Can DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B run on RTX 3050 8GB?

Q: What should I upgrade first if DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B feels slow on RTX 3050 8GB?

Add more VRAM headroom. The first useful upgrade is more dedicated VRAM so you can fit the model without shrinking context or dropping to a much lower quant.

NO — Won't Fit

F0Won't run

Estimated from fit model

DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B needs ~25.4 GB but RTX 3050 8GB only has 8.0 GB. Try a smaller quantization or lighter model.

Runtime: OllamaCapacity: No fitBandwidth: Very lowStack: BasicBottleneck: Memory capacity

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.

Capabilities:

Select quantization to explore

Q4_K_M (Medium quality) — 25.4 GB, exceeds 8.0 GB available

25.4 GB required8.0 GB available

318% VRAM needed

17.4 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization

Fit status

Too heavy

Decode

2.0 tok/s

TTFT

96800 ms

Safe context

Memory

25.4 GB / 8.0 GB

Offload

70%

Memory breakdown

Weights19.5 GB

KV Cache3.9 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom0.8 GB

See how fast it feels

With memory offload — actual speed may be lower

See how fast it feelsDeepSeek R1 Distill 32B on RTX 3050 8GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>Solve: If a train travels at 60 mph for 2.5 hours, how far does it go?
Let me work through this step by step.

Given information:
  - Speed = 60 mph (miles per hour)
  - Time  = 2.5 hours

Formula: Distance = Speed x Time

Calculation:
  Distance = 60 mph x 2.5 h
           = 150 miles

The train travels 150 miles.

Double-check: at 60 mph the train covers 60 miles each hour. In half an hour it covers 30 miles. So in 2.5 hours: 60 + 60 + 30 = 150 miles. Confirmed.
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>What if the train stops for 20 minutes halfway?
The stop doesn't change the total distance covered while moving, but it affects total trip time.

Breakdown:
  - First half: 1.25 hours at 60 mph = 75 miles
  - Stop: 20 minutes (no distance)
  - Second half: 1.25 hours at 60 mph = 75 miles

Total distance: 150 miles (same)
Total time: 2.5 h + 0.33 h = 2.83 hours
Average speed: 150 / 2.83 = 53 mph

The distance stays the same but average speed drops to 53 mph because of the stop.
Estimated: 2.0 tok/s decode · 96.8s TTFT (warm) · 5 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

Usable VRAM is the main blocker for this model.

Not enough usable memory

The model needs 25.4 GB, but this setup only exposes 8.0 GB of usable VRAM.

Best improvement path

Add more VRAM headroom

The first useful upgrade is more dedicated VRAM so you can fit the model without shrinking context or dropping to a much lower quant.

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	F	Too heavy	2.0 tok/s	52800 ms	4K
Coding	F	Too heavy	2.0 tok/s	96800 ms	4K
Agentic Coding	F	Too heavy	2.0 tok/s	140800 ms	4K
Reasoning	F	Too heavy	2.0 tok/s	114400 ms	4K
RAG	F	Too heavy	2.0 tok/s	176000 ms	4K

Inference speed

DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B inference speed — tokens per second by GPU & Mac

Estimated decode speed (tokens/sec) for DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B at Q4_K_M across popular GPUs and Apple Silicon, using the fastest local runtime per device. Fastest is RTX 5090 32GB at ~66 tok/s. Speed is memory-bandwidth bound, so cards that fit the whole model in VRAM run far faster than ones that offload to system RAM.

GPU / Mac	Memory	Quant	Speed (tok/s)	Fits?
RTX 5090 32GB	32 GB	Q4_K_M	66.4	Tight
MacBook Pro M4 Max 128GB	128 GB	Q4_K_M	33.2	Fits

Quantization options

How DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B (32B params) fits at each quantization level on RTX 3050 8GB (8.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	12.5 GB	Low	F0
Q3_K_S	3	15.7 GB	Low	F0
NVFP4	4

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B well

RTX 3090 24GBBest value

24 GB VRAM (+16)936 GB/s (+712)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.21.2 tok/s decode

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

Raises estimated decode speed by about 960%.

~$1,499 MSRP

RTX 4090 24GBNVIDIA upgrade

24 GB VRAM (+16)1008 GB/s (+784)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.24.8 tok/s decode

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

Raises estimated decode speed by about 1140%.

~$1,599 MSRP

RTX 5090 32GBBudget pick

32 GB VRAM (+24)1792 GB/s (+1568)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.66.4 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.

~$1,999 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can RTX 3050 8GB run DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B?

No, DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B requires more memory than RTX 3050 8GB provides.

How much VRAM does DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B need?

DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B (32B parameters) requires approximately 25.4 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B?

The recommended quantization for DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B run at on RTX 3050 8GB?

On RTX 3050 8GB, DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B achieves approximately 2.0 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 96800ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can RTX 3050 8GB run DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B for coding?

For coding workloads, DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B on RTX 3050 8GB receives a F grade with 2.0 tok/s and 4K context.

What context window can DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B use on RTX 3050 8GB?

On RTX 3050 8GB, DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B can safely use up to 4K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 33K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

What should I upgrade first if DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B feels slow on RTX 3050 8GB?

See all results for RTX 3050 8GB See all hardware for DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B

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