Qwen3 32B vs DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
Side-by-side VRAM requirements, benchmark scores, and GPU compatibility for local AI inference.
Quick verdict
Qwen3 32B is more hardware-efficient: it needs 23.9 GB at its Q4_K_M build vs 24.6 GB for DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B's Q4_K_M, fitting on 74 GPUs natively.
VRAM at each quantization (8k context)
FP32
Qwen3 32B
148.4 GB
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
148.0 GB
BF16
Qwen3 32B
75.0 GB
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
75.2 GB
FP16
Qwen3 32B
75.0 GB
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
75.2 GB
Q8_0
Qwen3 32B
40.5 GB
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
41.1 GB
Q6_K
Qwen3 32B
31.7 GB
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
32.3 GB
Q5_K_M
Qwen3 32B
27.7 GB
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
28.3 GB
Q4_K_M
Qwen3 32B
23.9 GB
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
24.6 GB
Q3_K_M
Qwen3 32B
19.2 GB
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
19.9 GB
Q2_K
Qwen3 32B
15.5 GB
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
16.3 GB
NVFP4
Qwen3 32B
19.9 GB
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
20.6 GB
| Quant | Qwen3 32B | DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| FP32 | 148.4 GB | 148.0 GB | +0% |
| BF16 | 75.0 GB | 75.2 GB | -0% |
| FP16 | 75.0 GB | 75.2 GB | -0% |
| Q8_0 | 40.5 GB | 41.1 GB | -1% |
| Q6_K | 31.7 GB | 32.3 GB | -2% |
| Q5_K_M | 27.7 GB | 28.3 GB | -2% |
| Q4_K_M | 23.9 GB | 24.6 GB | -3% |
| Q3_K_M | 19.2 GB | 19.9 GB | -4% |
| Q2_K | 15.5 GB | 16.3 GB | -5% |
| NVFP4 | 19.9 GB | 20.6 GB | -4% |
Diff is Qwen3 32B relative to DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B. Green = lower VRAM (fits more GPUs).
Model specifications
| Spec | Qwen3 32B | DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B |
|---|---|---|
| Org | Alibaba | DeepSeek |
| Parameters | 32.8B | 32.5B |
| Architecture | Dense | Dense |
| Context | 128k tokens | 125k tokens |
| Modalities | text | text |
| License | Apache 2.0 | MIT |
| Commercial | Yes | Yes |
| Released | 2025-04-29 | 2025-01-20 |
| GPUs (native) | 74 / 119 | 70 / 119 |
Benchmark scores
| Benchmark | Qwen3 32B | DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B |
|---|---|---|
| MMLU-Pro | 65.5 | 65.0 |
Green = higher score (better). N/A = not yet available. ~ = inherited from a base model, not independently reported for that release itself.
GPUs that run only Qwen3 32B(4)
- Apple M5 Pro (24GB)24 GB
- Apple M4 Pro (24GB)24 GB
- Apple M3 (24GB)24 GB
- Apple M2 (24GB)24 GB
GPUs that run only DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B(0)
Every GPU that runs DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B also runs Qwen3 32B.
GPUs that run both natively(70)
- NVIDIA RTX 509032 GB
- NVIDIA RTX 409024 GB
- NVIDIA RTX 309024 GB
- NVIDIA RTX 3090 Ti24 GB
- NVIDIA B300 288GB288 GB
- NVIDIA B200 180GB180 GB
- NVIDIA H200 141GB141 GB
- NVIDIA H100 80GB80 GB
- NVIDIA A100 80GB80 GB
- NVIDIA A100 40GB40 GB
- NVIDIA L40S48 GB
- NVIDIA RTX A600048 GB
- +58 more GPUs run both
Which should you use?
Choose Qwen3 32B if:
- • You want maximum capability and have a 24 GB+ GPU
- • Long context matters: it supports 128k tokens vs 125k
- • Benchmark quality matters: scores 65.5 vs 65.0 on MMLU-Pro
- • It's the newer release (2025-04-29 vs 2025-01-20); check the benchmark table above for what actually improved
Choose DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B if:
- • You have limited VRAM: it's a smaller model needing 24.6 GB vs 23.9 GB
Frequently asked questions
- Which is better, Qwen3 32B or DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B?
- Qwen3 32B has 32.8B parameters vs 32.5B for DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B, so Qwen3 32B is the larger model. Qwen3 32B is more hardware-efficient, needing 23.9 GB at its Q4_K_M build vs 24.6 GB for DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B's Q4_K_M. Qwen3 32B runs on more GPUs natively (74 vs 70). On MMLU-Pro, Qwen3 32B scores higher (65.5 vs 65.0).
- How much VRAM does Qwen3 32B need vs DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B?
- At 8k context, Qwen3 32B needs approximately 23.9 GB of VRAM at its Q4_K_M build, while DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B needs 24.6 GB at its Q4_K_M build. At the largest build each ships, Qwen3 32B requires 75.0 GB (FP16) vs 75.2 GB (FP16) for DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B.
- Can you run Qwen3 32B on the same GPUs as DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B?
- Yes, 70 GPUs can run both natively in VRAM, including NVIDIA RTX 5090, NVIDIA RTX 4090, NVIDIA RTX 3090. However, 4 GPUs can run Qwen3 32B but not DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B, and no GPU can run DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B without also fitting Qwen3 32B.
- What is the difference between Qwen3 32B and DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B?
- Qwen3 32B has 32.8B parameters (dense) with a 128k context window. DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B has 32.5B parameters (dense) with a 125k context window. Licensing differs: Qwen3 32B is Apache 2.0 while DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B is MIT.
- Which model fits in 24 GB of VRAM, Qwen3 32B or DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B?
- Neither fits in 24 GB: Qwen3 32B needs 23.9 GB at Q4_K_M and DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B needs 24.6 GB at Q4_K_M. Both require at least a 32 GB GPU.