4_K_M·43.4 t/s
7.3 GBA77, Runs well
Codeguard Jev Style 1.5B
Q4_K_M·182.8 t/s
1.7 GBS99, Runs great
MobileLLM R1.5 950M
BF16·112.0 t/s
3.5 GBS94, Runs great
ReaderLM v2
Q4_K_M·182.8 t/s
1.7 GBS99, Runs great
UserLM 8B
Q4_K_M·43.4 t/s
6.2 GBA77, Runs well
MiMo 7B RL
Q4_K_M·44.2 t/s
7.4 GBA77, Runs well
Nemotron Research Reasoning Qwen 1.5B
Q4_K_M·164.8 t/s
1.8 GBS97, Runs great
Arch Router 1.5B
Q4_K_M·182.8 t/s
1.7 GBS99, Runs great

RTX 3060 12GB specs, power and PSU

Specs

Architecture
Ampere
VRAM
12 GB GDDR6
Memory bandwidth
360.0 GB/s
FP16 (dense)
25.50 TFLOPS
CUDA cores
3,584
Tensor cores
112
Compute capability
8.6
TDP
170 W
Released
2021-02-25
MSRP
$329

RTX 3060 12GB FAQ

Is the RTX 3060 12GB still worth it in 2026?

At ≈$329 used you get 11.2 tok/s per $100 on Qwen3.5 9B, which ranks 2nd of the 8 cards compared here; it is also the 8th fastest out of 9 cards with 12 GB. It runs 7–9B models well; 14B only just fits.

What is the largest model the RTX 3060 12GB can run?

GPT OSS 20B (20.9B) is the largest at 4-bit or better: at IQ4_XS it uses 11.8 GB of 12 GB, and runs at about 88.8 tok/s.

Can the RTX 3060 12GB run Qwen3.5 9B?

Yes. Qwen3.5 9B fits at Q4_K_M, using 6.6 GB of 12 GB, and it is the best model that runs well on this card.

Can the RTX 3060 12GB run 27–31B models?

No. Qwen3.8 27B needs 17.9 GB at Q4, more than the 12 GB on this card.

How many tokens per second does the RTX 3060 12GB give?

About 36.8 tok/s on Qwen3.5 9B at Q4_K_M, with the first token after 6.9 s on a 4K-token prompt.

What power supply does the RTX 3060 12GB need?

Plan a 350 W PSU (2× the 170 W TDP).

Is 12 GB enough for coding and agents?

Yes for coding: Llama 3.1 8B Instruct, the only coding-scored model that fits, runs at about 44 tok/s. For agents, not yet: no agent-scored model fits in less than 96 GB.

Is renting cheaper than buying an RTX 3060 12GB?

Rent from $0.06/hr. Renting costs as much as buying after ≈5,600 hours (≈3.8 years at 4 h a day).

Related

Best coding LLMs12 GB VRAM16 GB VRAMGPUs with 12 GB or moreRTX 3090 TiRTX 4090