Best Local LLM for RTX 5070 & 5070 Ti (2026): Blackwell VRAM Picks
The RTX 5070 ships 12 GB and the 5070 Ti ships 16 GB. GDDR7 bandwidth makes both quick for their tier, but VRAM — not speed — decides which models you can load.
Picking hardware for an OpenClaw host?
Use the local model calculator first, then see our AI training options if you want help matching your workload to the right rig.
Short answer: the RTX 5070 (12 GB) is a Qwen 3.5 9B card — run it at Q6/Q8 for a fast, high-quality small assistant. The RTX 5070 Ti (16 GB) steps up to gpt-oss 20B at Q4_K_M, the better OpenClaw agent pick. Neither fits Qwen 3.6 27B at a good quant; that needs 24 GB.
The VRAM Math
GDDR7 gives the 5070 series strong bandwidth for its class, so tokens/sec are high — but a fast 12 GB card still cannot load a model that does not fit. Match the model to the VRAM first.
What Actually Fits (Model Picks)
| Card · Model | Quant | VRAM | Speed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 5070 · Qwen 3.5 9B | Q6_K | ~9 GB | ~35 tok/s | Fast small assistant (12GB) |
| RTX 5070 · Llama 3.1 8B | Q8_0 | ~9 GB | ~40 tok/s | General chat (12GB) |
| RTX 5070 Ti · gpt-oss 20B | Q4_K_M | ~12-13 GB | ~35 tok/s | Best OpenClaw pick (16GB) |
| RTX 5070 Ti · Qwen 3.5 9B | Q8_0 | ~10 GB | ~45 tok/s | Max quality small (16GB) |
What You Can’t Run
- RTX 5070 (12 GB): gpt-oss 20B at a usable quant — 20B Q4 wants ~12-13 GB, too tight with any context; stay on 9B.
- Either card: Qwen 3.6 27B at Q4+ — needs ~17-18 GB, beyond even the 16 GB 5070 Ti.
- 70B models — not on a single 12 or 16 GB card at any usable quant.
5070-series listings vary; for a linkable 12 GB card the RTX 3060 is the value option, and the 4070 Ti Super covers the 16 GB tier. Want to run 27B well? Step up to the 32 GB 5090.
OpenClaw Setup
Point OpenClaw at your local model through Ollama:
# pull and run your pick, then set it as the OpenClaw default ollama pull qwen3:9b openclaw config set agents.defaults.models.chat "ollama/qwen3:9b"
For agent reliability, prefer a model with clean tool-call output (gpt-oss 20B where it fits) and cap context to what your memory holds. See the tool-calling reliability guide.
See Also
- Best Local LLM for RTX 4070 (12GB) — same 12GB fit class
- Best Local LLM for RTX 4070 Ti Super (16GB) — same 16GB tier as the 5070 Ti
- Best Local LLM for RTX 5090 (32GB) — the Blackwell step up
- Best Local LLM by GPU (hub)
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