Model comparison
Granite 4.2 30b vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
Granite 4.2 30b is the stronger model overall, scoring 41.8 to 40.0 on the Noometry Index.
Last verified . 11 shared benchmarks.
NVIDIASummary
- They share 11 benchmarks with published results for both. Granite 4.2 30b scores higher in 7 categories and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning in 0 categories; 5 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Granite 4.2 30b leads 53.8 to 48.5.
Side by side
| Granite 4.2 30b | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | IBM | NVIDIA |
| Noometry Index | 41.8 | 40.0 |
| Released | — | 2026-08-11 |
| Weights | Open | Open |
| Context window | — | 262K |
| Max output | — | 262K |
| Input $ / M tokens | — | $0.05 |
| Output $ / M tokens | — | $0.20 |
| Results tracked | 11 | 18 |
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Category by category
Coding Too close to call
Granite 4.2 30b: 41.0 (#126), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 40.4 (#141)
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 30b | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1396 | 1375 |
Reasoning Too close to call
Granite 4.2 30b: 27.8 (#112), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 26.8 (#127)
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 30b | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1374 | 1337 |
Math Not comparable
Granite 4.2 30b: —, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 37.5 (#155)
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 30b | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | — | 1359 |
Knowledge Granite 4.2 30b leads
Granite 4.2 30b: 39.1 (#138), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 37.5 (#154)
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 30b | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1406 | 1356 |
Multilingual Granite 4.2 30b leads
Granite 4.2 30b: 47.3 (#151), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 44.0 (#180)
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 30b | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1340 | 1295 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1414 | 1359 |
| LMArena Russian | 1343 | 1253 |
| LMArena French | — | 1366 |
| LMArena German | — | 1282 |
| LMArena Japanese | — | 1206 |
| LMArena Korean | — | 1238 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1345 |
Instruction Following Granite 4.2 30b leads
Granite 4.2 30b: 71.2 (#155), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 69.6 (#170)
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 30b | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1347 | 1318 |
Long Context Granite 4.2 30b leads
Granite 4.2 30b: 41.4 (#140), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 39.9 (#165)
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 30b | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1359 | 1314 |
Writing & Preference Granite 4.2 30b leads
Granite 4.2 30b: 53.8 (#156), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 48.5 (#201)
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 30b | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1361 | 1327 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1288 | 1254 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1339 | 1328 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | — | 1280 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Granite 4.2 30b better than Nemotron 3.5 Lightning?
Granite 4.2 30b is the stronger model overall, scoring 41.8 to 40.0 on the Noometry Index.
Is Granite 4.2 30b or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning better for coding?
They score almost the same on coding (41.0 vs 40.4); test both on your own repository before choosing.
How many benchmarks do Granite 4.2 30b and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning share?
11 benchmarks have published results for both models. Granite 4.2 30b has 11 scored results on Noometry and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has 18.