Best mini PC for running local LLMs
Mac mini, Mac Studio, Framework Desktop (Ryzen AI Max+ 395) and NVIDIA DGX Spark: every compact unified-memory desktop we track, ranked by how much memory a model can actually use, with list prices and estimated speed for six popular open models at Q4_K_M.
- Mini PCs tracked
- 10
- Usable memory range
- 12–384 GB
- Price range
- $899–$22,299
Start with the model you want. For 27–32B models, the cheapest in-stock mini PC is the Mac mini M6 32GB ($1,799). For 70B models and gpt-oss-120b, the cheapest in-stock mini PC is the Framework Desktop (Ryzen AI Max+ 395) 128GB ($3,449).
Top picks
Mac mini M6 16GB
- Usable memory
- 12 GB
- Bandwidth
- 153 GB/s
- Run at Q4
- 350 / 656
$899 Apple list price, M6 12C CPU/12C GPU, 16GB/256GB (MHQK4LL/A), source, 2026-11-12
AmazoneBayMac mini M6 32GB
- Usable memory
- 24 GB
- Bandwidth
- 170 GB/s
- Run at Q4
- 423 / 656
$1799 Apple list price, M6 12C CPU/12C GPU, 32GB/1TB (MHQV4LL/A), source, 2026-11-12
AmazoneBayFramework Desktop (Ryzen AI Max+ 395) 128GB
- Usable memory
- 96 GB
- Bandwidth
- 256 GB/s
- Run at Q4
- 545 / 656
$3449 Framework list price, DIY Edition 128GB (pre-order, ships within 5 business days), source, 2026-11-05
AmazoneBayMac Studio M5 Ultra 512GB
- Usable memory
- 384 GB
- Bandwidth
- 1200 GB/s
- Run at Q4
- 610 / 656
$22299 Apple list price, M5 Ultra 36C CPU/80C GPU, 512GB/1TB, source, 2026-11-12
AmazoneBayWe may earn a commission when you buy through these links, at no extra cost to you.
Every mini PC, by usable memory
| Mini PC | Price | Usable memory | Bandwidth | $ per usable GB | Biggest model at Q4 | Models that fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mac mini M4 16GBMac mini · 16 GB unified · discontinued (sale price) | $789B&H sale, 16GB/256GB MU9D3LL/A (was $899 Apple list; discontinued at Apple, replaced by M6; was $799 on 2026-10-29), source, 2026-11-05 | 12 GB | 120 GB/s | $66 | OLMo-2-1124-13B-Instruct~10.6 GB at Q4 | 350 / 656 |
| Mac mini M6 16GBMac mini · 16 GB unified · in stock | $899Apple list price, M6 12C CPU/12C GPU, 16GB/256GB (MHQK4LL/A), source, 2026-11-12 | 12 GB | 153 GB/s | $75 | OLMo-2-1124-13B-Instruct~10.6 GB at Q4 | 350 / 656 |
| Mac mini M6 24GBMac mini · 24 GB unified · in stock | $1,299Apple list price, M6 12C CPU/12C GPU, 24GB/512GB (MHQM4LL/A), source, 2026-11-12 | 18 GB | 170 GB/s | $72 | gpt-oss-20b~15.6 GB at Q4 | 393 / 656 |
| Mac mini M6 32GBMac mini · 32 GB unified · in stock | $1,799Apple list price, M6 12C CPU/12C GPU, 32GB/1TB (MHQV4LL/A), source, 2026-11-12 | 24 GB | 170 GB/s | $75 | ERNIE-4.5-VL-28B-A3B-PT~21.5 GB at Q4 | 423 / 656 |
| Mac mini M5 Pro 64GBMac mini · 64 GB unified · in stock | $3,199Apple list price, M5 Pro 18C CPU/20C GPU, 64GB/1TB (MHQU4LL/A), source, 2026-11-12 | 48 GB | 307 GB/s | $67 | AI21-Jamba2-Mini~37.0 GB at Q4 | 511 / 656 |
| NVIDIA DGX Spark 64GBNVIDIA Grace Blackwell mini PC · 64 GB unified · in stock | $4,999NVIDIA OEM-partner starting price (Acer/ASUS/Dell/Gigabyte/HP/MSI; not sold on NVIDIA store), source, 2026-11-05 | 48 GB | 273 GB/s | $104 | AI21-Jamba2-Mini~37.0 GB at Q4 | 511 / 656 |
| Framework Desktop (Ryzen AI Max+ 395) 128GBAMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 mini PC · 128 GB unified · pre-order | $3,449Framework list price, DIY Edition 128GB (pre-order, ships within 5 business days), source, 2026-11-05 | 96 GB | 256 GB/s | $36 | Mistral-Small-4-119B-2603~84.2 GB at Q4 | 545 / 656 |
