GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh) vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
Which is better for the money: GPT-6 Astra (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 2026-10-26.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh) scores 39.5 points higher (52.4 vs 12.9) but costs 41× as much to run the benchmark ($3803 vs $92.6; flagship vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh) when you need intelligence above 12.9, and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning when 12.9 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh) | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 52.4 | 12.9 | −75.4% Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is 75.4% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $3,802.98 | $92.58 | −97.6% Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is 97.6% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 188.57s | 8.73s | −95.4% Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is 95.4% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $10.0 / $50.0 | $0.06 / $0.20 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text |
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh): 75.4% less intelligence, 97.6% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 95.4% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-6 Astra (Xhigh) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 55.10 for $3117.
- 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-6 Astra (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-6-astra-xhigh/nemotron-3-5-lightning · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-6-astra-xhigh/nemotron-3-5-lightning?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill