Best mini PCs and small machines for local LLMs
Unified-memory boxes that run big models quietly on a shelf: Strix Halo, Mac and DGX Spark.
Editorial opinionReviewed Oct 11, 2026
Unified memory lets the GPU use most of the system RAM, so a small box can hold models that would need several graphics cards. They are slower per GB than big GPUs, but quiet, efficient and easy to keep running 24/7.
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#1 · Best value
AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 (Strix Halo)
Highly recommended- Memory
- 128 GB
- Bandwidth
- 256 GB/s
- Power
- 120 W
- Largest popular model at 4-bit
- Qwen3.5 122B A10B
from $2,200 (typical price)
Editorial opinionOverall 8.3/10128 GB in x86 for less than a Mac Studio; great for MoE models.
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#2 · Best overall
Apple Mac Studio (M5 Max)
Highly recommended- Memory
- 128 GB
- Bandwidth
- 614 GB/s
- Power
- 480 W
- Largest popular model at 4-bit
- Qwen3.5 122B A10B
from $2,499 (launch price)
Editorial opinionOverall 8.7/10Faster memory and almost silent.
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#3 · Best small Mac
Apple Mac mini (M5 Pro)
Recommended- Memory
- 64 GB
- Bandwidth
- 307 GB/s
- Power
- —
- Largest popular model at 4-bit
- Qwen3.6 35B A3B
from $1,699 (launch price)
Editorial opinionOverall 7.3/1064 GB in a Mac mini: mid-size models without noise.
Photo: Daniel Lu (User:dllu) · CC BY-SA 4.0
#4 · Best for CUDA developers
NVIDIA GB10 Grace Blackwell (DGX Spark and partners)
Recommended- Memory
- 128 GB
- Bandwidth
- 273 GB/s
- Power
- 240 W
- Largest popular model at 4-bit
- Qwen3.5 122B A10B
from $5,000 (typical price)
Editorial opinionOverall 7.6/10128 GB with the full NVIDIA software stack.
How we chose
- Complete computers, no graphics card needed.
- At least 64 GB available.
- Judged on capacity, speed, noise and price.