| NVIDIA DGX Spark 128GBNVIDIA Grace Blackwell mini PC · 128 GB unified · reported sold out in the US | $6,950NVIDIA list price (not re-verified 2026-11-05: NVIDIA marketplace blocked/empty response; last confirmed $6,950 on marketplace listing; widely reported sold out in the US), source, 2026-10-22 | 96 GB | 273 GB/s | $72 | Mistral-Small-4-119B-2603~84.2 GB at Q4 | 545 / 656 |
| Mac Studio M5 Ultra 256GBMac Studio · 256 GB unified · in stock | $9,499Apple list price, M5 Ultra 30C CPU/64C GPU, 256GB/1TB, source, 2026-11-12 | 192 GB | 1200 GB/s | $49 | Intern-S1~168.8 GB at Q4 | 574 / 656 |
| Mac Studio M5 Ultra 512GBMac Studio · 512 GB unified · in stock | $22,299Apple list price, M5 Ultra 36C CPU/80C GPU, 512GB/1TB, source, 2026-11-12 | 384 GB | 1200 GB/s | $58 | Qwen3-Coder-480B-A35B-Instruct~335.8 GB at Q4 | 610 / 656 |
Which popular models run, and how fast
| Mini PC | Qwen3-8B ~6.7 GB | gpt-oss-20b ~15.6 GB | Qwen3.8-27B ~20.4 GB | Qwen3-30B-A3B ~22.3 GB | Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct ~50.2 GB | gpt-oss-120b ~82.5 GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mac mini M4 16GB12 GB usable · 120 GB/s | Fits 11–19 tok/s | Won’t fit | Won’t fit | Won’t fit | Won’t fit | Won’t fit |
| Mac mini M6 16GB12 GB usable · 153 GB/s | Fits 14–25 tok/s | Won’t fit | Won’t fit | Won’t fit | Won’t fit | Won’t fit |
| Mac mini M6 24GB18 GB usable · 170 GB/s | Fits 15–27 tok/s | Fits up to 62 tok/s | Won’t fit | Won’t fit | Won’t fit | Won’t fit |
| Mac mini M6 32GB24 GB usable · 170 GB/s | Fits 15–27 tok/s | Fits up to 62 tok/s | Fits 5–8 tok/s | Tight up to 75 tok/s | Won’t fit | Won’t fit |
| Mac mini M5 Pro 64GB48 GB usable · 307 GB/s | Fits 28–49 tok/s | Fits up to 113 tok/s | Fits 8–15 tok/s | Fits up to 135 tok/s | Won’t fit | Won’t fit |
| NVIDIA DGX Spark 64GB48 GB usable · 273 GB/s | Fits 25–44 tok/s | Fits up to 100 tok/s | Fits 7–13 tok/s | Fits up to 120 tok/s | Won’t fit | Won’t fit |
| Framework Desktop (Ryzen AI Max+ 395) 128GB96 GB usable · 256 GB/s | Fits 23–41 tok/s | Fits up to 94 tok/s | Fits 7–12 tok/s | Fits up to 113 tok/s | Fits 3–5 tok/s | Fits up to 66 tok/s |
| NVIDIA DGX Spark 128GB96 GB usable · 273 GB/s | Fits 25–44 tok/s | Fits up to 100 tok/s | Fits 7–13 tok/s | Fits up to 120 tok/s | Fits 3–5 tok/s | Fits up to 71 tok/s |
| Mac Studio M5 Ultra 256GB192 GB usable · 1200 GB/s | Fits 109–193 tok/s | Fits up to 440 tok/s | Fits 32–57 tok/s | Fits up to 528 tok/s | Fits 13–22 tok/s | Fits up to 310 tok/s |
| Mac Studio M5 Ultra 512GB384 GB usable · 1200 GB/s | Fits 109–193 tok/s | Fits up to 440 tok/s | Fits 32–57 tok/s | Fits up to 528 tok/s | Fits 13–22 tok/s | Fits up to 310 tok/s |
Mini PC vs GPUs with the same memory
| Mini PC | GPUs with the same memory | GPU cost | Reference model (Q4) | Mini PC est. tok/s | GPUs est. tok/s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mac mini M6 16GB12 GB usable · $899 | Intel Arc B58012 GB VRAM · 456 GB/s per card | $249 | Qwen3-8B | 14–25 | 55–78 |
| Mac mini M6 24GB18 GB usable · $1,299 | 2× Intel Arc B57020 GB VRAM · 380 GB/s per card | $438 | gpt-oss-20b | up to 62 | up to 148 |
| Mac mini M6 32GB24 GB usable · $1,799 | 2× Intel Arc B58024 GB VRAM · 456 GB/s per card | $498 | Qwen3.8-27B | 5–8 | 16–23 |
| Mac mini M5 Pro 64GB48 GB usable · $3,199 | 3× Radeon RX 7600 XT48 GB VRAM · 288 GB/s per card | $987 | Qwen3-30B-A3B | up to 135 | up to 135 |
