# Granite 4.1 8b vs Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct

> Granite 4.1 8b is the stronger model overall, scoring 36.8 to 29.1 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/granite-4-1-8b-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 4.1 8b 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 4.1 8b leads 48.3 to 27.3.

## Snapshot

| | Granite 4.1 8b | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | IBM | Microsoft |
| Noometry Index | 36.8 | 29.1 |
| Rank | 202 | 303 |
| Context | — | — |
| Input $/M | — | — |
| Output $/M | — | — |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- Granite 4.1 8b: 29.9 (#291)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 28.3 (#307)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.1 8b | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1313 | 1040 |
| LMArena WebDev | 1190 | — |
| BigCodeBench Instruct | — | 29.6% |
| BigCodeBench Complete | — | 40.6% |

## Reasoning

- Granite 4.1 8b: 24.6 (#142)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 18.7 (#254)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.1 8b | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1294 | 1028 |

## Math

- Granite 4.1 8b: 33.8 (#167)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 29.2 (#220)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.1 8b | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1311 | 1089 |

## Knowledge

- Granite 4.1 8b: 35.5 (#171)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 26.3 (#251)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.1 8b | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1310 | 984 |

## Multilingual

- Granite 4.1 8b: 41.8 (#199)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 25.4 (#280)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.1 8b | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1261 | 1000 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1335 | 1016 |
| LMArena Russian | 1238 | 1004 |
| LMArena French | — | 1038 |
| LMArena German | — | 1006 |
| LMArena Japanese | — | 899 |
| LMArena Korean | — | 856 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1058 |

## Instruction Following

- Granite 4.1 8b: 67.0 (#198)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 52.1 (#289)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.1 8b | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1268 | 1023 |

## Long Context

- Granite 4.1 8b: 38.7 (#188)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 30.3 (#284)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.1 8b | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1275 | 996 |

## Writing & Preference

- Granite 4.1 8b: 48.3 (#199)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 27.3 (#296)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.1 8b | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1291 | 1050 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1249 | 1024 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1269 | 989 |

## FAQ

### Is Granite 4.1 8b better than Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct?

Granite 4.1 8b is the stronger model overall, scoring 36.8 to 29.1 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Granite 4.1 8b or Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct better for coding?

Granite 4.1 8b scores higher on coding benchmarks: 29.9 versus 28.3 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Granite 4.1 8b and Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct share?

12 benchmarks have published results for both models. Granite 4.1 8b has 13 scored results on Noometry and Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct has 19.