Grok 4.7 vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
Grok 4.7 took 18 min 1 s and $0.63 at list price, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning took 10 min 9 s and $0.012 at list price. Grok 4.7 took 1.8× as long and cost 54× as much.
Grok 4.7
xAI · $6.00/M out · 629 HN pts
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
NVIDIA · $0.20/M out · free route · 399 HN pts
Pelican
Generate an SVG of a pelican riding a bicycle
Watch
Draw a mechanical wristwatch that shows the current local time, with a sweeping seconds hand and a date window. Make it look expensive.
Landing
Build the landing page for Lumen Cycles, a Copenhagen workshop that builds custom cargo bikes to order. Make it look like a real brand you would trust with 4,000 euros.
Breakout
Make a Breakout game I can play right now with the keyboard or the mouse. Give it several levels, a score and some juice.
Logo
Design a logo for Night Heron, an independent bookshop that only opens after dark.
About
Write the opening of the About us page for Patchbay, a three-person studio in Rotterdam that repairs vintage synthesizers. About 150 words.
Patchbay is a three-person studio in Rotterdam devoted to the repair of vintage synthesizers. We work on instruments that have already lived a long life on stages, in studios, and in spare rooms, and we treat each one as something worth keeping rather than replacing. Our benches are set up for careful diagnosis, component-level repair, and the slow work of bringing an old circuit back into reliable use.
The three of us share the shop, the tools, and the jobs. One person may trace a failing voice while another sources a part or recalibrates an oscillator; we pass instruments between us until the sound is right and the hardware is stable. Clients come to us with analog polys, early digital machines, drum boxes, and the odd modular that has been patched and repatched for decades. We listen first, then open the case.
We are not a museum and we are not a showroom. Patchbay exists so that working musicians, collectors, and curious owners in Rotterdam and beyond can keep playing the instruments they already love.
Patchbay is a three-person studio in Rotterdam devoted to the restoration and repair of vintage synthesizers. We believe analog gear holds a living voice, and our purpose is to safeguard that sound for musicians, collectors, and creators who value authenticity. With hands-on experience in circuitry, voltage calibration, and component preservation, we treat every console, drum machine, or modular voice with meticulous care. Rotterdam’s eclectic artistic community fuels our commitment to keeping analog heritage alive, bridging past technology with present music. Whether rescuing a neglected lab unit or reviving a cherished polysynth, we approach each instrument as a unique piece of musical history, ensuring it performs as intended for years ahead. We love helping artists reconnect with the warmth and character only vintage hardware can offer. Our workshop sits in the heart of the city, where dusty circuit boards meet fresh compositions, and every repaired synth becomes part of a new musical story.
Specs and numbers
| Grok 4.7 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | xAI | NVIDIA |
| Made in | US | US |
| Released | 21 Sep 2026 | 11 Aug 2026 |
| Price in, per M tokens | $2.00 | free route (list $0.07/M) |
| Price out, per M tokens | $6.00 | free route (list $0.20/M) |
| Context | 500,000 tokens | 262,144 tokens |
| Weights | closed | open |
| Hacker News points | 629 | 399 |
| Time for the six prompts | 18 min 1 s | 10 min 9 s |
| List price of the six prompts | $0.63 | $0.012 |
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning was cheaper: $0.62 less at list price, and less on each of the 6 prompts. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning was faster: 7 min 51 s less in total, and faster on 4 of the 6 prompts.
In the recording, both Breakout games play.
Rebuild this screen experiment: Grok 4.7's rebuild matched the screenshot at 59%; Nemotron 3.5 Lightning was not in it. Tea Garden experiment: Grok 4.7's game passed 5 of 5 checks; Nemotron 3.5 Lightning was not in it.