Best Local LLM for the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB
The RTX 4060 Ti 16GB offers the most VRAM available around the $400 to $450 mark, and its 16 GB fits everything up to Gemma 3 27B at Q4. It runs 13B models at full FP16 precision, though its narrow 128-bit bus means the 27B to 35B class generates noticeably slower than on mid-tier cards.
Model data last verified on June 27, 2026. All VRAM figures are for the Q4 quantization Ollama serves by default.
The hardware in question
NVIDIA RTX 4060 Ti 16GB
~$424
16 GB GDDR6, 128-bit bus, 165W TDP, 4,352 CUDA cores
Best VRAM-per-dollar entry card for running 13B models locally
Full entry in the hardware guideEvery model that fits 16 GB of VRAM
12 of the 16 models in our verified catalog fit this budget at Q4, sorted with the largest fit first. Click any model for its full spec sheet, hardware cross-reference and run commands.
| Model | Params | Quant | Min VRAM | Context | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gemma 3 27B | 27B | Q4 | 15 GB | 128K | 1 GB free |
| OpenAI gpt-oss-20bHistoric first | 20B total / 3.6B active (MoE) | Q4 | 12 GB | 128K | 4 GB free |
| Gemma 4 12BBest for fine-tuning | 12B | Q4 | 8 GB | 256K | 8 GB free |
| Phi-4 14BBest small coder | 14B | Q4 | 8 GB | 16K | 8 GB free |
| Mistral Nemo 12B | 12B | Q4 | 7 GB | 128K | 9 GB free |
| Llama 3.1 8B | 8B | Q4 | 5 GB | 128K | 11 GB free |
| Qwen3 8BMost popular | 8B | Q4 | 5 GB | 128K | 11 GB free |
| DeepSeek R1 Distill 8BMost private | 8B | Q4 | 5 GB | 128K | 11 GB free |
| Mistral 7B v0.3 | 7B | Q4 | 4 GB | 32K | 12 GB free |
| Qwen 2.5 Coder 7B | 7B | Q4 | 4 GB | 128K | 12 GB free |
| Gemma 3 4B | 4B | Q4 | 3 GB | 128K | 13 GB free |
| Llama 3.2 3BFastest | 3B | Q4 | 2 GB | 128K | 14 GB free |
Run the top picks with Ollama
One command each. Ollama pulls the Q4_K_M build by default and exposes an OpenAI-compatible endpoint at localhost:11434/v1.
ollama run gemma3:27bollama run gpt-oss:20bollama run gemma4:12bFrequently asked questions
Is the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB good for local AI?
Yes, it is our budget pick. It has the most VRAM available at the $400 to $450 price point, runs 13B models at full FP16 precision, and its low 165W draw keeps electricity costs minimal. The trade-off is a narrow 128-bit memory bus that slows large models down.
What is the biggest model the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB can run?
Gemma 3 27B at Q4, which needs about 15 GB, is the largest model in our catalog that fits its 16 GB. Expect slower token generation on models that size because of the card's memory bandwidth ceiling.
RTX 4060 Ti 16GB or RTX 5070 Ti for local LLMs?
Both carry 16 GB, so they run the same models. The RTX 5070 Ti (around $999) is current generation with GDDR7 bandwidth, so tokens generate faster; the 4060 Ti (around $424) wins purely on price and power draw.
Does the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB need a big power supply?
No. Its 165W TDP is one of the lowest of any 16 GB card, so it works in modest builds without a PSU upgrade.
Different budget or use case?
The faceted model browser combines VRAM, family, license and task filters over the same verified catalog.