GPU — NVIDIA
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB
The ultimate budget entry card. 12GB of VRAM provides the vital headroom needed for Llama 3 and Stable Diffusion at minimum cost.
- VRAM
- 12GB
- TDP
- 170W
- Bandwidth
- 360GB/s
- AI Throughput
- 102TOPS
Est. Price$249.99
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB vs Apple Mac Studio (M4 Max)
Architect's technical teardown: VRAM capacity, memory bandwidth, TDP, and AI throughput — compared head-to-head for local LLM workloads.
★ Recommended for Local AI
System — Apple
Apple Mac Studio (M4 Max)
Apple Silicon powerhouse. M4 Max unified memory architecture enables seamless CPU+GPU memory sharing — ideal for local LLM inference without discrete GPU complexity.
- VRAM
- 36GB
- TDP
- 140W
- Bandwidth
- 410GB/s
- AI Throughput
- 110TOPS
Est. Price$1,999.99
Full Specification Matrix
| Metric | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB | Apple Mac Studio (M4 Max) |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 12GB | 36GB |
| Memory Bandwidth | 360 GB/s | 410 GB/s |
| AI Throughput (TOPS) | 102 | 110 |
| TDP (Power Draw) | 170W | 140W |
| Est. Price | $249.99 | $1,999.99 |