Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
Intelligence benchmarks
Artificial Analysis indexes - compared with the best open and proprietary models
Intelligence
23.6
AA Index
Agentic
13.8
AA Index
Intelligence Index - Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs. the field
Best open-weight models (you can run locally) and leading proprietary models for context.
Agentic Index comparison
Benchmark data from Artificial Analysis · updated 2026-08-15.
Standard benchmarks
Performance across standard evaluations
| Benchmark | Score |
|---|---|
| GPQA | 74.3 |
Will it run on your hardware?
Pick your GPU memory - see which quantizations fit, and the cheapest card for the rest
Need an exact figure for your context length? Use the VRAM calculator.
Run it locally
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Deep dive
Notes, sources, and the full write-up
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is a 17.8B-parameter other model from NVIDIA. It scores 23.6 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index. At Q4_K_M it needs roughly 10 GB of VRAM, placing it in the 8–12 GB GPU hardware tier.
Benchmarks
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index - Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs. leading closed models:
| Model | Intelligence | Coding | GPQA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | 23.6 | - | 74.3 |
| Claude Opus 5 (max) | 63.1 | - | 93.2 |
| Claude Fable 5 (with fallback) | 62.1 | - | 92.6 |
| GPT-5.6 Sol (max) | 60.9 | - | 94.1 |
| Grok 4.6 (high) | 60.9 | - | 94.9 |
| Qwen3.8 Max | 58.1 | - | 92.7 |
Source: Artificial Analysis (2026-08-13).
Popularity
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has 19,250 downloads in the last month on HuggingFace and 205 likes.
Frequently asked
Quick answers to common questions
How much VRAM does Nemotron 3.5 Lightning need?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning with 17.8B parameters needs approximately 10 GB at Q4_K_M quantization. Use our VRAM calculator for an exact estimate.
Is Nemotron 3.5 Lightning better than other nvidia models?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has 17.8B parameters with 1,048,576 context - a strong choice for general use.
What license is Nemotron 3.5 Lightning under?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is released under the other license, making it suitable for most commercial and personal projects.
What hardware runs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning well?
With 17.8B parameters, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning requires adequate VRAM. High-end GPUs like the RTX 4090 (24GB), RTX 5090 (32GB), or Mac Studio with unified memory are good options. Check our hardware directory for specific recommendations.
What is the best quantization for Nemotron 3.5 Lightning?
Q4_K_M is the recommended sweet spot - ~98% of FP16 quality at ~27% of the size. Q5_K_M (~13 GB) is an option if you have spare VRAM. Use our VRAM calculator to compare.
How long can Nemotron 3.5 Lightning's context window handle?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning supports a 1,048,576-token context window - enough for very long documents, codebases, or multi-turn conversations. Real-world usable context may vary by implementation.
What models compete with Nemotron 3.5 Lightning?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning competes with other models in its class. Browse our model directory for comparisons, benchmarks, and community reviews to find the best fit.
Nearby options
Similar models and compatible hardware by spec
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