Model comparison
Gemma 4 12B vs Nemotron 3 Ultra
Head-to-head evidence from 17 shared benchmark results across 5 categories. Overall scores shown here use BenchLM's provisional ranking lane.
Verified leaderboard positions: Gemma 4 12B unranked; Nemotron 3 Ultra #21
Evidence parity. Gemma 4 12B and Nemotron 3 Ultra share 17 comparable benchmark results. 3 of 8 categories are comparable. 8 results are unique to Gemma 4 12B; 23 to Nemotron 3 Ultra.
Updated July 14, 2026- Shared results
- 17
- Gemma 4 12B only
- 8
- Nemotron 3 Ultra only
- 23
- Comparable categories
- 3 / 8
Pick Nemotron 3 Ultra if you want the stronger benchmark profile. Gemma 4 12B only becomes the better choice if knowledge is the priority.
Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 17 shared benchmark results across 5 evidence categories; 3 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.
Why this result
Nemotron 3 Ultra is clearly ahead on the provisional aggregate, 63 to 52. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.
Nemotron 3 Ultra's sharpest advantage is in reasoning, where it averages 61.9 against 43.4. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is LiveCodeBench, 72% to 89%. Gemma 4 12B does hit back in knowledge, so the answer changes if that is the part of the workload you care about most.
Nemotron 3 Ultra gives you the larger context window at 1M, compared with 256K for Gemma 4 12B.
Category breakdown
Exact category averages are shown below. Not measured means BenchLM does not have enough sourced public coverage for that model and category.
| Category | Gemma 4 12B | Δ | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knowledge | Gemma 4 12B77.5 | Margin← 23.3 | Nemotron 3 Ultra54.2 |
| Reasoning | Gemma 4 12B43.4 | Margin→ 18.5 | Nemotron 3 Ultra61.9 |
| Coding | Gemma 4 12B72.0 | Margin→ 3.5 | Nemotron 3 Ultra75.5 |
| Agentic | Gemma 4 12BNot measured | MarginNo overlap | Nemotron 3 Ultra51.3 |
| Math | Gemma 4 12B77.5 | MarginNo overlap | Nemotron 3 UltraNot measured |
| Multilingual | Gemma 4 12BNot measured | MarginNo overlap | Nemotron 3 Ultra83.0 |
| Multimodal | Gemma 4 12B69.1 | MarginNo overlap | Nemotron 3 UltraNot measured |
| Inst. Following | Gemma 4 12BNot measured | MarginNo overlap | Nemotron 3 Ultra81.7 |
Decisive benchmark drivers
The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.
More
- Source ↗
LiveCodeBench
CodingA 72%B 89%Winner: Nemotron 3 UltraΔ 17LiveCodeBench: Gemma 4 12B scored 72%; Nemotron 3 Ultra scored 89%. Nemotron 3 Ultra wins this benchmark. - Source ↗
MMLU-Pro
KnowledgeA 77.2%B 86.8%Winner: Nemotron 3 UltraΔ 9.6MMLU-Pro: Gemma 4 12B scored 77.2%; Nemotron 3 Ultra scored 86.8%. Nemotron 3 Ultra wins this benchmark. - Source ↗
GPQA
KnowledgeA 78.8%B 87%Winner: Nemotron 3 UltraΔ 8.2GPQA: Gemma 4 12B scored 78.8%; Nemotron 3 Ultra scored 87%. Nemotron 3 Ultra wins this benchmark.
Operational comparison
Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.
