Mistral Large 4 vs Qwen3.8 Max (0902)
Mistral Large 4 took 51 min 22 s and $0.61 at list price, Qwen3.8 Max (0902) took 77 min 11 s and $1.20 at list price. Qwen3.8 Max (0902) took 1.5× as long and cost 2.0× as much.
Mistral Large 4
Mistral · $2.10/M out · 4,688 HN pts
Qwen3.8 Max (0902)
Alibaba · $6.00/M out · 3 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 sits in a former warehouse on Rotterdam's northern edge, where the Maas meets the industrial harbour. Three of us work here—no more, no less—surrounded by oscilloscopes, desoldering stations, and the persistent hum of transformers. We repair vintage synthesizers. That is the whole business.
We are not a museum, and we are not a factory. Every Minimoog, ARP 2600, or Juno that crosses our bench receives the same stubborn attention: traced schematics, replaced capacitors, calibrated voltages, hours spent listening for the note that was never quite right. The machines arrive broken, silent, forgotten. They leave singing.
Rotterdam built its reputation on moving heavy things and keeping them moving. We apply the same pragmatism to circuits that predate us by forty years. If it made sound once, it can make sound again. That is the promise we keep, solder joint by solder joint.
Patchbay is a small repair studio in Rotterdam dedicated to vintage synthesizers. We are three people who care about old instruments, their history, and the players who keep them alive. From classic analog polys to rare drum machines, we take the time to understand each machine before we touch it. Our work is practical and respectful: careful diagnosis, honest advice, and repairs that preserve the character of the instrument. We know these synths are more than circuits and knobs. They carry stories from studios, stages, and secondhand shops, and they deserve to be treated with patience. Whether a machine needs a simple clean, a full restoration, or help finding a hard-to-source part, we aim to make the process clear and personal from start to finish. