How much VRAM does DeepSeek-V2 Lite 16B (2.4B active) need?
DeepSeek-V2 Lite 16B (2.4B active) needs about 10.1 GB of VRAM at Q4_K_M, or 17.1 GB at Q8_0 and 31.5 GB at FP16. That fits a consumer card: the smallest in our set that holds it at Q4_K_M is the RTX 3060 12GB (12 GB). Weights plus runtime overhead. Budget separately for KV cache, which at 128K is a material share.
Weights-plus-runtime footprint across the six most common quantizations. KV cache is context-dependent and comes on top. A full 128K window is a real share of the budget; size it precisely in the GPU Memory Calculator.
This is a mixture-of-experts model: all 15.7B parameters must sit in memory, but only about 2.4B are active per token — so it loads like a 15.7B model and runs closer to a 2.4B one.
This is the base checkpoint: pretrained on raw text and not tuned to follow instructions, so it continues text rather than answering prompts. That makes it the right starting point if you plan to fine-tune your own model. For chat or assistant work, use DeepSeek-V2 Lite 16B (2.4B active) Chat — same parameter count, so the memory figures below are identical.
Can your GPU run DeepSeek-V2 Lite 16B (2.4B active)?
Pick your card — the answer below is computed by the same engine that produces every figure on this page.
RTX 3060 12GB runs DeepSeek-V2 Lite 16B (2.4B active) at Q4_K_M with 1.3 GB to spare; room left for context and everyday runtime pressure; as a mixture-of-experts model all 15.7B parameters must be resident even though only 2.4B are active per token.
Weights plus runtime overhead. KV cache is not included — it depends on context length and this model’s published architecture.
| Weights (Q4_K_M) | 8.9 GB |
| Runtime overhead | 1.2 GB |
| Estimated total | 10.1 GB |
| Usable VRAM (95% of 12 GB) | 11.4 GB |
Across every GPU we track
- RTX 3060 12GBRecommended+1.3 GB
- RTX 4060 Ti 16GBRecommended+5.1 GB
- RTX 4070 Ti SUPERRecommended+5.1 GB
- RTX 3090Excellent+12.7 GB
- RTX 4090Excellent+12.7 GB
- RTX 5090Excellent+20.3 GB
- A100 40GBExcellent+27.9 GB
- RTX A6000Excellent+35.5 GB
- L40SExcellent+35.5 GB
- A100 80GBExcellent+65.9 GB
- H100 80GBExcellent+65.9 GB
- H200 141GBExcellent+123.9 GB
Estimates, not guarantees: real usage moves with runtime, driver, batch size and context. Size a specific context window in the GPU Memory Calculator.
How was this number calculated? Every figure here comes from Bitpute’s documented calculation methodology — parameters, precision, quantization, runtime overhead and usable VRAM, each formula written out in full.
Memory by quantization
| Quant | Weights | + runtime overhead |
|---|---|---|
| FP16 | 29.2 GB | 31.5 GB |
| Q8_0 | 15.5 GB | 17.1 GB |
| Q6_K | 12.0 GB | 13.3 GB |
| Q5_K_M | 10.4 GB | 11.7 GB |
| Q4_K_M | 8.9 GB | 10.1 GB |
| Q4_0 | 8.2 GB | 9.4 GB |
Overhead = 0.75 GB + 5% of weights (CUDA context, buffers). Add KV cache on top. A full 128K window is a real share of the budget.
Which quantization should you actually run?
DeepSeek-V2 Lite 16B (2.4B active) runs best on a 12 GB card at Q4_0 (9.4 GB), though context headroom gets tight — the practical quality-to-size balance. For Q8_0 (17.1 GB) step up to RTX 4090; full FP16 (31.5 GB) needs RTX A6000 and is rarely worth it at this size. As a mixture-of-experts model it must hold all 15.7B in VRAM but activates only about 2.4B per token, so it runs much faster than its footprint suggests — memory is the limit here, not speed.
Single-GPU fit at Q4_K_M (10.1 GB + KV)
RTX 3060 12GBRTX 4060 Ti 16GBRTX 4070 Ti SUPERRTX 3090RTX 4090RTX 5090A100 40GBRTX A6000L40SA100 80GBH100 80GBH200 141GB
Where the memory goes
Weights and overhead are exact for Q4_K_M. The KV bar assumes a generic 32-layer transformer at 8K context — your model’s layer count and attention scheme move it, which is what the calculator is for.
Weighing the cheapest card that fits against the next one up? RTX 3060 12GB vs RTX 4060 Ti 16GB compares them on bandwidth, power and which models each one holds.
Common questions
How much VRAM does DeepSeek-V2 Lite 16B (2.4B active) need?
DeepSeek-V2 Lite 16B (2.4B active) needs about 10.1 GB of VRAM at Q4_K_M, 17.1 GB at Q8_0, or 31.5 GB at FP16. That is weights plus about 0.75 GB of runtime overhead and 5% of weight size; KV cache is additional and depends on context length.
What GPU can run DeepSeek-V2 Lite 16B (2.4B active)?
At Q4_K_M the smallest card in our set that fits is the RTX 3060 12GB (12 GB usable at 95%). At FP16 you need the A100 40GB (40 GB) or larger.
Can DeepSeek-V2 Lite 16B (2.4B active) run on 24 GB?
Yes. At Q4_K_M it needs about 10.1 GB, which fits inside the ~22.8 GB usable on a 24 GB card.
Same memory footprint as 1 other checkpoint
DeepSeek-V2 Lite 16B (2.4B active) has an identical parameter count to this, so every figure on this page applies to it unchanged. What varies is different checkpoint roles (chat-tuned) — not the size. Choose on capability and licence; the memory budget is identical.
DeepSeek-V2 Lite 16B (2.4B active) Chat
More in the DeepSeek-V2 family
DeepSeek-V2 Lite 16B (2.4B active) ChatDeepSeek-V2 236B (21B active)DeepSeek-V2 236B (21B active) Chat