Model comparison
Granite 4.2 3b vs Granite 4.2 8B
Granite 4.2 8B is the stronger model overall, scoring 40.5 to 39.4 on the Noometry Index.
Last verified . 11 shared benchmarks.
Summary
- They share 11 benchmarks with published results for both. Granite 4.2 3b scores higher in 0 categories and Granite 4.2 8B in 7 categories; 5 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
Side by side
| Granite 4.2 3b | Granite 4.2 8B | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | IBM | IBM |
| Noometry Index | 39.4 | 40.5 |
| Released | — | — |
| Weights | Open | Open |
| Context window | — | 131K |
| Max output | — | 118K |
| Input $ / M tokens | — | $0.06 |
| Output $ / M tokens | — | $0.25 |
| Results tracked | 11 | 11 |
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Category by category
Coding Too close to call
Granite 4.2 3b: 40.0 (#151), Granite 4.2 8B: 40.5 (#137)
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Granite 4.2 8B |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1361 | 1380 |
Reasoning Too close to call
Granite 4.2 3b: 26.0 (#138), Granite 4.2 8B: 26.6 (#131)
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Granite 4.2 8B |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1306 | 1329 |
Knowledge Granite 4.2 8B leads
Granite 4.2 3b: 36.3 (#171), Granite 4.2 8B: 38.4 (#145)
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Granite 4.2 8B |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1315 | 1384 |
Multilingual Granite 4.2 8B leads
Granite 4.2 3b: 42.1 (#198), Granite 4.2 8B: 44.5 (#178)
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Granite 4.2 8B |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1268 | 1302 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1269 | 1366 |
| LMArena Russian | 1249 | 1285 |
Instruction Following Granite 4.2 8B leads
Granite 4.2 3b: 67.1 (#200), Granite 4.2 8B: 68.7 (#184)
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Granite 4.2 8B |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1273 | 1301 |
Long Context Granite 4.2 8B leads
Granite 4.2 3b: 39.2 (#185), Granite 4.2 8B: 40.3 (#159)
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Granite 4.2 8B |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1291 | 1324 |
Writing & Preference Granite 4.2 8B leads
Granite 4.2 3b: 47.2 (#212), Granite 4.2 8B: 49.6 (#189)
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Granite 4.2 8B |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1293 | 1320 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1205 | 1236 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1290 | 1301 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Granite 4.2 3b better than Granite 4.2 8B?
Granite 4.2 8B is the stronger model overall, scoring 40.5 to 39.4 on the Noometry Index.
Is Granite 4.2 3b or Granite 4.2 8B better for coding?
They score almost the same on coding (40.0 vs 40.5); test both on your own repository before choosing.
How many benchmarks do Granite 4.2 3b and Granite 4.2 8B share?
11 benchmarks have published results for both models. Granite 4.2 3b has 11 scored results on Noometry and Granite 4.2 8B has 11.