Perplexity is bringing its local AI agent, Portable Computer, to Windows PCs running NVIDIA GeForce RTX and RTX PRO GPUs, and the fine print matters more than the pitch. The agent needs 24GB or more of VRAM just to run, which rules out nearly every mainstream RTX card and quietly turns this into a feature for workstation-tier hardware.
Portable Computer is a local version of Perplexity's existing Computer agent, built to plan and carry out multistep tasks like reviewing GitHub pull requests, tracing recurring fees across years of financial statements, or digging through a funnel export to explain a signup drop-off, all without sending files to a cloud chatbot. NVIDIA says local processing keeps sensitive information on the device and doesn't consume Perplexity Computer credits, while the agent can still hand off harder reasoning tasks to the cloud when it needs to, asking permission before anything leaves the PC.
Why the VRAM Number Is the Actual Story
The agent runs on a local model, reportedly a variant of Qwen 3.8 27B, post-trained specifically for Perplexity Computer and tuned for RTX GPUs. A 27-billion-parameter model is exactly the kind of workload that explains the 24GB floor. That spec puts current-generation GeForce RTX 4090 and RTX 5090 owners in range, along with RTX PRO Workstation cards, but leaves most GeForce buyers on 12GB and 16GB cards outside the feature entirely, at least until NVIDIA or Perplexity finds a way to trim the requirement.
The release also extends existing support the agent already had on NVIDIA DGX Spark systems and RTX PCs running Linux, and it connects to Microsoft Outlook, OneDrive, Word, Google Drive, Gmail, Slack, and GitHub so it can work across files people already use daily. NVIDIA says DGX Station support is coming soon.
Perplexity Portable Computer is available now inside the Perplexity app for Windows on qualifying GeForce RTX and RTX PRO PCs with 24GB or more of VRAM.
