# Granite 4.2 8B vs Grok 2 Mini 2024 08 13

> Granite 4.2 8B is the stronger model overall, scoring 40.0 to 37.0 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/granite-4-2-8b-vs-grok-2-mini
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 11

## Summary

- They share 11 benchmarks with published results for both. Granite 4.2 8B scores higher in 7 categories and Grok 2 Mini 2024 08 13 in 0 categories; 7 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in knowledge, where Granite 4.2 8B leads 37.7 to 33.4.
- Granite 4.2 8B has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | Granite 4.2 8B | Grok 2 Mini 2024 08 13 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | IBM | xAI |
| Noometry Index | 40.0 | 37.0 |
| Rank | 143 | 196 |
| Context | 131K | — |
| Input $/M | $0.06 | — |
| Output $/M | $0.25 | — |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |

## Coding

- Granite 4.2 8B: 39.9 (#138)
- Grok 2 Mini 2024 08 13: 36.4 (#194)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Grok 2 Mini 2024 08 13 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1379 | 1269 |

## Reasoning

- Granite 4.2 8B: 25.5 (#130)
- Grok 2 Mini 2024 08 13: 23.7 (#162)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Grok 2 Mini 2024 08 13 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1327 | 1255 |

## Math

- Granite 4.2 8B: —
- Grok 2 Mini 2024 08 13: 32.8 (#185)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Grok 2 Mini 2024 08 13 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | — | 1265 |

## Knowledge

- Granite 4.2 8B: 37.7 (#144)
- Grok 2 Mini 2024 08 13: 33.4 (#195)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Grok 2 Mini 2024 08 13 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1380 | 1238 |

## Multilingual

- Granite 4.2 8B: 44.5 (#173)
- Grok 2 Mini 2024 08 13: 41.6 (#203)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Grok 2 Mini 2024 08 13 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1299 | 1257 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1361 | 1262 |
| LMArena Russian | 1283 | 1261 |
| LMArena French | — | 1285 |
| LMArena German | — | 1273 |
| LMArena Japanese | — | 1213 |
| LMArena Korean | — | 1195 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1278 |

## Instruction Following

- Granite 4.2 8B: 68.7 (#183)
- Grok 2 Mini 2024 08 13: 65.7 (#215)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Grok 2 Mini 2024 08 13 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1298 | 1245 |

## Long Context

- Granite 4.2 8B: 40.2 (#154)
- Grok 2 Mini 2024 08 13: 38.4 (#191)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Grok 2 Mini 2024 08 13 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1323 | 1267 |

## Writing & Preference

- Granite 4.2 8B: 49.8 (#183)
- Grok 2 Mini 2024 08 13: 47.5 (#207)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Grok 2 Mini 2024 08 13 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1319 | 1281 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1238 | 1242 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1299 | 1265 |

## FAQ

### Is Granite 4.2 8B better than Grok 2 Mini 2024 08 13?

Granite 4.2 8B is the stronger model overall, scoring 40.0 to 37.0 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Granite 4.2 8B or Grok 2 Mini 2024 08 13 better for coding?

Granite 4.2 8B scores higher on coding benchmarks: 39.9 versus 36.4 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Granite 4.2 8B and Grok 2 Mini 2024 08 13 share?

11 benchmarks have published results for both models. Granite 4.2 8B has 11 scored results on Noometry and Grok 2 Mini 2024 08 13 has 17.