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DeepSeekvsStepfun
DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp vs Step 3.5 Flash
Side-by-side technical showdown between DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp and Step 3.5 Flash on TheModelverse. Compare verified LLM benchmark scores, quantization compression, local GPU hardware sizing, and API inference pricing.
Executive Showdown & Winner Breakdown
Who Wins Where: DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp vs Step 3.5 Flash
Verified across benchmarks, pricing & local VRAM footprintLocal Portability & Sovereignty
Self-HostableLeader:Step 3.5 Flash(Open Weights vs Closed API)
Step 3.5 Flash can be deployed on private GPUs, Ollama, and on-prem clusters without third-party vendor lock-in.
Hardware Sizing & Model Compression
LLM Hardware Sizing & Quantization Sizing
Simulate weight compression levels and dynamic KV-cache expansion to verify whether these models fit on your local hardware or cloud GPU cluster.
Quantization Level
Active Precision
4 bits / parameter
VRAM Reduction
-72.5% vs FP16
Benchmark Retention
96–98% (Sweet Spot)
Context Simulator
Total VRAM Footprint @ 8k Context (INT4 (GGUF / AWQ))
Model 1Cloud Hosted
DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp
Zero Local VRAM
Inference runs fully on provider cloud infrastructure. Zero GPU required locally.
Total Params:
Proprietary
Active Compute:
Dense
Attention Scheme:
MLA (Multi-Head Latent)
Max Context:
1000k tokens
Target Hardware: Zero Local VRAM (Managed Cloud API)
Model 2Cloud Hosted
Step 3.5 Flash
Zero Local VRAM
Inference runs fully on provider cloud infrastructure. Zero GPU required locally.
Total Params:
Open Weights
Active Compute:
Dense
Attention Scheme:
GQA / Multi-Head
Max Context:
256k tokens
Target Hardware: Zero Local VRAM (Managed Cloud API)
GPU & Hardware Tier Compatibility Matrix
| Hardware Configuration | Available VRAM | DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|---|
16 GB VRAM RTX 4070 / 4080 (16GB), Mac M-Series (16GB) | 16 GB | Cloud API | Cloud API |
24 GB VRAM 1x RTX 3090 / 4090 (24GB), Mac M-Series (32GB) | 24 GB | Cloud API | Cloud API |
48 GB VRAM 2x RTX 4090 (TP=2), 1x L40S, Mac M-Series (64GB) | 48 GB | Cloud API | Cloud API |
80 GB VRAM 1x NVIDIA A100 / H100 (80GB), Mac Studio (128GB) | 80 GB | Cloud API | Cloud API |
160 GB Node 2x H100 (TP=2), 4x L40S, Mac Studio (192GB) | 160 GB | Cloud API | Cloud API |
Multi-Node Cluster 4x–8x H100 Datacenter Cluster | 320 GB | Cloud API | Cloud API |
LLM Benchmark Database
LLM Benchmark Showdown & Head-to-Head Deltas
Normalized evaluation scores across code generation, advanced reasoning, mathematics, and multidisciplinary exams.
SWE-bench (Coding)Score % / Points
DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp
—
Step 3.5 Flash
74.4
Inference Economics & Cost Simulator
Token Pricing & Scale Economics
Calculate estimated monthly cloud API spend and evaluate the breakeven point vs self-hosted GPU hardware.
10k500k1M
| Pricing Metric | DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Input Cost (/1M tokens) | Free / Open | Free / Open |
| Cached Input (/1M tokens) | — | — |
| Output Cost (/1M tokens) | Free / Open | Free / Open |
| Simulated Monthly Bill (100,000 calls) | $0 API Cost Open Weights | $0 API Cost Open Weights |
| Self-Hosted Breakeven vs $864/mo GPU | Self-Hostable Day 1 | Self-Hostable Day 1 |
Architecture Matrix
| Feature | DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Release Date | 8/21/2026 | 1/29/2026 |
| Routing / MoE | Dense | Dense |
| Attention Mechanism | Standard / GQA | Standard / GQA |
| Source Type | Proprietary Commercial API | Open Weights (Open) |
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