DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B hardware requirements
Open license · MITReasoning
What is DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B?
DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B is a reasoning model that DeepSeek released in January 2025. DeepSeek built it by fine-tuning Llama 3.1 8B on samples generated by DeepSeek-R1, targeting math, code and step-by-step reasoning. DeepSeek's weights are MIT-licensed, but the model card notes that the Llama 3.1 8B base it builds on is under the Llama 3.1 license.
About the model
- Parameters
- 8.03B
- Attention
- Full attention
- Max context
- 131,072 tokens
- Released
- 2025-01-20
Other sizes in this series
| Model | Parameters | Baseline quant | Memory needed (8k) | GeForce RTX 4060 | GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB | GeForce RTX 3090 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8Bthis model | 8.03B | Q4_K_M | 6.3 GB | Runs great | Runs great | Runs great |
| DeepSeek R1 0528 Qwen3 8B | 8.19B | Q4_K_M | 6.5 GB | Runs great | Runs great | Runs great |
| DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B | 14.77B | Q4_K_M | 10.7 GB | Runs slowly | Runs well | Runs great |
| DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B | 32.8B | Q4_K_M | 22.1 GB | Won't run | Runs slowly | Runs well |
GGUF files
| Quant | File size | Quality | Published by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q2_K | 3.18 GB | Heavy loss | Community GGUF · bartowski |
| IQ4_XS | 4.45 GB | Good balance | Community GGUF · bartowski |
| Q4_K_Mbaseline | 4.92 GB | Good balance | Community GGUF · bartowski |
| Q8_0 | 8.54 GB | Near-lossless | Community GGUF · bartowski |
Memory needed by quant and context
| Quant | 4k | 8k | 16k | 32k | 64k | 128k |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q2_K | 4.1 | 4.6 | 5.8 | 8.1 | 12.7 | 21.9 |
| IQ4_XS | 5.2 | 5.8 | 7.0 | 9.3 | 13.8 | 23.0 |
| Q4_K_M | 5.7 | 6.3 | 7.4 | 9.7 | 14.3 | 23.5 |
| Q8_0 | 9.0 | 9.6 | 10.8 | 13.1 | 17.7 | 26.8 |
Which GPUs can run DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B?
How to read the verdicts
- Runs great
- Fully on the GPU at 20 tok/s or more
- Runs well
- Fully on the GPU at 8–20 tok/s; MoE experts in system RAM at 20 tok/s or more; or at least 90% on the GPU at 8 tok/s or more
- Runs slowly
- 2–8 tok/s; CPU-only; less than 90% on the GPU; or MoE experts in system RAM below 20 tok/s
- Won't run
- Does not fit, or under 2 tok/s
Filter this list by budget, type and context in the calculator
Scroll sideways to see every column.
| Hardware | Verdict | Speed | Quant | Memory | Runs as | Context | Notes | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GeForce RTX 5090 | Runs great | est. 209.3 tok/s184.2–234.4calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 32.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 128k | — | $4,200 street (as of 2026-08-09) |
| NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell | Runs great | est. 209.3 tok/s184.2–234.4calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 96.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 128k | — | — |
| NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q | Runs great | est. 209.3 tok/s184.2–234.4calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 96.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 128k | — | — |
| Radeon RX 7900 XTX | Runs great | est. 121.7 tok/s107.1–136.3calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 24.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 64k | — | $999 launch MSRP |
| GeForce RTX 3090 Ti | Runs great | est. 117.7 tok/s103.6–131.8calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 24.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 64k | — | $1,999 launch MSRP |
| GeForce RTX 4090 | Runs great | est. 117.7 tok/s103.6–131.8calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 24.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 64k | — | $2,755 street (as of 2026-08-09) |
| Apple M5 Ultra · 96 GB | Runs great | est. 116.8 tok/s93.4–140.1calibrated estimate ±20% | Q4_K_M | 6.6 / 67.2 GB | Unified memory | up to 128k | — | — |
| GeForce RTX 5080 | Runs great | est. 112.1 tok/s98.7–125.6calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 16.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 64k | — | $1,256 street (as of 2026-08-09) |
| GeForce RTX 3090 | Runs great | est. 109.3 tok/s96.2–122.4calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 24.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 64k | — | $1,050 street (as of 2026-08-09) |
| GeForce RTX 3080 12GB | Runs great | est. 106.5 tok/s93.7–119.3calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 12.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 32k | — | $799 launch MSRP |
| GeForce RTX 5070 Ti | Runs great | est. 104.6 tok/s92.1–117.2calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 16.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 64k | — | $949 street (as of 2026-08-09) |
| GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop | Runs great | est. 104.6 tok/s92.1–117.2calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 16.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 64k | — | — |
| GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop | Runs great | est. 104.6 tok/s92.1–117.2calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 24.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 64k | — | — |
| Radeon RX 7900 XT | Runs great | est. 101.4 tok/s89.3–113.6calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 20.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 64k | — | $899 launch MSRP |
| GeForce RTX 3080 10GB | Runs great | est. 88.8 tok/s78.1–99.4calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 10.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 16k | — | $699 launch MSRP |
| GeForce RTX 4080 Super | Runs great | est. 86.0 tok/s75.6–96.3calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 16.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 64k | — | $999 launch MSRP |
| GeForce RTX 4080 | Runs great | est. 83.7 tok/s73.7–93.8calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 16.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 64k | — | $1,199 launch MSRP |
| Radeon RX 9070 | Runs great | est. 81.8 tok/s72.0–91.6calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 16.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 64k | — | $639 street (as of 2026-08-09) |
| Radeon RX 9070 XT | Runs great | est. 81.8 tok/s72.0–91.6calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 16.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 64k | — | $689 street (as of 2026-08-09) |
| Radeon RX 7800 XT | Runs great | est. 79.1 tok/s69.6–88.6calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 16.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 64k | — | $499 launch MSRP |
| GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super | Runs great | est. 78.5 tok/s69.1–87.9calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 16.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 64k | — | $799 launch MSRP |
| GeForce RTX 5070 | Runs great | est. 78.5 tok/s69.1–87.9calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 12.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 32k | — | $629 street (as of 2026-08-09) |
| GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Laptop | Runs great | est. 78.5 tok/s69.1–87.9calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 12.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 32k | — | — |
| Apple M3 Ultra · 96 GB | Runs great | est. 77.9 tok/s62.3–93.5calibrated estimate ±20% | Q4_K_M | 6.6 / 67.2 GB | Unified memory | up to 64k | — | — |
| Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) · 48 GB | Runs great | est. 77.9 tok/s62.3–93.4calibrated estimate ±20% | Q4_K_M | 6.6 / 33.6 GB | Unified memory | up to 64k | — | — |
| Apple M2 Ultra · 64 GB | Runs great | est. 76.1 tok/s60.9–91.3calibrated estimate ±20% | Q4_K_M | 6.6 / 44.8 GB | Unified memory | up to 64k | — | — |
| GeForce RTX 2080 Ti | Runs great | est. 71.9 tok/s63.3–80.6calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 11.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 32k | — | $999 launch MSRP |
| Apple M4 Max (40-core GPU) · 48 GB | Runs great | est. 69.2 tok/s55.4–83.1calibrated estimate ±20% | Q4_K_M | 6.6 / 33.6 GB | Unified memory | up to 64k | — | — |
| GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop | Runs great | est. 67.3 tok/s59.2–75.3calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 16.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 32k | — | — |
| GeForce RTX 4070 | Runs great | est. 58.9 tok/s51.8–65.9calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 12.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 32k | — | $599 launch MSRP |
| GeForce RTX 4070 Super | Runs great | est. 58.9 tok/s51.8–65.9calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 12.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 32k | — | $599 launch MSRP |
| Apple M5 Max (32-core GPU) · 36 GB | Runs great | est. 58.3 tok/s46.7–70.0calibrated estimate ±20% | Q4_K_M | 6.6 / 25.2 GB | Unified memory | up to 32k | — | — |
| GeForce GTX 1080 Ti | Runs great | est. 56.5 tok/s39.6–73.5theoretical estimate ±30% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 11.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 32k | — | $699 launch MSRP |
| GeForce RTX 3070 | Runs great | est. 52.3 tok/s46.0–58.6calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 8.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 8k | — | $499 launch MSRP |
| GeForce RTX 5060 | Runs great | est. 52.3 tok/s46.0–58.6calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 8.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 8k | — | $339 street (as of 2026-08-09) |
| GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB | Runs great | est. 52.3 tok/s46.0–58.6calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 16.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 32k | — | $569 street (as of 2026-08-09) |
| GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8GB | Runs great | est. 52.3 tok/s46.0–58.6calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 8.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 8k | — | $429 street (as of 2026-08-09) |
| Apple M4 Max (32-core GPU) · 36 GB | Runs great | est. 52.0 tok/s41.6–62.4calibrated estimate ±20% | Q4_K_M | 6.6 / 25.2 GB | Unified memory | up to 32k | — | — |
| GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop | Runs great | est. 50.5 tok/s44.4–56.5calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 12.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 32k | — | — |
