Architect's technical teardown: VRAM capacity, memory bandwidth, TDP, and AI throughput — compared head-to-head for local LLM workloads.
The budget Blackwell entry. Optimized for 12B-14B models with the latest tensor cores for FP4 precision support.
The ultimate budget entry card. 12GB of VRAM provides the vital headroom needed for Llama 3 and Stable Diffusion at minimum cost.
| Metric | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 12GB | 12GB |
| Memory Bandwidth | 672 GB/s | 360 GB/s |
| AI Throughput (TOPS) | 988 | 102 |
| TDP (Power Draw) | 250W | 170W |
| Est. Price | $649.99 | $249.99 |