Can DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B run on RX 6950 XT 16GB?

Q: What should I upgrade first if DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B feels slow on RX 6950 XT 16GB?

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

B57Good

Estimated from fit model

DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B needs ~18.9 GB VRAM. RX 6950 XT 16GB has 16.0 GB. With Q2_K quantization, expect ~13 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: OffloadBandwidth: MediumStack: 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 32B at Q4_K_M needs 25.9 GB — too much for RX 6950 XT 16GB (16.0 GB). Runs at Q2_K (18.9 GB) with low quality.

Capabilities:

Select quantization to explore

Q4_K_M (Medium quality) — 25.9 GB, exceeds 16.0 GB available

25.9 GB required16.0 GB available

162% VRAM needed

9.9 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization

Fit status

Too heavy

Decode

5.0 tok/s

TTFT

38574 ms

Safe context

Memory

25.9 GB / 16.0 GB

Offload

40%

Memory breakdown

Weights19.5 GB

KV Cache3.9 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom1.6 GB

See how fast it feels

With memory offload — actual speed may be lower

See how fast it feelsDeepSeek R1 Distill 32B on RX 6950 XT 16GB
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: 5.0 tok/s decode · 38.6s TTFT (warm) · 13 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 20% 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 1.9 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	5.9 tok/s	17843 ms	4K
Coding	F	Too heavy	4.6 tok/s	41660 ms	4K
Agentic Coding	F	Too heavy	3.7 tok/s	75392 ms	4K
Reasoning	F	Too heavy	5.0 tok/s	45588 ms	4K
RAG	F	Too heavy	3.7 tok/s	94240 ms	4K

Quantization options

How DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B (32B params) fits at each quantization level on RX 6950 XT 16GB (16.0 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

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B on your machine.

Run

ollama run deepseek-r1:32b

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B well

RX 7900 XTX 24GBBest value

24 GB VRAM (+8)960 GB/s (+384)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.22.9 tok/s decode

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

Raises estimated decode speed by about 358%.

~$999 MSRP

Radeon AI PRO R9700 32GBBudget pick

32 GB VRAM (+16)640 GB/s (+64)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.20.9 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.

~$1,899 MSRP

Radeon Pro W6800 32GBAMD upgrade

32 GB VRAM (+16)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.15.9 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.

~$2,249 MSRP

NVIDIA A100 40GBBiggest leap

40 GB VRAM (+24)1555 GB/s (+979)

Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.72.3 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

Frequently asked questions

Can RX 6950 XT 16GB run DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B?

Yes, RX 6950 XT 16GB can run DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B at Q2_K quantization (Very compromised (needs ~1.9 GB host RAM)). The recommended Q4_K_M requires 25.9 GB which exceeds available memory, but at Q2_K it needs only 18.9 GB. Expected decode speed: 13.0 tok/s.

How much VRAM does DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B need?

DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B (32B parameters) requires approximately 25.9 GB at Q4_K_M quantization. On RX 6950 XT 16GB, it fits at Q2_K using 18.9 GB.

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

The recommended quantization is Q4_K_M, but on RX 6950 XT 16GB the best fitting quantization is Q2_K, which uses 18.9 GB.

What speed will DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B run at on RX 6950 XT 16GB?

On RX 6950 XT 16GB, DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B achieves approximately 13.0 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 14893ms using Q2_K quantization.

Can RX 6950 XT 16GB run DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B for coding?

For coding workloads, DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B on RX 6950 XT 16GB receives a F grade with 4.6 tok/s and 4K context.

What context window can DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B use on RX 6950 XT 16GB?

On RX 6950 XT 16GB, DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B can safely use up to 4K tokens of context at Q2_K quantization. The model's official context limit is 33K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

See all results for RX 6950 XT 16GB See all hardware for DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B

Embed this result▼

Paste this snippet into any page to show a live fit card.

<iframe src="https://willitrunai.com/embed/deepseek-r1-distill-32b-on-rx-6950-xt-16gb" width="400" height="180" frameborder="0" style="border:none;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;" title="Will It Run AI — fit result"></iframe>

Preview: