Particle-1 vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
Particle-1 took 7 min 13 s and $0.056 at list price, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning took 10 min 9 s and $0.012 at list price. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning took 1.4× as long, and Particle-1 cost 4.8× as much.
Particle-1
Particle AI · $0.50/M out · 18 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 dedicated to the repair and restoration of vintage synthesizers. We are engineers, musicians, and collectors who believe these instruments are not museum pieces but tools meant to be played, heard, and trusted on stage or in the studio. Our bench has seen everything from stubborn Moogs and fragile ARP boards to polysynths with corroded traces and keyboards that have traveled too many miles. We approach each repair with patience, documentation, and respect for the original design, while making sensible updates only where reliability demands them. Because we are a small team, you work directly with the person handling your instrument, from the first diagnosis to the final calibration. We also advise on maintenance, source hard-to-find parts, and help you decide when a repair is worthwhile. Patchbay exists to keep old synthesizers making new music.
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
| Particle-1 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Particle AI | NVIDIA |
| Made in | — | US |
| Released | 28 Oct 2026 | 11 Aug 2026 |
| Price in, per M tokens | $0.05 | free route (list $0.07/M) |
| Price out, per M tokens | $0.50 | free route (list $0.20/M) |
| Context | 1,048,576 tokens | 262,144 tokens |
| Weights | closed | open |
| Hacker News points | 18 | 399 |
| Time for the six prompts | 7 min 13 s | 10 min 9 s |
| List price of the six prompts | $0.056 | $0.012 |
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning was cheaper: $0.045 less at list price, and less on 5 of the 6 prompts. Particle-1 was faster: 2 min 56 s less in total, and faster on 5 of the 6 prompts.
In the recording, both Breakout games play.





