DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B vs Qwen3 32B
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B and Qwen3 32B match in llmrun Score, with values of 97.0 versus 98.4; both fit 24 GB at Q4_K_M.
Model A · DeepSeek
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B32.8B · 128K context · MIT · Jan 2025
Choose DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B if you want…
Longer context window
128K vs 40K tokens
Also does reasoning
Qwen3 32B doesn't list it
Choose Qwen3 32B if you want…
Ahead on the benchmarks
3 of 3 shared boards
Fits a 16 GB GPU
IQ3_XXS · 15.7 GB; DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B needs 13.6 GB at its smallest quant
Newer release
Apr 2025 vs Jan 2025
On your hardware
Each model at its default quant (Q4_K_M), a smaller one when it must. Estimates, ±20%.
8 GB
RTX 4060 · 8 GB tier
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
Doesn't fit
smallest quant needs 13.6 GB
Qwen3 32B
Doesn't fit
smallest quant needs 12 GB
12 GB
RTX 3060 12GB · 12 GB tier
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
Doesn't fit
smallest quant needs 13.6 GB
Qwen3 32B
IQ2_XXS · ~24 tok/s
12 GB · up to 16Kfits
16 GB
RTX 5060 Ti 16GB · 16 GB tier
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
IQ2_M · ~25 tok/s
15.7 GB · up to 16K
Qwen3 32B
IQ3_XXS · ~22 tok/s
15.7 GB · up to 16Kbetter quant
24 GBreference
RTX 4090 · 24 GB tier
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
Q4_K_M · ~32 tok/stight
24.3 GB · up to 8K
Qwen3 32B
Q4_K_M · ~32 tok/s
22.6 GB · up to 16Kmore headroom
32 GB
RTX 5090 · 32 GB tier
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
Q4_K_M · ~57 tok/s
24.3 GB · up to 32K
Qwen3 32B
Q4_K_M · ~57 tok/s
22.6 GB · up to 40K
48 GB
RTX A6000 · 48 GB tier
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
Q4_K_M · ~24 tok/s
24.3 GB · up to 64K
Qwen3 32B
Q4_K_M · ~25 tok/s
22.6 GB · up to 40K
Mac 32 GB
Mac Mini M4 · Macs
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
Q4_K_M · ~4 tok/s
24.3 GB · up to 16K
Qwen3 32B
Q4_K_M · ~4 tok/s
22.6 GB · up to 40K
Mac 64 GB
Mac Studio M4 Max · Macs
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
Q4_K_M · ~19 tok/s
24.3 GB · up to 128K
Qwen3 32B
Q4_K_M · ~19 tok/s
22.6 GB · up to 40K
Mac 128 GB
Mac Studio M4 Max · Macs
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
Q4_K_M · ~19 tok/s
24.3 GB · up to 128K
Qwen3 32B
Q4_K_M · ~19 tok/s
22.6 GB · up to 40K
Reference GPU: RTX 4090. Tinted cell = the better pick on that machine (fits, more headroom, or at least 10% faster).
Overall
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
Qwen3 32B
Coding
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
no data
Qwen3 32B
Science
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
no data
Qwen3 32B
Reasoning
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
no data
Qwen3 32B
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B · #55 of 92 open models · #13 of 34 that fit 24 GB
Qwen3 32B · #52 of 92 open models · #11 of 34 that fit 24 GB
Benchmarks
3 shared boards: DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B leads 0, Qwen3 32B leads 3 · Benchmarks imported Oct 2026
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
64.1%#38/97 open
IndependentEpoch AI · Jan 2025
Qwen3 32B
65.7%#36/97 open
IndependentEpoch AI · Apr 2025
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
55.6%#41/85 open
IndependentEpoch AI · Jan 2025
Qwen3 32B
66.9%#30/85 open
IndependentEpoch AI · Apr 2025
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
1.0%#41/67 open
IndependentEpoch AI · Jan 2025
Qwen3 32B
5.0%#30/67 open
IndependentEpoch AI · Apr 2025
8 more boards (other shared and single-model boards)
Only DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B (1)
- BALROG19.5%
Only Qwen3 32B (7)
- LMArena Text1346.9
- Aider Polyglot40.0%
- SciCode35.4%
- CritPt0.3%
- DTBench67.5%
- LMCA17.3%
- Fiction.LiveBench74.2%
VRAM by quantization
Memory to load the model and 2K context; below it, the total at 32K and 128K context. Lighter side in bold.
