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Granite 4.2 8B vs Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B

IBM · released

Wins 1 of 6 areas

Following instructions

NVIDIA · released

Wins 4 of 6 areas

Coding · Agents · Reasoning · Long documents

Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B is the stronger all-rounder.Granite 4.2 8B is cheaper and better at following instructions.

Scores updated · 24 tests both models report · How we compare

Where each one wins

Tests won in each of the six areas where both have results. Each piece is one test, so a longer bar means more evidence; grey means the two scored within a point of each other.

Long documents and following instructions rest on a single test each.

What it costs

Prices per million tokens, roughly 750,000 words. The bars show the cost of a million tokens read plus a million written.

Granite 4.2 8B$0.06 to read · $0.25 to write$0.31Price from Artificial Analysis
Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B$0.30 to read · $0.90 to write$1.20Price from Artificial Analysis

Granite 4.2 8B costs 74% less for the same work.

The biggest differences

The tests each model wins by the widest margin, up to three each. Scores are out of 100.

Where Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B pulls ahead

  • Reasons across sets of long documentsAA-LCR+20.7points aheadNemotron 3 Super 120B A12B65.7Granite 4.2 8B45
  • Command-line tasks in a real terminalTerminal-Bench 2.1+20.2points aheadNemotron 3 Super 120B A12B38.6Granite 4.2 8B18.4
  • Graduate-level biology, physics and chemistry questionsGPQA Diamond+16.9points aheadNemotron 3 Super 120B A12B80Granite 4.2 8B63.1

Where Granite 4.2 8B pulls ahead

  • Avoids making up answers it doesn't knowAA-Omniscience · Non-hallucination+55points aheadGranite 4.2 8B68Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B13
  • Follows unfamiliar, precisely checkable instructionsIFBench+7.8points aheadGranite 4.2 8B79.3Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B71.5

Every test, side by side

All 24 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.

CodingNemotron 3 Super 120B A12B

Full coding ranking

AgentsNemotron 3 Super 120B A12B

Full agents ranking

ReasoningNemotron 3 Super 120B A12B

Full reasoning ranking

FactsEven

Full facts ranking

Long documentsNemotron 3 Super 120B A12B
  • AA-LCRNemotron 3 Super 120B A12B by 20.74565.7+20.7

Full long documents ranking

Following instructionsGranite 4.2 8B
  • IFBenchGranite 4.2 8B by 7.879.371.5+7.8

Full following instructions ranking

Other results10 tests, not counted

Tests outside the eight areas. They are not counted above: several are summary scores built from other tests, or the same test under another name.

Questions people ask

Which is better, Granite 4.2 8B or Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B?

Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B wins four of the six areas where both have results: coding, agents, reasoning and long documents. Granite 4.2 8B wins following instructions, and costs 74% less. They are level on facts.

Which is better for coding?

Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B. It wins 4 of the 4 coding tests both models report; Granite 4.2 8B wins none.

Which is cheaper?

Granite 4.2 8B costs $0.06 per million input tokens and $0.25 per million output tokens; Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B costs $0.30 and $0.90. That makes Granite 4.2 8B about 74% cheaper for the same work.

How do you compare the two?

We use the 24 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 14 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 10 are listed but not counted, because several are summary scores or repeat a test. Each score is the one shown on the model's own page.