Can I Run DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen-14B on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080?
Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated July 12, 2026
These figures are for DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen-14B, a distill of Qwen2.5-14B — not the full DeepSeek R1. The full DeepSeek R1 (671B) needs about 405 GB of weights at Q4_K_M and is a different model.
Yes, comfortably — DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B at Q4_K_M needs 10.6 GB at 8K context (8.5 GB weights + 2.1 GB KV cache/overhead), leaving ~5.4 GB of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080's 16 GB, at ~63 tok/s (est.), with room for up to 32K context.
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NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Specs
| VRAM | 16 GB |
| Memory Bandwidth | 717 GB/s |
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B on the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080: VRAM by quantization
| Quant | VRAM needed | Fits 16 GB? | Max context | Whole PC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F16 | 30.1 GB | ✗ No | — | — |
| Q8_0 | 17 GB | ✗ No | — | Build for this |
| Q6_K | 13.6 GB | ✓ Yes | 16K | — |
| Q5_K_M | 12.1 GB | ✓ Yes | 16K | Build for this |
| Q4_K_M | 10.6 GB | ✓ Yes | 32K | Build for this |
| Q3_K_M | 8.1 GB | ✓ Yes | 32K | — |
| Q2_K | 6.7 GB | ✓ Yes | 32K | — |
Assumes an 8K-token context with an f16 KV cache. A longer window needs more; a quantized KV cache needs less. “Max context” is the largest window that still fits in 16 GB. Figures are estimates from parameter count, quantization and memory bandwidth — the analyzer lets you tune KV-cache quant and context.
Context costs VRAM too. At Q4_K_M on the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080: 8K 10.6 GB · 32K 14.6 GB · 128K 30.7 GB ✗. Past 128K it no longer fits 16 GB — a q8_0 KV cache buys roughly half of that back, which the calculator will price for you.
No compatible GPU? DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B on 16 GB of system RAM, CPU only: runs, but it is tight.
DeepSeek R1 Sizes That Fit the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 (at 8K context)
| DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B | Q4_K_M · 10.6 GB at 8K context · ~63 tok/s (est.) |
| DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B | Q4_K_M · 6.7 GB at 8K context · ~97 tok/s (est.) |
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Cloud rates verified 2026-07 — estimates, and marketplace prices vary. Buying price is GPU MSRP only, not a full PC.
FAQ
Is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 enough to run DeepSeek R1 locally?
Yes, comfortably — DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B at Q4_K_M needs 10.6 GB at 8K context (8.5 GB weights + 2.1 GB KV cache/overhead), leaving ~5.4 GB of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080's 16 GB, at ~63 tok/s (est.), with room for up to 32K context.
What's the best DeepSeek R1 size for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080?
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B at Q4_K_M quantization needs 10.6 GB at 8K context (8.5 GB weights + 2.1 GB KV cache/overhead), estimated ~63 tokens/sec, up to 32K context.
Every DeepSeek R1 size on the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080
| Size | VRAM at 8K | Verdict | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek R1 (671B) | 406.5 GB | Does not fit | — |
| DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B | 22.3 GB | Runs at Q2_K | — |
| DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B | 6.7 GB | Runs | ~97 tok/s |
DeepSeek R1 on Other GPUs
- DeepSeek R1 on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080
- DeepSeek R1 on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti
- DeepSeek R1 on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB
- DeepSeek R1 on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Super
- DeepSeek R1 on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super
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