RTX 2000 Ada vs Apple M1 for local AI
The RTX 2000 Ada fits more: up to gpt-oss 20B, against Qwen3 14B on the Apple M1. The RTX 2000 Ada generates about 3.3× as fast on any model both can run, because it has 224 GB/s of memory bandwidth to the Apple M1's 68 GB/s.
Memory and bandwidth
Memory decides which models fit. Bandwidth decides how fast they generate, because every token reads the model's active weights once.
| RTX 2000 Ada | Apple M1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Memory | 16 GB VRAM | 8 or 16 GB unified memory |
| Usable for models | All 16 GB | About 11 GB of 16 GB |
| Bandwidth | 224 GB/s | 68 GB/s |
| Biggest model that fits | gpt-oss 20B | Qwen3 14B |
| Best everyday pick | gpt-oss 20B, ~39 tok/s | Qwen3 14B, ~4 tok/s |
Every model, side by side
Estimated generation speed at the largest memory size each was sold in (16 GB and 16 GB).
| Model | RTX 2000 Ada | Apple M1 |
|---|---|---|
| Qwen3 4B About 4 GB | ~49 tok/s Runs great | ~15 tok/s Usable |
| Qwen3 8B About 7 GB | ~24 tok/s Usable | ~7 tok/s Slow |
| Gemma 3 12B About 10 GB | ~15 tok/s Usable | ~5 tok/s Slow |
| Qwen3 14B About 11 GB | ~13 tok/s Usable | ~4 tok/s Slow |
| gpt-oss 20B About 16 GB | ~39 tok/s Runs great | Needs 16 GB |
| Gemma 3 27B About 19 GB | Needs 19 GB | Needs 19 GB |
| Qwen3 30B-A3B About 21 GB | Needs 21 GB | Needs 21 GB |
| Qwen3 32B About 22 GB | Needs 22 GB | Needs 22 GB |
| Llama 3.3 70B About 45 GB | Needs 45 GB | Needs 45 GB |
| gpt-oss 120B About 67 GB | Needs 67 GB | Needs 67 GB |
| Qwen3 235B-A22B About 144 GB | Needs 144 GB | Needs 144 GB |
| DeepSeek R1 671B About 406 GB | Needs 406 GB | Needs 406 GB |
The RTX 2000 Ada: it fits bigger models and runs faster. Price matters as much as either number: check used prices on the builds page, where every parts list has a measured or estimated speed.
Both columns use the same formula: memory bandwidth divided by the weights read per token, calibrated on our own rack, with Ollama's default 4-bit sizes. Real results are usually within about a third. Measured either one? Send us the number.