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AI models
ibm

Granite 4.2 8B

AI model Released

Context window
131,072 tokens
Maximum output
117,964 tokens
Total parameters
8.79 B
Open weights
Yes

Capability & preference

Human preference · Arena

Overall text preferences from head-to-head votes. Not factual accuracy or a task-success rate.

Granite 4.2 8B 1319.0 Granite 4.2 8B · 95% interval 1307.9–1330.1 · 3,251 votes · 2026-10-28

Recorded results

Only the same benchmark, version, workload, scenario and unit share a row. Missing results are not zero. System results include the full submitted hardware and software configuration.

Arena text preference / chinesehuman preference · 2026-10-28 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,361.15 rating

Confidence interval: 1,322.02 – 1,400.29

230 votes

Category
chinese
Evaluated configuration
Granite 4.2 8B
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / codinghuman preference · 2026-10-28 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,377.85 rating

Confidence interval: 1,356.58 – 1,399.12

826 votes

Category
coding
Evaluated configuration
Granite 4.2 8B
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / creative_writinghuman preference · 2026-10-28 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,235.19 rating

Confidence interval: 1,208.20 – 1,262.19

628 votes

Category
creative_writing
Evaluated configuration
Granite 4.2 8B
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / englishhuman preference · 2026-10-28 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,337.58 rating

Confidence interval: 1,321.01 – 1,354.16

1411 votes

Category
english
Evaluated configuration
Granite 4.2 8B
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / exclude_tieshuman preference · 2026-10-28 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,272.09 rating

Confidence interval: 1,256.69 – 1,287.50

2499 votes

Category
exclude_ties
Evaluated configuration
Granite 4.2 8B
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / experthuman preference · 2026-10-28 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,384.88 rating

Confidence interval: 1,352.23 – 1,417.52

317 votes

Category
expert
Evaluated configuration
Granite 4.2 8B
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / hard_promptshuman preference · 2026-10-28 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,326.94 rating

Confidence interval: 1,313.03 – 1,340.86

2072 votes

Category
hard_prompts
Evaluated configuration
Granite 4.2 8B
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / hard_prompts_englishhuman preference · 2026-10-28 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,343.83 rating

Confidence interval: 1,322.87 – 1,364.80

901 votes

Category
hard_prompts_english
Evaluated configuration
Granite 4.2 8B
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / industry_business_and_management_and_financial_operationshuman preference · 2026-10-28 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,321.81 rating

Confidence interval: 1,297.15 – 1,346.48

607 votes

Category
industry_business_and_management_and_financial_operations
Evaluated configuration
Granite 4.2 8B
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / industry_entertainment_and_sports_and_mediahuman preference · 2026-10-28 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,270.18 rating

Confidence interval: 1,247.66 – 1,292.71

820 votes

Category
industry_entertainment_and_sports_and_media
Evaluated configuration
Granite 4.2 8B
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / industry_legal_and_governmenthuman preference · 2026-10-28 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,325.97 rating

Confidence interval: 1,289.07 – 1,362.86

274 votes

Category
industry_legal_and_government
Evaluated configuration
Granite 4.2 8B
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / industry_life_and_physical_and_social_sciencehuman preference · 2026-10-28 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,335.48 rating

Confidence interval: 1,308.90 – 1,362.05

527 votes

Category
industry_life_and_physical_and_social_science
Evaluated configuration
Granite 4.2 8B
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / industry_medicine_and_healthcarehuman preference · 2026-10-28 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,332.58 rating

Confidence interval: 1,292.60 – 1,372.57

239 votes

Category
industry_medicine_and_healthcare
Evaluated configuration
Granite 4.2 8B
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / industry_software_and_it_serviceshuman preference · 2026-10-28 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,366.12 rating

Confidence interval: 1,348.20 – 1,384.05

1162 votes

Category
industry_software_and_it_services
Evaluated configuration
Granite 4.2 8B
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / industry_writing_and_literature_and_languagehuman preference · 2026-10-28 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,268.96 rating

