DeepSeek-R1 GGUF size and VRAM requirements
unsloth/DeepSeek-R1-GGUF is a very large reasoning-focused model with 671.03 billion parameters, built on the deepseek2 architecture. It is released under the mit license and has been downloaded 28,352 times.
To run unsloth/DeepSeek-R1-GGUF locally at a 4,096-token context, its quantized versions need between 138.07 GB (IQ1_S, lowest quality) and 1257.56 GB (BF16, highest quality) of memory, weights plus KV cache and a system margin included.
GGUF file size and memory by quantization
Compare real GGUF weight sizes, estimated KV cache and total memory for Q4, Q5, Q8 and every quantization published in this repository.
| Quant. | Bits | Quality | Weights | KV | Total | Speed~ | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IQ1_S | 1.67 | Very low | 130.6 GB | 6.67 GB | 138.07 GB | — | Insufficient |
| IQ1_M | 2.01 | Very low | 157.32 GB | 6.67 GB | 164.79 GB | — | Insufficient |
| IQ2_XXS | 2.34 | Very low | 182.69 GB | 6.67 GB | 190.16 GB | — | Insufficient |
| Q2_K_XS | 2.64 | Low | 206.06 GB | 6.67 GB | 213.53 GB | — | Insufficient |
| Q2_K_XL | 2.7 | Low | 211.04 GB | 6.67 GB | 218.51 GB | — | Insufficient |
| Q2_K | 2.91 | Low | 227.27 GB | 6.67 GB | 234.74 GB | — | Insufficient |
| Q2_K_L | 2.91 | Low | 227.47 GB | 6.67 GB | 234.94 GB | — | Insufficient |
| Q3_K_M | 3.81 | Fair | 297.28 GB | 6.67 GB | 304.75 GB | — | Insufficient |
| Q4_K_M | 4.82 | Good | 376.65 GB | 6.67 GB | 384.13 GB | — | Insufficient |
| Q5_K_M | 5.67 | Very good | 442.75 GB | 6.67 GB | 450.22 GB | — | Insufficient |
| Q6_K | 6.57 | Excellent | 512.97 GB | 6.67 GB | 520.44 GB | — | Insufficient |
| Q8_0 | 8.5 | Excellent | 664.3 GB | 6.67 GB | 671.77 GB | — | Insufficient |
| BF16 | 16.0 | Excellent | 1250.09 GB | 6.67 GB | 1257.56 GB | — | Insufficient |
KV cache computed from the model's exact architecture. Speed is a rough estimate bounded by memory bandwidth.
Frequently asked questions
Can I run unsloth/DeepSeek-R1-GGUF on an 8 GB GPU?
No. unsloth/DeepSeek-R1-GGUF does not fit on an 8 GB GPU, even with the smallest quantization and system RAM offloading.
Can I run unsloth/DeepSeek-R1-GGUF on a 16 GB GPU?
No. unsloth/DeepSeek-R1-GGUF does not fit on a 16 GB GPU, even with the smallest quantization and system RAM offloading.
Can I run unsloth/DeepSeek-R1-GGUF on a 24 GB GPU?
No. unsloth/DeepSeek-R1-GGUF does not fit on a 24 GB GPU, even with the smallest quantization and system RAM offloading.
What is the best quantization for unsloth/DeepSeek-R1-GGUF?
If memory allows, higher bits-per-weight means better quality. A common sweet spot is a Q4_K_M or Q5_K_M quantization, which keeps most of the quality while roughly halving the memory versus 8-bit. Pick the highest quantization that still fits in your VRAM.