| NVIDIA DGX Spark 64GB48 GB usable · $4,999 | 3× Radeon RX 7600 XT48 GB VRAM · 288 GB/s per card | $987 | Qwen3-30B-A3B | up to 120 | up to 135 |
| Framework Desktop (Ryzen AI Max+ 395) 128GB96 GB usable · $3,449 | 3× Intel Arc Pro B70 32GB96 GB VRAM · 608 GB/s per card | $2,847 | gpt-oss-120b | up to 66 | up to 167 |
| NVIDIA DGX Spark 128GB96 GB usable · $6,950 | 3× Intel Arc Pro B70 32GB96 GB VRAM · 608 GB/s per card | $2,847 | gpt-oss-120b | up to 71 | up to 167 |
| Mac Studio M5 Ultra 256GB192 GB usable · $9,499 | 2× NVIDIA RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell 96GB192 GB VRAM · 1792 GB/s per card | $17,130 | gpt-oss-120b | up to 310 | up to 493 |
| Mac Studio M5 Ultra 512GB384 GB usable · $22,299 | 4× NVIDIA RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell 96GB384 GB VRAM · 1792 GB/s per card | $34,260 | gpt-oss-120b | up to 310 | up to 493 |
Need it portable?
Laptops we track with this class of memory: MacBook Pro M5 Max 128GB (96 GB usable, 614 GB/s, $6,699), MacBook Pro M6 32GB (24 GB usable, 170 GB/s, $2,399). See the best Mac for local LLMs.
Quick answers
- What is the best mini PC for running local LLMs?
- It depends on the model size. Cheapest way in: the Mac mini M6 16GB (12 GB usable, $899). Best for 27–32B models: the Mac mini M6 32GB (24 GB usable, $1,799). Best for 70B models and gpt-oss-120b: the Framework Desktop (Ryzen AI Max+ 395) 128GB (96 GB usable, $3,449). Most memory: the Mac Studio M5 Ultra 512GB (384 GB usable, $22,299). Memory decides what fits; memory bandwidth decides speed.
- What is the cheapest mini PC for local AI?
- Of the compact desktops we track, the Mac mini M6 16GB at $899 (2026-11-12). It has about 12 GB usable and runs 350 of our 656 tracked models at Q4, mostly 8B-class and smaller.
- Can a mini PC run a 70B model?
- Yes, with 128 GB of unified memory. Llama 3.3 70B needs about 50.2 GB at Q4, more than a 64 GB machine's ~48 GB usable. The cheapest in-stock mini PC we track that fits it is the Framework Desktop (Ryzen AI Max+ 395) 128GB at $3,449. Expect roughly 3–5 tok/s (estimate).
- Framework Desktop vs DGX Spark vs Mac Studio for local LLMs?
- Framework Desktop (Ryzen AI Max+ 395) 128GB: 96 GB usable, 256 GB/s, $3,449 (pre-order). NVIDIA DGX Spark 128GB: 96 GB usable, 273 GB/s, $6,950 (reported sold out in the US). Mac Studio M5 Ultra 256GB: 192 GB usable, 1200 GB/s, $9,499 (in stock). The 128 GB machines fit the same models; bandwidth sets speed, so the Mac Studio is fastest and largest but costs the most.
- Mini PC or GPU desktop for local LLMs?
- A mini PC gives you a lot of memory in one small, quiet box, so it fits bigger models for the money. A desktop GPU has far more bandwidth, so any model that fits in its VRAM runs several times faster. Matching a 96 GB mini PC with GPUs takes several cards plus a full PC around them.
- How fast are these speed estimates?
- They are rough decode-speed ranges: memory bandwidth divided by the model's Q4 weight size, times an efficiency band calibrated on public llama.cpp results. MoE models show an upper bound only. Real speed depends on the app, context length and settings.
- How much of a mini PC's memory can an LLM use?
- We count about 75% of unified memory as usable for model weights and cache, since the OS and other apps need the rest by default. That is a rule of thumb: some systems let you raise the GPU share.
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