Q2_K
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
14.8 GB12.3 GB file
32K 22.8 GB · 128K 48.6 GB
Qwen3 32B
14.6 GB12.3 GB file
32K 19.6 GB · 128K —
Q3_K_S
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
15.2 GB14.4 GB file
32K 23.2 GB · 128K 49.0 GB
Qwen3 32B
15.0 GB14.4 GB file
32K 20.0 GB · 128K —
Q3_K_M
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
16.8 GB15.9 GB file
32K 24.9 GB · 128K 50.6 GB
Qwen3 32B
16.6 GB16.0 GB file
32K 21.6 GB · 128K —
Q4_0
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
17.2 GB18.7 GB file
32K 25.3 GB · 128K 51.0 GB
Qwen3 32B
17.0 GB18.7 GB file
32K 22.1 GB · 128K —
Q4_K_M
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
20.5 GB19.9 GB file
32K 28.6 GB · 128K 54.3 GB
Qwen3 32B
20.3 GB19.8 GB file
32K 25.3 GB · 128K —
Q5_K_M
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
24.2 GB23.3 GB file
32K 32.2 GB · 128K 58.0 GB
Qwen3 32B
24.0 GB23.2 GB file
32K 29.0 GB · 128K —
Q6_K
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
27.9 GB26.9 GB file
32K 35.9 GB · 128K 61.7 GB
Qwen3 32B
27.7 GB26.9 GB file
32K 32.7 GB · 128K —
Q8_0
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
33.6 GB34.8 GB file
32K 41.7 GB · 128K 67.4 GB
Qwen3 32B
33.4 GB34.8 GB file
32K 38.4 GB · 128K —
19 more quants
IQ2_XXS
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
9.9 GB9.0 GB file
32K 17.9 GB · 128K 43.7 GB
Qwen3 32B
9.7 GB9.3 GB file
32K 14.7 GB · 128K —
IQ2_XS
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
10.7 GB10.0 GB file
32K 18.7 GB · 128K 44.5 GB
Qwen3 32B
10.5 GB10.0 GB file
32K 15.5 GB · 128K —
IQ2_S
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
11.1 GB10.4 GB file
32K 19.1 GB · 128K 44.9 GB
Qwen3 32B
10.9 GB10.5 GB file
32K 15.9 GB · 128K —
IQ2_M
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
11.9 GB11.3 GB file
32K 19.9 GB · 128K 45.7 GB
Qwen3 32B
11.7 GB11.6 GB file
32K 16.7 GB · 128K —
IQ3_XXS
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
13.5 GB12.8 GB file
32K 21.6 GB · 128K 47.4 GB
Qwen3 32B
13.3 GB13.0 GB file
32K 18.4 GB · 128K —
Q2_K_S
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
13.9 GB11.5 GB file
32K 22.0 GB · 128K 47.8 GB
Qwen3 32B
not listed
IQ3_XS
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
14.4 GB13.7 GB file
32K 22.4 GB · 128K 48.2 GB
Qwen3 32B
14.2 GB13.7 GB file
32K 19.2 GB · 128K —
IQ3_S
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
14.8 GB14.4 GB file
32K 22.8 GB · 128K 48.6 GB
Qwen3 32B
not listed
IQ3_M
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
15.6 GB14.8 GB file
32K 23.6 GB · 128K 49.4 GB
Qwen3 32B
15.4 GB14.9 GB file
32K 20.4 GB · 128K —
Q3_K_L
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
17.6 GB17.2 GB file
32K 25.7 GB · 128K 51.5 GB
Qwen3 32B
17.4 GB17.3 GB file
32K 22.5 GB · 128K —
IQ4_XS
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
18.5 GB17.7 GB file
32K 26.5 GB · 128K 52.3 GB
Qwen3 32B
18.3 GB17.7 GB file
32K 23.3 GB · 128K —
IQ4_NL
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
19.3 GB18.7 GB file
32K 27.3 GB · 128K 53.1 GB
Qwen3 32B
19.1 GB18.7 GB file
32K 24.1 GB · 128K —
Q4_1
