Can DeepSeek R1 Distill 70B run on AMD Instinct MI100 32GB?

Q: What should I upgrade first if DeepSeek R1 Distill 70B feels slow on AMD Instinct MI100 32GB?

Remove offload with more accelerator memory. Prioritize a GPU or unified-memory tier that fits the whole model natively. Removing offload usually helps more than small compute gains.

YES — With Q2_K

B64Good

Estimated from fit model

DeepSeek R1 Distill 70B needs ~36.3 GB VRAM. AMD Instinct MI100 32GB has 32.0 GB. With Q2_K quantization, expect ~16 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: OffloadBandwidth: HighStack: StandardBottleneck: Host offload

Operating mode

Choose the run profile you care about

Interactive favors responsiveness, while light API and scale-out lean harder on serving readiness. The fit stays the same, but the recommendation lens changes.

Current mode

Balanced

Balanced for general local use. Keeps the ranking neutral across personal and serving workflows.

DeepSeek R1 Distill 70B at Q4_K_M needs 51.7 GB — too much for AMD Instinct MI100 32GB (32.0 GB). Runs at Q2_K (36.3 GB) with low quality.

Capabilities:

Select quantization to explore

Q4_K_M (Medium quality) — 51.7 GB, exceeds 32.0 GB available

51.7 GB required32.0 GB available

162% VRAM needed

19.7 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization

Fit status

Too heavy

Decode

5.6 tok/s

TTFT

34832 ms

Safe context

Memory

51.7 GB / 32.0 GB

Offload

40%

Memory breakdown

Weights42.7 GB

KV Cache4.9 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom3.2 GB

See how fast it feels

With memory offload — actual speed may be lower

See how fast it feelsDeepSeek R1 Distill 70B on AMD Instinct MI100 32GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>Write a Python function to sort a list
Here's a Python function that sorts a list using quicksort:

def quicksort(arr):
    if len(arr) <= 1:
        return arr
    pivot = arr[len(arr) // 2]
    left   = [x for x in arr if x < pivot]
    middle = [x for x in arr if x == pivot]
    right  = [x for x in arr if x > pivot]
    return quicksort(left) + middle + quicksort(right)

# Example usage
numbers = [3, 6, 8, 10, 1, 2, 1]
print(quicksort(numbers))  # [1, 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 10]

The algorithm picks a pivot, partitions the list into smaller, equal, and larger elements, then recursively sorts each partition and concatenates the results.
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>Now add type hints and a docstring
def quicksort(arr: list[int]) -> list[int]:
    """Sort a list using the quicksort algorithm.

    Args:
        arr: List of integers to sort.

    Returns:
        A new sorted list.
    """
    if len(arr) <= 1:
        return arr
    pivot = arr[len(arr) // 2]
    left   = [x for x in arr if x < pivot]
    middle = [x for x in arr if x == pivot]
    right  = [x for x in arr if x > pivot]
    return quicksort(left) + middle + quicksort(right)

Added type hints for the input and return type, plus a Google-style docstring.
Estimated: 5.6 tok/s decode · 34.8s TTFT (warm) · 14 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

It fits through host-memory offload, and offload is the main reason performance drops.

CPU or host-memory offload is active

About 10% of the working set spills out of accelerator memory, which usually hurts latency and sustained decode throughput.

Very little memory headroom

You can run the model, but there is not much room left for longer context, bigger batches, extra apps, or future model updates.

Best improvement path

Remove offload with more accelerator memory

Prioritize a GPU or unified-memory tier that fits the whole model natively. Removing offload usually helps more than small compute gains.

Buy headroom, not only minimum fit

A slightly larger memory tier gives you safer context growth and makes the recommendation more future-proof.

Increase host RAM if you keep offloading

This setup may need roughly 3.2 GB of extra host RAM just for the offloaded portion, before OS and other tools.

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	F	Too heavy	6.2 tok/s	17159 ms	4K
Coding	F	Too heavy	5.6 tok/s	34832 ms	4K
Agentic Coding	F	Too heavy	4.6 tok/s	61269 ms	4K
Reasoning	F	Too heavy	5.6 tok/s	41166 ms	4K
RAG	F	Too heavy	4.6 tok/s	76586 ms	4K

Quantization options

How DeepSeek R1 Distill 70B (70B params) fits at each quantization level on AMD Instinct MI100 32GB (32.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	27.3 GB	Low	F0
Q3_K_S	3	34.3 GB	Low	F0
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run DeepSeek R1 Distill 70B on your machine.

Run

ollama run deepseek-r1:70b

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs DeepSeek R1 Distill 70B well

Radeon Pro W7900 48GBBest value

48 GB VRAM (+16)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.7.8 tok/s decode

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.

Raises estimated decode speed by about 39%.

~$3,999 MSRP

AMD Instinct MI350X 288GBBudget pick

288 GB VRAM (+256)8000 GB/s (+6772)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.148.7 tok/s decode

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.

~$8,000 MSRP

AMD Instinct MI210 64GBAMD upgrade

64 GB VRAM (+32)1638 GB/s (+410)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.28.4 tok/s decode

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.

~$10,000 MSRP

NVIDIA H100 80GBBiggest leap

80 GB VRAM (+48)3350 GB/s (+2122)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.71.7 tok/s decode

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.

Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.

~$40,000 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can AMD Instinct MI100 32GB run DeepSeek R1 Distill 70B?

Yes, AMD Instinct MI100 32GB can run DeepSeek R1 Distill 70B at Q2_K quantization (Very compromised (needs ~3.2 GB host RAM)). The recommended Q4_K_M requires 51.7 GB which exceeds available memory, but at Q2_K it needs only 36.3 GB. Expected decode speed: 15.6 tok/s.

How much VRAM does DeepSeek R1 Distill 70B need?

DeepSeek R1 Distill 70B (70B parameters) requires approximately 51.7 GB at Q4_K_M quantization. On AMD Instinct MI100 32GB, it fits at Q2_K using 36.3 GB.

What is the best quantization for DeepSeek R1 Distill 70B?

The recommended quantization is Q4_K_M, but on AMD Instinct MI100 32GB the best fitting quantization is Q2_K, which uses 36.3 GB.

What speed will DeepSeek R1 Distill 70B run at on AMD Instinct MI100 32GB?

On AMD Instinct MI100 32GB, DeepSeek R1 Distill 70B achieves approximately 15.6 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 12442ms using Q2_K quantization.

Can AMD Instinct MI100 32GB run DeepSeek R1 Distill 70B for coding?

For coding workloads, DeepSeek R1 Distill 70B on AMD Instinct MI100 32GB receives a F grade with 5.6 tok/s and 4K context.

What context window can DeepSeek R1 Distill 70B use on AMD Instinct MI100 32GB?

On AMD Instinct MI100 32GB, DeepSeek R1 Distill 70B can safely use up to 4K tokens of context at Q2_K quantization. The model's official context limit is 131K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

See all results for AMD Instinct MI100 32GB See all hardware for DeepSeek R1 Distill 70B

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