Family DeepSeek · 32B parameters

DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B

The best accessible open-weight reasoner.

🇨🇳 DeepSeek·License MIT·Context 32k tokens·Output January 2025·Fits within the 128 GB of the GIGABYTE AI TOP ATOM← Catalog

01What it can do

Strengths
  • Explicit step-by-step reasoning
  • Excellent at math and science
  • 32k context
  • MIT License
Limitations to know
  • —Very verbose (thinking tokens)
  • —Slower to respond
Architecture
Distillation of DeepSeek R1 · enhanced chain-of-thought
Training
Distilled from R1 671B · RL on reasoning problems.
Ideal for
Advanced mathScienceAgents

05Install

Install Ollama for your OS. Check the model and its quantization before downloading. Start with 4096 tokens of context, then check placement with ollama ps. A command below is not proof that a test was run on your machine.

$ollama run deepseek-r1:32b
⚠
First download: between 2 and 40 GB depending on the selected quantization. Plan for sufficient disk space; a stable connection is recommended. Subsequent launches are instant.

02Required memory

Approximate GPU VRAM required to run this model, including 4k tokens of context overhead. For a longer context, add ~1 GB per 8k-token increment.

Q4_K_M
The lightest, ~5% loss
19 GB
Q5_K_M
Good quality/size compromise
23 GB
Q8_0
Nearly indistinguishable from FP16
35 GB
FP16
Full precision — server use
64 GB
Fallback CPU · If you don't have a GPU, allow 32 GB of RAM minimum to run this model at reduced speed.

What hardware do you need for DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B?

To run DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B locally with Q4 quantization, you need about 19 GB of VRAM. An option to compare: GMKtec EVO-X2 64GB / 1TB (Ryzen AI Max+ 395) — leave some headroom for the system and context; check engine compatibility with the GPU.

Current offer: GMKtec EVO-X2 64GB / 1TB (Ryzen AI Max+ 395)
AmazonSee price →

Why this choice? Our complete guide on GMKtec EVO-X2 64GB / 1TB (Ryzen AI Max+ 395) →

Affiliate links — commission possible at no extra cost to you; independent recommendations. As an Amazon Associate, BestLLMfor earns from qualifying purchases.

On the go: DeepSeek R1 Distill 32B also runs on a RTX laptop PC (24 GB of VRAM) →

This model in your private ChatGPT, without the cloud

Your private ChatGPT, free, on your own machine in an hour — LM Studio, Ollama, Open WebUI, your documents, no cloud.

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03Expected speed

Tokens generated per second in Q4_K_M, 4k context. Beyond 20 t/s, reading is comfortable. Below 10 t/s, that's just for testing.

Entry-level
~3t/s
GTX 1650, RX 6600, MBA M2 8GB
Mid-range
~12t/s
RTX 4060, 4070, MBP M3 Pro
High-end
~30t/s
RTX 4090, M4 Max, Radeon 7900

04Public benchmarks

Scores reproduced from model cards or MMLU-Pro / community sources. Unit: % correct answers.

AIME 2024
72.6
MATH-500
94.3
GPQA
62.1