Can DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B run on RTX 5070 12GB?

Q: What should I upgrade first if DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B feels slow on RTX 5070 12GB?

Buy headroom, not only minimum fit. A slightly larger memory tier gives you safer context growth and makes the recommendation more future-proof.

YES — With Offload

C51Usable

Estimated from fit model

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B needs ~12.3 GB VRAM. RTX 5070 12GB has 12.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~35 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: OffloadBandwidth: MediumStack: StandardBottleneck: 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) — 12.3 GB, 35.1 tok/s, Runs with offload (needs ~0.2 GB host RAM)

12.3 GB required12.0 GB available

103% VRAM needed

0.3 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization

Fit status

Runs with offload (needs ~0.2 GB host RAM)

Decode

35.1 tok/s

TTFT

5519 ms

Safe context

13K

Memory

12.3 GB / 12.0 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights8.5 GB

KV Cache1.6 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom1.2 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsDeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B on RTX 5070 12GB
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: 35.1 tok/s decode · 5.5s TTFT (warm) · 88 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

This setup is broadly balanced for this model.

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

Buy headroom, not only minimum fit

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

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	C	Runs with offload	48.1 tok/s	2196 ms	13K
Coding	C	Runs with offload (needs ~0.2 GB host RAM)	35.1 tok/s	5519 ms	13K
Agentic Coding	C	Very compromised (needs ~1.2 GB host RAM)	27.2 tok/s	10368 ms	13K
Reasoning	C	Runs with offload (needs ~0.2 GB host RAM)	35.1 tok/s	6523 ms	13K
RAG	C	Very compromised (needs ~1.2 GB host RAM)	27.2 tok/s

Quantization options

How DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B (14B params) fits at each quantization level on RTX 5070 12GB (12.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	5.5 GB	Low	C53
Q3_K_S	3	6.9 GB	Low	C52
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B on your machine.

Run

lms load hf-unsloth--deepseek-r1-distill-qwen-14b-gguf && lms server start

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B well

RTX 5060 Ti 16GBBudget pick

16 GB VRAM (+4)

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.31.5 tok/s decode

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

~$449 MSRP

RTX 4060 Ti 16GBBest value

16 GB VRAM (+4)

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.25.8 tok/s decode

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

~$499 MSRP

RTX 2000 Ada 16GBNVIDIA upgrade

16 GB VRAM (+4)

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.25.6 tok/s decode

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

~$625 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can RTX 5070 12GB run DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B?

Yes, RTX 5070 12GB can run DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B with a C grade (Runs with offload (needs ~0.2 GB host RAM)). Expected decode speed: 35.1 tok/s.

How much VRAM does DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B need?

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B (14B parameters) requires approximately 12.3 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

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

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

What speed will DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B run at on RTX 5070 12GB?

On RTX 5070 12GB, DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B achieves approximately 35.1 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 5519ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can RTX 5070 12GB run DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B for coding?

For coding workloads, DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B on RTX 5070 12GB receives a C grade with 35.1 tok/s and 13K context.

What context window can DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B use on RTX 5070 12GB?

On RTX 5070 12GB, DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B can safely use up to 13K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is —, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

See all results for RTX 5070 12GB See all hardware for DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B

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