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Best LLM for RTX 3080 Ti (12 GB) in 2026

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Ranking updated on 09/10/2026

The RTX 3080 Ti (12 GB GDDR6X, 912 GB/s) has the fastest bandwidth for 12 GB of any consumer offering. Qwen 3 14B Q4 at 55–65 tok/s—faster than 4070 on the same model.

Offers and alternatives for local AI

RTX 3080 Ti : purchasing alternative available for local AI — RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB :

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Ranking

1

🇺🇸 Granite 4.1 8B Instruct

IBM · 8B parameters · Apache 2.0 · 131,072 tokens ctx

Dense 8B Apache 2.0, 12 languages including FR, 131k context, GQA 32Q/8KV. MMLU 73.84, HumanEval 85.37. Released April 29, 2026.

Why this ranking Dense 8B Apache 2.0, 12 languages including FR, 131k context, GQA 32Q/8KV. MMLU 73.84, HumanEval 85.37. Released April 29, 2026.
# HuggingFace : ibm-granite/granite-4.1-8b
On RTX 3080 Ti
Q8
9 GB · 35 tok/s
2

🇺🇸 Gemma 4 12B

Google · 12B parameters · Apache 2.0 · 262,144-token context

Gemma 4 12B (Google): dense multimodal model (text, vision, audio), 256k context, ~7 GB Q4 VRAM. Apache 2.0, multilingual.

Why this ranking Gemma 4 12B (Google): dense multimodal model (text, vision, audio), 256k context, ~7 GB Q4 VRAM. Apache 2.0, multilingual.
# HuggingFace : google/gemma-4-12B
On RTX 3080 Ti
Q5_K_M
9 GB · 28 tok/s
3

🇨🇳 Qwen 3 14B

Alibaba · 14B parameters · Apache 2.0 · 131,072 tokens ctx

Dense 14B with hybrid thinking. Equals Qwen 2.5 32B Based on STEM/code.

Why this ranking Dense 14B with hybrid thinking. Equals Qwen 2.5 32B Based on STEM/code.
ollama run qwen3:14b
On RTX 3080 Ti
Q5_K_M
11 GB · 20 tok/s
4

🇺🇸 Granite 4.2 8B

IBM · 8B parameters · Apache 2.0 · 128,000 tokens ctx

Granite 4.2 8B (IBM): dense Apache 2.0, 128k context, ~4.6 GB Q4 VRAM. Multilingual chat, coding, and reasoning for the enterprise.

Why this ranking Granite 4.2 8B (IBM): dense Apache 2.0, 128k context, ~4.6 GB Q4 VRAM. Multilingual chat, coding, and reasoning for the enterprise.
ollama pull granite4.2
On RTX 3080 Ti
Q8
9 GB · 50 tok/s
5

🇺🇸 OLMo 3 7B Think (SFT)

zimplex · 7B parameters · Apache 2.0 · 16,000 tokens ctx

SFT “thinking” fine-tune of OLMo 3 7B: step-by-step reasoning, 16k context, ~4.2 GB VRAM in Q4. 100% open, Apache 2.0 license.

Why this ranking SFT “thinking” fine-tune of OLMo 3 7B: step-by-step reasoning, 16k context, ~4.2 GB VRAM in Q4. 100% open, Apache 2.0 license.
# HuggingFace : zimplex/olmo3-7b-think-sft-eosfix-16k-3ep-euc
On RTX 3080 Ti
Q8
8 GB · 50 tok/s
6

🇨🇳 GLM 5.3 7B

Zhipu AI · 7B parameters · MIT · 128,000 tokens ctx

GLM 5.3 (Zhipu): dense 7B specialized in code and reasoning, 128k context, ~4.1 GB VRAM in Q4. Lightweight, runs on a 6–8 GB GPU, MIT license.

Why this ranking GLM 5.3 (Zhipu): dense 7B specialized in code and reasoning, 128k context, ~4.1 GB VRAM in Q4. Lightweight, runs on a 6–8 GB GPU, MIT license.
ollama pull glm-5.3
On RTX 3080 Ti
Q8
7 GB · 50 tok/s
7

🇺🇸 Phi-4 Reasoning 14B

Microsoft · 14B parameters · MIT · 32,768-token context

MIT 14B reasoner. Beats R1-Distill-Llama-70B on AIME/GPQA with 50× fewer parameters.

Why this ranking MIT 14B reasoner. Beats R1-Distill-Llama-70B on AIME/GPQA with 50× fewer parameters.
ollama run phi4-reasoning:14b
On RTX 3080 Ti
Q5_K_M
11 GB · 20 tok/s

Comparison table

Rank Model Params Q4 VRAM Context License On RTX 3080 Ti
#1 Granite 4.1 8B Instruct 8B 5 GB 131 072 Apache 2.0 35 tok/s · Q8
#2 Gemma 4 12B 12B 7 GB 262 144 Apache 2.0 28 tok/s · Q5_K_M
#3 Qwen 3 14B 14B 9 GB 131 072 Apache 2.0 20 tok/s · Q5_K_M
#4 Granite 4.2 8B 8B 4.6 GB 128 000 Apache 2.0 50 tok/s · Q8
#5 OLMo 3 7B Think (SFT) 7B 4.2 GB 16 000 Apache 2.0 50 tok/s · Q8
#6 GLM 5.3 7B 7B 4.1 GB 128 000 MIT 50 tok/s · Q8
#7 Phi-4 Reasoning 14B 14B 9 GB 32 768 MIT 20 tok/s · Q5_K_M
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Ranking methodology

Filter: Q4_K_M ≤ 11 GB. 7–14B bonus. Record 912 GB/s bandwidth for 12 GB consumer.

Criteria considered:

  • Q4_K_M ≤ 11 GB
  • Qwen 3 14B Q4 at 60 tok/s
  • Record 912 GB/s GDDR6X
  • 12 GB best speed

The scoring is fully transparent: see our methodology for details on VRAM/tokens/sec calculations.

Frequently asked questions

3080 Ti: record bandwidth for 12 GB?

Yes — 912 GB/s vs 4070 Ti 504 GB/s, 5070 672 GB/s. For 7-14B models that leverage bandwidth (FP16 / Q5+), the 3080 Ti remains the fastest at 12 GB. See guide.

3080 Ti vs. 4070 Ti Super?

3080 Ti = 12 GB + 912 GB/s. 4070 Ti Super = 16 GB + 672 GB/s. For speed on 14B, 3080 Ti. To access 24B (Mistral Small), 4070 Ti Super. See 4070 Ti Super.

Used 3080 Ti ~€450–500: a good deal?

Yes for 7–14B speed. But a used 3090 at ~€650 gives you 24 GB for 30% more = a much better LLM. See RTX 3090.

3080 Ti LLM sweet spot?

Qwen 3 14B Q4 (~8 GB) at 55–65 tok/s, Mistral Nemo 12B Q5 (~9 GB) at 45 tok/s. Excellent for code/chat.

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