Confidence interval: 1,246.48 – 1,291.45

836 votes

Category
industry_writing_and_literature_and_language
Evaluated configuration
Granite 4.2 8B
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / instruction_followinghuman preference · 2026-10-28 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,300.35 rating

Confidence interval: 1,281.71 – 1,318.98

1137 votes

Category
instruction_following
Evaluated configuration
Granite 4.2 8B
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / longer_queryhuman preference · 2026-10-28 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,323.80 rating

Confidence interval: 1,306.71 – 1,340.89

1365 votes

Category
longer_query
Evaluated configuration
Granite 4.2 8B
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / multi_turnhuman preference · 2026-10-28 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,299.16 rating

Confidence interval: 1,270.81 – 1,327.51

522 votes

Category
multi_turn
Evaluated configuration
Granite 4.2 8B
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / non_englishhuman preference · 2026-10-28 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,299.57 rating

Confidence interval: 1,285.02 – 1,314.12

1840 votes

Category
non_english
Evaluated configuration
Granite 4.2 8B
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / overallhuman preference · 2026-10-28 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,319.01 rating

Confidence interval: 1,307.93 – 1,330.09

3251 votes

Category
overall
Evaluated configuration
Granite 4.2 8B
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / russianhuman preference · 2026-10-28 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,281.14 rating

Confidence interval: 1,247.42 – 1,314.86

336 votes

Category
russian
Evaluated configuration
Granite 4.2 8B
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / chinesehuman preference · 2026-10-15 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,367.61 rating

Confidence interval: 1,328.74 – 1,406.47

231 votes

Category
chinese
Evaluated configuration
granite-4.2-8b
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / codinghuman preference · 2026-10-15 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,378.60 rating

Confidence interval: 1,357.40 – 1,399.80

831 votes

Category
coding
Evaluated configuration
granite-4.2-8b
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / creative_writinghuman preference · 2026-10-15 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,236.30 rating

Confidence interval: 1,209.30 – 1,263.29

628 votes

Category
creative_writing
Evaluated configuration
granite-4.2-8b
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / englishhuman preference · 2026-10-15 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,337.58 rating

Confidence interval: 1,320.99 – 1,354.16

1412 votes

Category
english
Evaluated configuration
granite-4.2-8b
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / exclude_tieshuman preference · 2026-10-15 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,272.93 rating

Confidence interval: 1,257.55 – 1,288.30

2501 votes

Category
exclude_ties
Evaluated configuration
granite-4.2-8b
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / experthuman preference · 2026-10-15 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,384.58 rating

Confidence interval: 1,351.84 – 1,417.31

315 votes

Category
expert
Evaluated configuration
granite-4.2-8b
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / hard_promptshuman preference · 2026-10-15 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,327.34 rating

Confidence interval: 1,313.45 – 1,341.23

2077 votes

Category
hard_prompts
Evaluated configuration
granite-4.2-8b
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / hard_prompts_englishhuman preference · 2026-10-15 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,344.51 rating

Confidence interval: 1,323.58 – 1,365.44

904 votes

Category
hard_prompts_english
Evaluated configuration
granite-4.2-8b
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / industry_business_and_management_and_financial_operationshuman preference · 2026-10-15 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,322.01 rating

Confidence interval: 1,297.33 – 1,346.69

606 votes

Category
industry_business_and_management_and_financial_operations
Evaluated configuration
granite-4.2-8b
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / industry_entertainment_and_sports_and_mediahuman preference · 2026-10-15 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,272.62 rating

Confidence interval: 1,250.07 – 1,295.17

815 votes

Category
industry_entertainment_and_sports_and_media
Evaluated configuration
granite-4.2-8b
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / industry_legal_and_governmenthuman preference · 2026-10-15 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,326.90 rating