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
19.3 GB20.6 GB file
32K 27.3 GB · 128K 53.1 GB
Qwen3 32B
19.1 GB20.6 GB file
32K 24.1 GB · 128K —
Q4_K_S
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
19.3 GB18.8 GB file
32K 27.3 GB · 128K 53.1 GB
Qwen3 32B
19.1 GB18.8 GB file
32K 24.1 GB · 128K —
Q4_K_L
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
20.9 GB20.4 GB file
32K 29.0 GB · 128K 54.7 GB
Qwen3 32B
20.7 GB20.3 GB file
32K 25.7 GB · 128K —
Q5_0
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
21.3 GB22.6 GB file
32K 29.4 GB · 128K 55.1 GB
Qwen3 32B
21.1 GB22.6 GB file
32K 26.1 GB · 128K —
Q5_K_S
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
23.4 GB22.6 GB file
32K 31.4 GB · 128K 57.2 GB
Qwen3 32B
23.2 GB22.6 GB file
32K 28.2 GB · 128K —
Q5_K_L
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
24.6 GB23.7 GB file
32K 32.6 GB · 128K 58.4 GB
Qwen3 32B
24.4 GB23.7 GB file
32K 29.4 GB · 128K —
BF16
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
66.4 GB65.5 GB file
32K 74.4 GB · 128K 100 GB
Qwen3 32B
66.2 GB65.5 GB file
32K 71.2 GB · 128K —
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
Ollama · Q4_K_M
ollama run hf.co/unsloth/DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen-32B-GGUF:Q4_K_MQwen3 32B
Ollama · Q4_K_M
ollama run hf.co/MaziyarPanahi/Qwen3-32B-GGUF:Q4_K_M| Spec | DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B | Qwen3 32B |
|---|---|---|
| Publisher | DeepSeek | Alibaba |
| Parameters | 32.8B | 32.8B |
| Architecture | Qwen2ForCausalLM | Qwen3ForCausalLM |
| Context | 128K tokens | 40K tokens |
| Modalities | Chat, Reasoning, Function-calling | Chat, Function-calling |
| License | MIT | Apache 2.0 |
| Released | Jan 2025 | Apr 2025 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better, DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B or Qwen3 32B?
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B and Qwen3 32B match in llmrun Score, with values of 97.0 versus 98.4; both fit 24 GB at Q4_K_M. Choose DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B for longer context window and also does reasoning; choose Qwen3 32B for ahead on the benchmarks and fits a 16 GB GPU.
Which needs less VRAM, DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B or Qwen3 32B?
At Q4_K_M, DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B requires 20.5 GB while Qwen3 32B needs 20.3 GB, making Qwen3 32B the easier model to run on your local setup.
Which is faster on RTX 4090?
Estimated decode speed on RTX 4090 is about 32 tok/s for DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B (Q4_K_M) and 32 tok/s for Qwen3 32B (Q4_K_M), so DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B is faster. Estimates, ±20%.
Can I run DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B or Qwen3 32B on a 16 GB GPU?
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B fits at IQ2_M; Qwen3 32B fits at IQ3_XXS.
Which has a longer context window, DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B or Qwen3 32B?
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B supports 131,072 tokens and Qwen3 32B supports 40,960 tokens.