Best budget GPUs for AI in the UK (under £700)
On 2026-10-16, the cheapest card per GB of VRAM we found at the shops we track (UK: AWD-IT, Box, Laptops Direct, Novatech, Scan; EU: Alternate, Caseking, Coolblue, LDLC) was the RTX 3060 12GB at £352.99 (£29.42 per GB). Prices are the lowest listed new price on the shops' category pages; stock isn't verified and prices change daily.
| # | Card | VRAM | Lowest new | £/GB | Biggest model (Q4, est.) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  RTX 3060 12GB ASUS GeForce RTX 3060 DUAL V2 12GB OC Graphics Card | 12 GB | £352.99 | £29.42 | Phi-4 14B | Box 2026-10-16 09:22 |
| 2 |  Arc B580 Intel Arc B580 Limited Edition Grafikkarte, 12288 MB GDDR6 | 12 GB | £355.83 | £29.65 | Phi-4 14B | Caseking 2026-10-16 10:12 |
| 3 |  RX 9060 XT 16GB Gigabyte Radeon RX 9060 XT GAMING OC 16GB ICE GDDR6 Graphics Card, RDNA4, 2048 Streams, 33 | 16 GB | £499.99 | £31.25 | Phi-4 14B | Scan 2026-10-16 09:20 |
| 4 |  RX 9070 ASUS Prime Radeon RX 9070 EVO OC Edition, 16384 MB GDDR6 | 16 GB | £616.83 | £38.55 | Phi-4 14B | Caseking 2026-10-16 10:12 |
| 5 |  RTX 5060 Ti 16GB MSI NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti VENTUS 2X OC PLUS 16GB GDDR7 Ray-Tracing Graphics Card, DLS | 16 GB | £649.98 | £40.62 | Phi-4 14B | Scan 2026-10-16 09:20 |
FAQ
What is the cheapest GPU in the UK right now?
On 2026-10-16 it was the RTX 3060 12GB at £352.99 from Box (ASUS GeForce RTX 3060 DUAL V2 12GB OC Graphics Card). Prices change often, so check the retailer before buying.
What AI models can a 12GB GPU run?
By our estimate (GGUF file size ×1.1 + 1 GB for about 4k context), 12GB fits up to Phi-4 14B at Q4_K_M and Qwen3 8B at Q8_0. Longer context needs more memory.
Why rank by price per GB of VRAM?
For running local AI models, VRAM decides which models load at all. Price per GB shows how much memory you get for your money; speed also depends on memory bandwidth and software support (NVIDIA CUDA is the most widely supported).
Why aren't RTX 4090, RTX 4080 Super, RTX 4070 Ti Super listed with prices?
We didn't find a current new UK listing for them at Scan or Box. They are mostly sold used; we'll show used UK prices once we connect eBay's official API.
Data: Scan UK listings (checked 2026-10-16), NVIDIA/TechPowerUp specs, Hugging Face GGUF sizes. Model fit is an estimate. All GPU deals · All laptops · All models