Confidence interval: 1,289.98 – 1,363.82

273 votes

Category
industry_legal_and_government
Evaluated configuration
granite-4.2-8b
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / industry_life_and_physical_and_social_sciencehuman preference · 2026-10-15 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,334.71 rating

Confidence interval: 1,308.09 – 1,361.32

525 votes

Category
industry_life_and_physical_and_social_science
Evaluated configuration
granite-4.2-8b
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / industry_medicine_and_healthcarehuman preference · 2026-10-15 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,334.24 rating

Confidence interval: 1,294.16 – 1,374.32

237 votes

Category
industry_medicine_and_healthcare
Evaluated configuration
granite-4.2-8b
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / industry_software_and_it_serviceshuman preference · 2026-10-15 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,367.15 rating

Confidence interval: 1,349.28 – 1,385.03

1166 votes

Category
industry_software_and_it_services
Evaluated configuration
granite-4.2-8b
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / industry_writing_and_literature_and_languagehuman preference · 2026-10-15 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,269.93 rating

Confidence interval: 1,247.48 – 1,292.38

837 votes

Category
industry_writing_and_literature_and_language
Evaluated configuration
granite-4.2-8b
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / instruction_followinghuman preference · 2026-10-15 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,300.74 rating

Confidence interval: 1,282.09 – 1,319.39

1134 votes

Category
instruction_following
Evaluated configuration
granite-4.2-8b
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / longer_queryhuman preference · 2026-10-15 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,324.87 rating

Confidence interval: 1,307.78 – 1,341.96

1362 votes

Category
longer_query
Evaluated configuration
granite-4.2-8b
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / multi_turnhuman preference · 2026-10-15 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,301.36 rating

Confidence interval: 1,273.10 – 1,329.62

524 votes

Category
multi_turn
Evaluated configuration
granite-4.2-8b
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / non_englishhuman preference · 2026-10-15 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,300.81 rating

Confidence interval: 1,286.28 – 1,315.33

1842 votes

Category
non_english
Evaluated configuration
granite-4.2-8b
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / overallhuman preference · 2026-10-15 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,319.58 rating

Confidence interval: 1,308.51 – 1,330.65

3254 votes

Category
overall
Evaluated configuration
granite-4.2-8b
Evaluation type
human preference
Arena text preference / russianhuman preference · 2026-10-15 · rating

Granite 4.2 8B

1,283.80 rating

Confidence interval: 1,250.14 – 1,317.47

334 votes

Category
russian
Evaluated configuration
granite-4.2-8b
Evaluation type
human preference

Run it locally

Inference · memory estimate

Granite 4.2 8B

8.79 B total parameters · granite · BF16

Published checkpoint tensor payload: 16.4 GiB. This includes stored copies and buffers; it is separate from the runtime estimates below.

Estimated accelerator memory6.1 GiB
Weights
4.5 GiB
KV cache
0.6 GiB
Runtime allowance
1.0 GiB

One user, full model in accelerator memory.

GPUs with memory headroom

Local AI systems with memory headroom

Shared-memory systems use a planning budget of 75% of installed memory, leaving 25% for the OS and other allocations. This is an assumption, not a measured GPU allocation. Firmware and driver limits may be lower and may require configuration. Memory matches do not verify a runtime, quantized model artifact or inference speed.

Includes FP16 KV cache, prompt plus generated tokens, quantization metadata and a runtime allowance. GPU matches reserve 10% of VRAM. Memory fit is not a speed or software-compatibility guarantee; quantized weights and runtime support must be available.

API cost

USD / month

Standard text-token estimate. Excludes taxes, caching, batch discounts, reasoning and multimodal surcharges. Provider limits and regional availability may differ.

Granite 4.2 8B

Capabilities

Context window
131,072 tokens
Maximum output
117,964 tokens
Reasoning
Yes
Tool calling
Yes
Open weights
Yes
Total parameters
8.79 B
Checkpoint tensor payload
16.38 GiB

Input modalities

  • text

Output modalities

  • text

Processing & platform

Architecture
granite