# Granite 3.1 8b Instruct vs Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct

> Granite 3.1 8b Instruct is the stronger model overall, scoring 32.4 to 29.7 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/granite-3-1-8b-instruct-vs-phi-3-mini-128k-instruct
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 12

## Summary

- They share 12 benchmarks with published results for both. Granite 3.1 8b Instruct scores higher in 8 categories and Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct in 0 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Granite 3.1 8b Instruct leads 35.5 to 27.1.

## Snapshot

| | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | IBM | Microsoft |
| Noometry Index | 32.4 | 29.7 |
| Rank | 258 | 305 |
| Context | — | — |
| Input $/M | — | — |
| Output $/M | — | — |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 34.5 (#233)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 28.8 (#312)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1186 | 1039 |
| BigCodeBench Instruct | — | 29.6% |
| BigCodeBench Complete | — | 40.6% |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 24.1 (#120)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: —

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard | 27.1% | — |

## Reasoning

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 22.1 (#207)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 19.6 (#256)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1145 | 1028 |

## Math

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 33.0 (#209)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 31.6 (#222)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1152 | 1089 |

## Knowledge

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 31.1 (#220)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 26.8 (#254)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1142 | 984 |

## Multilingual

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 30.9 (#260)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 25.2 (#285)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1099 | 1000 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1145 | 1016 |
| LMArena Russian | 1092 | 1004 |
| LMArena French | — | 1039 |
| LMArena German | — | 1006 |
| LMArena Japanese | — | 899 |
| LMArena Korean | — | 856 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1059 |

## Instruction Following

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 58.6 (#259)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 51.8 (#294)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1131 | 1023 |

## Long Context

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 35.2 (#241)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 30.4 (#289)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1162 | 996 |

## Writing & Preference

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 35.5 (#266)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 27.1 (#301)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1150 | 1050 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1129 | 1024 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1108 | 989 |

## FAQ

### Is Granite 3.1 8b Instruct better than Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct?

Granite 3.1 8b Instruct is the stronger model overall, scoring 32.4 to 29.7 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Granite 3.1 8b Instruct or Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct better for coding?

Granite 3.1 8b Instruct scores higher on coding benchmarks: 34.5 versus 28.8 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Granite 3.1 8b Instruct and Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct share?

12 benchmarks have published results for both models. Granite 3.1 8b Instruct has 13 scored results on Noometry and Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct has 19.