# DeepSeek-V3.1 vs Granite 4.2 3b

> DeepSeek-V3.1 is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.8 to 39.4 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/deepseek-v3-1-vs-granite-4-2-3b
- Last updated: 2026-10-12
- Shared benchmarks: 11

## Summary

- They share 11 benchmarks with published results for both. DeepSeek-V3.1 scores higher in 6 categories and Granite 4.2 3b in 1 category; 6 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where DeepSeek-V3.1 leads 60.3 to 47.2.

## Snapshot

| | DeepSeek-V3.1 | Granite 4.2 3b |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | DeepSeek | IBM |
| Noometry Index | 42.8 | 39.4 |
| Rank | 108 | 169 |
| Context | 164K | — |
| Input $/M | $0.25 | — |
| Output $/M | $0.95 | — |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- DeepSeek-V3.1: 40.3 (#144)
- Granite 4.2 3b: 40.0 (#151)

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.1 | Granite 4.2 3b |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1417 | 1361 |
| WeirdML | 38.4% | — |

## Reasoning

- DeepSeek-V3.1: 27.9 (#110)
- Granite 4.2 3b: 26.0 (#138)

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.1 | Granite 4.2 3b |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1417 | 1306 |
| SimpleBench | 40% | — |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | 53.2% | — |
| DTBench | 82.7% | — |
| LMCA | 24.3% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 139.92 | — |
| ForecastBench | 58 | — |

## Math

- DeepSeek-V3.1: 38.9 (#122)
- Granite 4.2 3b: —

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.1 | Granite 4.2 3b |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1420 | — |

## Knowledge

- DeepSeek-V3.1: 43.7 (#90)
- Granite 4.2 3b: 36.3 (#171)

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.1 | Granite 4.2 3b |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1405 | 1315 |
| Vectara Hallucination Rate | 5.5% | — |

## Multilingual

- DeepSeek-V3.1: 51.6 (#106)
- Granite 4.2 3b: 42.1 (#198)

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.1 | Granite 4.2 3b |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1400 | 1268 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1469 | 1269 |
| LMArena Russian | 1405 | 1249 |
| LMArena French | 1447 | — |
| LMArena German | 1411 | — |
| LMArena Japanese | 1378 | — |
| LMArena Korean | 1337 | — |
| LMArena Spanish | 1431 | — |

## Instruction Following

- DeepSeek-V3.1: 73.9 (#110)
- Granite 4.2 3b: 67.1 (#200)

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.1 | Granite 4.2 3b |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1400 | 1273 |

## Long Context

- DeepSeek-V3.1: 36.3 (#232)
- Granite 4.2 3b: 39.2 (#185)

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.1 | Granite 4.2 3b |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1422 | 1291 |
| Fiction.LiveBench | 52.8% | — |

## Writing & Preference

- DeepSeek-V3.1: 60.3 (#98)
- Granite 4.2 3b: 47.2 (#212)

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.1 | Granite 4.2 3b |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1420 | 1293 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1401 | 1205 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1408 | 1290 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 1436 | — |

## FAQ

### Is DeepSeek-V3.1 better than Granite 4.2 3b?

DeepSeek-V3.1 is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.8 to 39.4 on the Noometry Index.

### Is DeepSeek-V3.1 or Granite 4.2 3b better for coding?

They score almost the same on coding (40.3 vs 40.0); test both on your own repository before choosing.

### How many benchmarks do DeepSeek-V3.1 and Granite 4.2 3b share?

11 benchmarks have published results for both models. DeepSeek-V3.1 has 27 scored results on Noometry and Granite 4.2 3b has 11.