How much VRAM does DeepSeek R1 Distill 14B need?

DeepSeek R1 Distill 14B (14B parameters) requires approximately 13.5 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for DeepSeek R1 Distill 14B?

The recommended quantization for DeepSeek R1 Distill 14B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

Can it run?

Yes, RX 7600 XT 16GB can run DeepSeek R1 Distill 14B with a C grade (Tight fit). Expected decode speed: 24.3 tok/s.

CUsable

Tight fit

Using Q4_K_M in Ollama

Capabilities:

Fit status

Tight fit

Decode

24.3 tok/s

TTFT

7973 ms

Safe context

19K

Memory

13.5 GB / 16.0 GB

Weights8.5 GB

KV Cache2.2 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom1.6 GB

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Agentic Coding	C	Runs with offload	19.6 tok/s	14397 ms	33K
Chat	C	Runs well	19.6 tok/s	5399 ms	10K
Coding	C	Tight fit	24.3 tok/s	7973 ms	19K
RAG	C	Runs with offload	19.6 tok/s	17996 ms	33K
Reasoning	C	Tight fit	19.6 tok/s	11698 ms	19K

How DeepSeek R1 Distill 14B (14B params) fits at each quantization level on RX 7600 XT 16GB (16.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	5.5 GB	Low	D36
Q3_K_S	3	6.9 GB	Low	D38
NVFP4	4

Ollama

ollama run deepseek-r1-distill-14b

HuggingFace

huggingface-cli download deepseek-r1-distill-14b

Upgrade options

MacBook Pro M4 32GBBudget pick

C10.1 tok/s decode

~$799 MSRP

RX 7900 XT 20GBBest value

B56.2 tok/s decode

~$899 MSRP