NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B NVFP4 vs NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B-A3B BF16
| Spec | NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B NVFP4 | NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B-A3B BF16 |
|---|---|---|
| Respan Index | 16.0 (#142) | 15.9 (#143) |
| Blended price per 1M | $0.078 | $0.088 |
| Context window | 1M | 1M |
| Input / output per 1M | $0.05 / $0.16 | $0.05 / $0.2 |
| Max output | - | - |
| Input | text | text |
| Released | 2026-08-11 | 2025-12-15 |
Respan Index by category
Each category is scored 0 to 100, and how far ahead the winner is. Leads under a point are close to even.
| Category | NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B NVFP4 | NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B-A3B BF16 |
|---|---|---|
| Coding | 1.7 NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B NVFP4 | 4.2* NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B-A3B BF16 |
| Agents | 14.0 NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B NVFP4 | 14.4* NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B-A3B BF16 |
| Reasoning | 20.1 NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B NVFP4 | 21.1 NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B-A3B BF16 |
| Knowledge & language | 12.3 NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B NVFP4 | 8.5 NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B-A3B BF16 |
| Human preference | 38.8 NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B NVFP4 | 34.1 NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B-A3B BF16 |
* Estimated: no published scores in that category. How the Respan Index works
Benchmarks both report
NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B NVFP4 leads on 2 of the 3 benchmarks both report. Higher is better. Each score links to where it was published.
| Benchmark | NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B NVFP4 | NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B-A3B BF16 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Elo | 1353 | 1314 |
| Humanity's Last Exam (no tools) | 10.5% | 10.6% |
| MMLU-Pro | 81.6% | 78.3% |
FAQ
Is NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B NVFP4 better than NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B-A3B BF16?
NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B NVFP4 scores 16.0 on the Respan Index (#142), ahead of NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B-A3B BF16 at 15.9 (#143). NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B NVFP4 leads on 2 of the 3 benchmarks both report.
Which is cheaper, NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B NVFP4 or NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B-A3B BF16?
NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B NVFP4 lists at $0.05 input and $0.16 output per 1M tokens; NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B-A3B BF16 at $0.05 and $0.2. NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B NVFP4 is 1.1x cheaper per token at list price.
Which has the larger context window?
Both accept 1M tokens of context.
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