| Intel Arc B580 | Runs great | est. 44.9 tok/s35.9–53.9calibrated estimate ±20% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 12.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 16k | — | $290 street (as of 2026-08-09) |
| GeForce RTX 3060 12GB | Runs great | est. 42.0 tok/s37.0–47.1calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 12.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 16k | — | $250 street (as of 2026-08-09) |
| Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB | Runs great | est. 40.8 tok/s35.9–45.7calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 16.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 16k | — | $449 street (as of 2026-08-09) |
| Apple M5 Pro · 24 GB | Runs great | est. 38.9 tok/s31.1–46.7calibrated estimate ±20% | Q4_K_M | 6.6 / 16.8 GB | Unified memory | up to 16k | — | — |
| NVIDIA DGX Spark · 128 GB | Runs great | est. 35.5 tok/s28.4–42.6calibrated estimate ±20% | Q4_K_M | 6.6 / 116.9 GB | Unified memory | up to 16k | — | $3,999 launch MSRP (128 GB) |
| Ryzen AI Max+ 395 (Strix Halo) · 32 GB | Runs great | est. 35.0 tok/s28.0–42.0calibrated estimate ±20% | Q4_K_M | 6.6 / 22.4 GB | Unified memory | up to 8k | — | $1,999 launch MSRP (128 GB) |
| Apple M4 Pro · 24 GB | Runs great | est. 34.6 tok/s27.7–41.5calibrated estimate ±20% | Q4_K_M | 6.6 / 16.8 GB | Unified memory | up to 8k | — | — |
| GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 16GB | Runs great | est. 33.6 tok/s29.6–37.7calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 16.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 8k | — | $499 launch MSRP |
| GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB | Runs great | est. 33.6 tok/s29.6–37.7calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 8.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 8k | — | $399 launch MSRP |
| GeForce RTX 4060 | Runs great | est. 31.8 tok/s28.0–35.6calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 8.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 8k | — | $299 launch MSRP |
| GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop | Runs well | est. 29.9 tok/s26.3–33.5calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 8.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 8k |
| — |
| GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop | Runs well | est. 29.9 tok/s26.3–33.5calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 8.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 8k |
| — |
| GeForce RTX 3050 8GB | Runs well | est. 26.2 tok/s23.0–29.3calibrated estimate ±12% | Q4_K_M | 6.9 / 8.0 GB | Full GPU | up to 8k |
| $249 launch MSRP |
| Apple M5 · 16 GB | Runs well | est. 19.5 tok/s15.6–23.4calibrated estimate ±20% | Q4_K_M | 6.6 / 11.2 GB | Unified memory | up to 32k | — | — |
| Apple M6 · 16 GB | Runs well | est. 19.5 tok/s15.6–23.4calibrated estimate ±20% | Q4_K_M | 6.6 / 11.2 GB | Unified memory | up to 32k | — | — |
| Apple M4 · 16 GB | Runs well | est. 15.2 tok/s12.2–18.3calibrated estimate ±20% | Q4_K_M | 6.6 / 11.2 GB | Unified memory | up to 16k | — | — |
| DDR5-6000 dual-channel CPU · 16 GB | Runs slowly | est. 8.0 tok/s6.4–9.6calibrated estimate ±20% | Q4_K_M | 6.0 GB RAM | CPU only | up to 32k | — | — |
| DDR5-5600 dual-channel CPU · 16 GB | Runs slowly | est. 7.5 tok/s6.0–9.0calibrated estimate ±20% | Q4_K_M | 6.0 GB RAM | CPU only | up to 32k | — | — |
| DDR4-3200 dual-channel CPU · 16 GB | Runs slowly | est. 4.3 tok/s3.4–5.1calibrated estimate ±20% | Q4_K_M | 6.0 GB RAM | CPU only | up to 16k | — | — |
Models with a thinking mode spend extra tokens thinking, so their speed thresholds are 1.5× stricter (30 / 12 / 3 tok/s). With thinking turned off, a model may do one grade better.
Cheapest GPUs that run it
- Runs greatGeForce RTX 3060 12GB$250 street (as of 2026-08-09), est. 42.0 tok/s (37.0–47.1, calibrated estimate ±12%).
Measured results for DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B
No public measurements for this model yet.
Frequently asked questions
How much VRAM does DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B need?
At Q4_K_M the file is 4.92 GB; with 8k context a graphics card needs about 6.3 GB (weights 4.62 GB, KV cache 1.1 GB, compute buffer 0.6 GB). The smallest tracked file (Q2_K (heavy quality loss)) needs about 4.6 GB. Part of the file stays off the graphics card: llama.cpp keeps the input embedding table in system RAM. A Mac counts the whole file, so it needs a little more.
What is the cheapest GPU that runs DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B well?
Cheapest that runs it great: GeForce RTX 3060 12GB at $250 (street price as of 2026-08-09), est. 42.0 tok/s (37.0–47.1, calibrated estimate ±12%).
Can DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B run on an 8 GB, 16 GB or 24 GB GPU?
At Q4_K_M with 8k context: GeForce RTX 4060 — Runs great, est. 31.8 tok/s (28.0–35.6, calibrated estimate ±12%); GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB — Runs great, est. 52.3 tok/s (46.0–58.6, calibrated estimate ±12%); GeForce RTX 3090 — Runs great, est. 109.3 tok/s (96.2–122.4, calibrated estimate ±12%).
Speeds are estimates from memory bandwidth, calibrated against public benchmarks, and each one comes with an error band and a confidence label. Real results vary with drivers, backend, context length and thermals.