Can DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B run on Tesla P40 24GB?

YES — Runs Great

B65Good

Estimated from fit model

DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B needs ~10.4 GB VRAM. Tesla P40 24GB has 24.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~42 tok/s.

Runtime: OllamaCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: LowStack: BasicBottleneck: Balanced

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) — 10.4 GB, 45.0 tok/s, Runs well

10.4 GB required24.0 GB available

43% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

45.0 tok/s

TTFT

4305 ms

Safe context

33K

Memory

10.4 GB / 24.0 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights4.9 GB

KV Cache2.0 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom2.4 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsDeepSeek R1 Distill 8B on Tesla P40 24GB
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: 45.0 tok/s decode · 4.3s TTFT (warm) · 112 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

This setup is broadly balanced for this model.

Older PCIe generation

PCIe 3.0 is workable, but it compounds the penalty when you offload heavily or try to scale across multiple cards.

Best improvement path

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	B	Runs well	41.8 tok/s	2524 ms	33K
Coding	B	Runs well	41.8 tok/s	4628 ms	33K
Agentic Coding	B	Runs well	45.0 tok/s	6262 ms	33K
Reasoning	B	Runs well	45.0 tok/s	5088 ms	33K
RAG	B	Runs well	45.0 tok/s	7828 ms	33K

Quantization options

How DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B (8B params) fits at each quantization level on Tesla P40 24GB (24.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	3.1 GB	Low	B61
Q3_K_S	3	3.9 GB	Low	B61
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B on your machine.

Run

ollama run deepseek-r1:8b

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B well

RTX 5090 32GBBudget pick

32 GB VRAM (+8)1792 GB/s (+1446)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 149%.112 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 149%.

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

~$1,999 MSRP

RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell 32GBBest value

32 GB VRAM (+8)896 GB/s (+550)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 149%.112 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 149%.

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

~$2,499 MSRP

RTX 5000 Ada 32GBNVIDIA upgrade

32 GB VRAM (+8)576 GB/s (+230)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 126%.101.5 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 126%.

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

~$4,000 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can Tesla P40 24GB run DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B?

Yes, Tesla P40 24GB can run DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B with a B grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 41.8 tok/s.

How much VRAM does DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B need?

DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B (8B parameters) requires approximately 10.4 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B?

The recommended quantization for DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B run at on Tesla P40 24GB?

On Tesla P40 24GB, DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B achieves approximately 41.8 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 4628ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can Tesla P40 24GB run DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B for coding?

For coding workloads, DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B on Tesla P40 24GB receives a B grade with 41.8 tok/s and 33K context.

What context window can DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B use on Tesla P40 24GB?

On Tesla P40 24GB, DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B can safely use up to 33K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 33K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

See all results for Tesla P40 24GB See all hardware for DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B

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