Qwen3 1.7B vs DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B
Side-by-side comparison of VRAM requirements, quantization, context length, and hardware compatibility.
Specifications
| Qwen3 1.7B | DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B | |
|---|---|---|
| Parameters | 1.7B | 14.8B |
| Context | — | 131K |
| Architecture | — | Qwen2ForCausalLM |
| License | Apache 2.0 | MIT |
| Downloads | 105 | 742.0K |
| Released | Mar 2026 | Feb 2025 |
VRAM by Quantization: Qwen3 1.7B vs DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B
| Quantization | Bits | Qwen3 1.7B VRAM | DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B VRAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q2_K | 3.40 | 0.8 GB | 7.0 GB |
| Q3_K_M | 3.90 | 0.9 GB | 7.9 GB |
| Q3_K_S | 3.50 | — | 7.2 GB |
| Q4_0 | 4.00 | — | 8.1 GB |
| Q4_K_M | 4.80 | 1.1 GB | 9.6 GB |
| Q5_K_M | 5.70 | 1.3 GB | 11.2 GB |
| Q6_K | 6.60 | 1.5 GB | 12.9 GB |
| Q8_0 | 8.00 | 1.9 GB | 15.5 GB |
Verdict
Qwen3 1.7B needs less VRAM at Q4_K_M (1.1 GB vs 9.6 GB), so it fits on smaller GPUs. DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B is the more widely downloaded of the two.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Which needs less VRAM, Qwen3 1.7B or DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B?
At Q4_K_M, Qwen3 1.7B needs 1.1 GB and DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B needs 9.6 GB, so Qwen3 1.7B is the lighter option to run locally.
- What is the difference between Qwen3 1.7B and DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B?
Qwen3 1.7B is a 1.7B model from AXERA-TECH (Qwen family), while DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B is a 14.8B model from DeepSeek (Qwen family). Compare their VRAM requirements above to see which fits your GPU or Mac.