# Granite 4.2 30b vs Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct

> Granite 4.2 30b is the stronger model overall, scoring 41.8 to 29.7 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/granite-4-2-30b-vs-phi-3-mini-128k-instruct
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 11

## Summary

- They share 11 benchmarks with published results for both. Granite 4.2 30b scores higher in 7 categories and Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct in 0 categories; 7 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Granite 4.2 30b leads 53.8 to 27.1.

## Snapshot

| | Granite 4.2 30b | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | IBM | Microsoft |
| Noometry Index | 41.8 | 29.7 |
| Rank | 130 | 305 |
| Context | — | — |
| Input $/M | — | — |
| Output $/M | — | — |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- Granite 4.2 30b: 41.0 (#126)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 28.8 (#312)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 30b | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1396 | 1039 |
| BigCodeBench Instruct | — | 29.6% |
| BigCodeBench Complete | — | 40.6% |

## Reasoning

- Granite 4.2 30b: 27.8 (#112)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 19.6 (#256)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 30b | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1374 | 1028 |

## Math

- Granite 4.2 30b: —
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 31.6 (#222)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 30b | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | — | 1089 |

## Knowledge

- Granite 4.2 30b: 39.1 (#138)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 26.8 (#254)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 30b | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1406 | 984 |

## Multilingual

- Granite 4.2 30b: 47.3 (#151)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 25.2 (#285)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 30b | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1340 | 1000 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1414 | 1016 |
| LMArena Russian | 1343 | 1004 |
| LMArena French | — | 1039 |
| LMArena German | — | 1006 |
| LMArena Japanese | — | 899 |
| LMArena Korean | — | 856 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1059 |

## Instruction Following

- Granite 4.2 30b: 71.2 (#155)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 51.8 (#294)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 30b | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1347 | 1023 |

## Long Context

- Granite 4.2 30b: 41.4 (#140)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 30.4 (#289)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 30b | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1359 | 996 |

## Writing & Preference

- Granite 4.2 30b: 53.8 (#156)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 27.1 (#301)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 30b | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1361 | 1050 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1288 | 1024 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1339 | 989 |

## FAQ

### Is Granite 4.2 30b better than Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct?

Granite 4.2 30b is the stronger model overall, scoring 41.8 to 29.7 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Granite 4.2 30b or Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct better for coding?

Granite 4.2 30b scores higher on coding benchmarks: 41.0 versus 28.8 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Granite 4.2 30b and Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct share?

11 benchmarks have published results for both models. Granite 4.2 30b has 11 scored results on Noometry and Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct has 19.