By **Abdulrahman Maslmany * (Lead Systems & Productivity Architect) • CERN Zenodo Researcher*

📌 Executive Summary: The Local Coding Hardware Verdict

The definitive mistake in building a local AI or "vibe coding" workstation is prioritizing raw compute clocks over addressable VRAM capacity and KV cache headroom .

• 8GB VRAM (RTX 4060): The absolute physical floor for 7B–8B models with basic autocomplete and single-function debugging.

• 12GB VRAM (RTX 3060 12GB): The unrivaled budget upgrade, comfortably executing 14B models with an 8K context window.

• 16GB to 24GB VRAM (RTX 4070 Ti Super / RTX 3090 / 4090): The mandatory baseline for professional multi-file agentic loops (Cursor, Continue.dev, Aider) running 14B–32B models without aggressive context truncation.

The Memory Wall Trap: Loading vs.…