# Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct

> Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is the stronger model overall, scoring 39.3 to 29.1 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/nemotron-3-5-lightning-vs-phi-3-mini-128k-instruct
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 17

## Summary

- They share 17 benchmarks with published results for both. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 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 Nemotron 3.5 Lightning leads 48.5 to 27.3.

## Snapshot

| | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | NVIDIA | Microsoft |
| Noometry Index | 39.3 | 29.1 |
| Rank | 156 | 303 |
| Context | 262K | — |
| Input $/M | $0.06 | — |
| Output $/M | $0.16 | — |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 39.6 (#143)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 28.3 (#307)

| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1370 | 1040 |
| BigCodeBench Instruct | — | 29.6% |
| BigCodeBench Complete | — | 40.6% |

## Reasoning

- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 25.7 (#128)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 18.7 (#254)

| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1335 | 1028 |

## Math

- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 34.7 (#156)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 29.2 (#220)

| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1355 | 1089 |

## Knowledge

- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 36.9 (#154)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 26.3 (#251)

| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1354 | 984 |

## Multilingual

- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 44.0 (#175)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 25.4 (#280)

| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1292 | 1000 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1356 | 1016 |
| LMArena French | 1369 | 1038 |
| LMArena German | 1280 | 1006 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1213 | 899 |
| LMArena Korean | 1233 | 856 |
| LMArena Russian | 1257 | 1004 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1321 | 1058 |

## Instruction Following

- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 69.8 (#166)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 52.1 (#289)

| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1317 | 1023 |

## Long Context

- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 39.9 (#160)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 30.3 (#284)

| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1312 | 996 |

## Writing & Preference

- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 48.5 (#198)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 27.3 (#296)

| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1324 | 1050 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1254 | 1024 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1327 | 989 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 1280 | — |

## FAQ

### Is Nemotron 3.5 Lightning better than Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct?

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is the stronger model overall, scoring 39.3 to 29.1 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Nemotron 3.5 Lightning or Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct better for coding?

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning scores higher on coding benchmarks: 39.6 versus 28.3 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Nemotron 3.5 Lightning and Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct share?

17 benchmarks have published results for both models. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has 18 scored results on Noometry and Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct has 19.