| Metric | Gemma 4 12B | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens | Gemma 4 12BNot available | Nemotron 3 Ultra$0 input / $0 output | A complete price comparison is not available. |
| Generation speedtokens per second | Gemma 4 12BNot available | Nemotron 3 UltraNot available | A complete speed comparison is not available. |
| First-answer latencyseconds to first token | Gemma 4 12BNot available | Nemotron 3 UltraNot available | A complete latency comparison is not available. |
| Context windowmaximum listed tokens | Gemma 4 12B256K | Nemotron 3 Ultra1M | Nemotron 3 Ultra lists the larger context window. |
Benchmark Deep Dive
Agentic13 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemma 4 12B | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tau2-TelecomSource | 36.3% | 83.3% | Nemotron 3 Ultra leads |
| Terminal-Bench 2.0Source | — | 56.4% | Not comparable |
| PinchBenchSource | — | 90.0% | Not comparable |
| BrowseCompSource | — | 44.4% | Not comparable |
| TAU3-BenchSource | — | 70.9% | Not comparable |
| GDPval-AASource | — | 33.2% | Not comparable |
| HLE w/ toolsSource | — | 37.4% | Not comparable |
| AA Agentic IndexSource | — | 27.4% | Not comparable |
| GDPval-AASource | — | 1164 | Not comparable |
| AA BriefcaseSource | — | 870 | Not comparable |
| AA EnterpriseOps-GymSource | — | 28.9% | Not comparable |
| AA Harvey LABSource | — | 3.3% | Not comparable |
| AA Tau3 BankingSource | — | 13.8% | Not comparable |
CodingNemotron 3 Ultra wins8 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemma 4 12B | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveCodeBenchSource | 72% | 89% | Nemotron 3 Ultra leads |
| Terminal-Bench HardSource | 18.2% | 36.4% | Nemotron 3 Ultra leads |
| AA-SciCodeSource | 38.2% | 39.9% | Nemotron 3 Ultra leads |
| SWE-bench VerifiedSource | — | 71.9% | Not comparable |
| SWE MultilingualSource | — | 67.7% | Not comparable |
| SciCodeSource | — | 44.6% | Not comparable |
| Terminal-Bench 2.0Source | — | 56.4% | Not comparable |
| AA Coding IndexSource | — | 49.3% | Not comparable |
ReasoningNemotron 3 Ultra wins5 benchmarks
KnowledgeGemma 4 12B wins13 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemma 4 12B | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQASource | 78.8% | 87% | Nemotron 3 Ultra leads |
| GPQA-DSource | 78.8% | 87.0% | Nemotron 3 Ultra leads |
| MMLU-ProSource | 77.2% | 86.8% | Nemotron 3 Ultra leads |
| HLE w/o toolsSource | 5.2% | 26.7% | Nemotron 3 Ultra leads |
| MMMLUSource | 83.4% | — | Not comparable |
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource | 22.0% | 37.8% | Nemotron 3 Ultra leads |
| AA-GPQA DiamondSource | 75.3% | 86.7% | Nemotron 3 Ultra leads |
| AA-HLESource | 14.8% | 26.6% | Nemotron 3 Ultra leads |
| AA-Omniscience IndexSource | -51.9% | -0.8% | Nemotron 3 Ultra leads |
| AA-Omniscience AccuracySource | 16.0% | 21.6% | Nemotron 3 Ultra leads |
| AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource | 80.8% | 28.5% | Nemotron 3 Ultra leads |
| HLESource | — | 26.7% | Not comparable |
| AA Openness IndexSource | — | 83.3% | Not comparable |
Math1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemma 4 12B | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIME26Source | 77.5% | — | Not comparable |
Multilingual1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemma 4 12B | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU-ProXSource | — | 83% | Not comparable |
Multimodal5 benchmarks
Frequently Asked Questions (4)
Which is better, Gemma 4 12B or Nemotron 3 Ultra?
Nemotron 3 Ultra is ahead on BenchLM's provisional leaderboard, 63 to 52. The biggest single separator in this matchup is LiveCodeBench, where the scores are 72% and 89%.
Which is better for knowledge tasks, Gemma 4 12B or Nemotron 3 Ultra?
Gemma 4 12B has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 77.5 versus 54.2. Inside this category, AA-Omniscience Hallucination Rate is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for coding, Gemma 4 12B or Nemotron 3 Ultra?
Nemotron 3 Ultra has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 75.5 versus 72. Inside this category, Terminal-Bench Hard is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for reasoning, Gemma 4 12B or Nemotron 3 Ultra?
Nemotron 3 Ultra has the edge for reasoning in this comparison, averaging 61.9 versus 43.4. Inside this category, AA-LCR is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
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