DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B — Hardware Requirements & GPU Compatibility
ChatReasoning
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B is a 1.5B-parameter open language model from litert-community in the DeepSeek R1 family. At Q4_K_M it needs about 0.99 GB of VRAM — see which GPUs and Macs can run it below.
Runs great on a 24 GB GPU
Runs from 8 GB (Q4_K_M · 32K)Best on 24 GB (Q4_K_M · ~662 tok/s · 32K)Macs from 8 GB (Q4_K_M · ~72 tok/s)
MIT
Reference GPU · RTX 4090 24 GB
Estimates, ±20% · how we estimate
Run DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B
One recommended way. Every other method, OS and quant is in the step-by-step guide.Each way opens a step-by-step guide for your OS and quant.
Recommended
vllm serve litert-community/DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen-1.5B --max-model-len 16384vLLM repo with its own quantisation
Download: Weights on Hugging Face
Ways to runOther ways
each opens step-by-stepRun in cloud
Runs on RTX 3080 Ti (12 GB) (9 GB headroom) · Q4_K_M
- Generation speed
- ~599 tok/s
- generation speed
- Cost per 1M output tokens
- $0.056
- per 1M output tokens
How Much VRAM Does DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B Need?
Select a quantization level; the listed hardware adheres to it.
| Quantization | VRAM | +32K | On RTX 4090 (reference) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.7 GB | 4.1 GB | 2-bit · K-quant — 2-bit quantization with K-quant improvements | Fits: 32K context · ~936 tok/s | |
| 0.8 GB | 4.2 GB | 3-bit medium — 3-bit medium quantization | Fits: 32K context · ~819 tok/s | |
| 1.0 GB | 4.4 GB | 4-bit medium — 4-bit medium quantization — most popular sweet spot | Fits: 32K context · ~662 tok/s | |
| 1.2 GB | 4.6 GB | 5-bit medium — 5-bit medium quantization — good quality/size tradeoff | Fits: 32K context · ~555 tok/s | |
| 1.4 GB | 4.8 GB | 6-bit, very good — 6-bit quantization, very good quality | Fits: 32K context · ~482 tok/s | |
| 1.6 GB | 5.1 GB | 8-bit, near-lossless — 8-bit quantization, near-lossless | Fits: 32K context · ~397 tok/s | |
| 3.3 GB | 6.7 GB | 16-bit · bfloat — Brain floating point 16 — preferred for training | Fits: 32K context · ~199 tok/s |
Selected Q4_K_M
4-bit medium quantization2.6GBat 16K context
- Weights
- 0.5 GB
- KV cache
- 1.8 GB
- Overhead
- 0.3 GB
Fits RTX 4090 (reference) · 21.4 GB free · ~662 tok/s
≥50 tok/s needs ≥76 GB/s · RTX 5090 ~1177, RTX 3090 Ti ~662
Which Hardware Can Run DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B?
Q4_K_M · 1.0 GBDeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B (Q4_K_M) requires 1.0 GB of VRAM to load the model weights. For comfortable inference with headroom for KV cache and system overhead, 2+ GB is recommended. 52 GPUs can run it, including NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti. 163 devices with unified memory can run DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B, including Mac Studio (M3 Ultra, 256GB), Mac Studio (M3 Ultra, 512GB).
≤ 11 GB
≤ 11 GB tier →fits · 5.4 GB free · up to 32K ctx
16 GPUs · 1 Mac class · 2 device families
RTX 3080~499Simulate output on RTX 3080RTX 2080 Ti~404Simulate output on RTX 2080 TiRTX 3070 Ti~399Simulate output on RTX 3070 TiM3*8 GB~72Simulate output on iMac 24" M3 (8 GB)Orin Nano~67Simulate output on NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano 8GB (Super)iPhone~48Simulate output on iPhone 1720 GB
fits · 17.4 GB free · up to 32K ctx
1 GPU
RX 7900 XT~485Simulate output on RX 7900 XT32–40 GB
fits · 29.4 GB free · up to 32K ctx
1 GPU · 3 Mac classes · 4 device families
RTX 5090~1177Simulate output on RTX 5090M5 Max36 GB~325Simulate output on Mac Studio M5 Max (36 GB)M532 GB~109Simulate output on MacBook Air 13" M5 (32 GB)Orin~135Simulate output on NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin 32GBSnapdragon X Elite (X1E-80-100)~89Simulate output on Snapdragon X Elite Copilot+ PC
By VRAM tier · typical GPUs and Macs at Q4_K_M
Alternatives to DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B
DeepSeek R1 family · 13 models →Similar models
6| Model | Score | VRAM | tok/s | Why it is similar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MiniCPM V 4.7 1BOpenBMB | — | 1.6 GB | ~512 | same size |
| LFM2 VL 1.6BLiquid AI | — | 1.5 GB | ~496 | same size |
| Inkling Small DSpark PreviewRadixArk | — | 1.5 GB | ~555 | same size |
| Ouro 1.4BByteDance | — | 6.4 GB | ~184 | same size |
| Qwen Base Invoicev1.01 1.5BLaaP-ai | — | 1.7 GB | ~512 | same size |
| OLMo 2 0425 1B InstructAllen AI | — | 1.7 GB | ~449 | same size |
Specifications
- Publisher
- litert-community
- Family
- DeepSeek R1
- Parameters
- 1.5B
- Release Date
- 2025-02-14
- License
- MIT
Frequently Asked Questions
How much VRAM does DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B need?
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B requires 1.0 GB of VRAM at Q4_K_M, or 3.3 GB at BF16.
VRAM = Weights + KV Cache + Overhead
Weights = 1.5B × 4.8 bits ÷ 8 = 0.9 GB
KV Cache + Overhead ≈ 0.1 GB (at 2K context + ~0.3 GB framework)
Fit ratings and hardware model lists check this model with room for a 16K-token context, which needs a little more memory.
VRAM usage by quantization
What's the best quantization for DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B?
For DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B, Q4_K_M (1.0 GB) offers the best balance of quality and VRAM usage. Q5_K_M (1.2 GB) provides better quality if you have the VRAM. The smallest option is Q2_K at 0.7 GB.
VRAM requirement by quantization
★ Recommended — best balance of quality and VRAM usage.
Can I run DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B on a Mac?
Yes — MacBook Air 13" M3 (8 GB) and 145 other Macs can run DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B. Apple Silicon uses unified memory, so the model shares RAM with the system. At Q4_K_M you need at least 1.0 GB of usable unified memory (RAM minus macOS overhead).
Can I run DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B locally?
Yes — DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B can run locally on consumer hardware. Popular tools include Ollama, LM Studio, and llama.cpp.
How fast is DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B?
At Q4_K_M, DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B can reach ~4849 tok/s on AMD Instinct MI350X. On NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090: ~662 tok/s. Speed depends mainly on GPU memory bandwidth. Real-world results typically within ±20%.
tok/s = (bandwidth GB/s ÷ model GB) × efficiency
Example: NVIDIA B200 → 8000 ÷ 0.99 × 0.65 = ~5253 tok/s
Estimated speed at Q4_K_M (1.0 GB)
Real-world results typically within ±20%. Speed depends on batch size, quantization kernel, and software stack.
What's the download size of DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B?
At Q4_K_M, the download is about 0.90 GB. The full-precision BF16 version is 3.00 GB. The smallest option (Q2_K) is 0.64 GB.
Which GPUs can run DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B?
52 consumer GPUs can run DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B at Q4_K_M. Top options include AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT, AMD Radeon RX 6800, AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT. 52 GPUs have plenty of headroom for comfortable inference.
Which devices can run DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B?
163 devices with unified memory can run DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B at Q4_K_M (1.0 GB), including AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (Strix Point) Laptop, ASUS Ascent GX10, Beelink GTR9 Pro (Ryzen AI Max+ 395, 128 GB), Framework Desktop (Ryzen AI Max+ 395, 128 GB). Apple Silicon Macs use unified memory shared between CPU and GPU, making them well-suited for local LLM inference.