GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) by OpenAI or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning by NVIDIA? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-25.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) scores 11.2 points higher (24.1 vs 12.9) but costs 16× as much to run the benchmark ($1524 vs $92.8; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) when you need intelligence above 12.9, and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning when 12.9 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 24.1 | 12.9 | −46.5% Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is 46.5% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,524.02 | $92.76 | −93.9% Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is 93.9% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 108.99s | 8.98s | −91.8% Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is 91.8% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.75 / $4.50 | $0.06 / $0.20 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text |
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh): 46.5% less intelligence, 93.9% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 91.8% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (Xhigh) scores 34.60 for $66.8.
GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh)Nemotron 3.5 LightningToday's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-4-mini/nemotron-3-5-lightning · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-4-mini/nemotron-3-5-lightning?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill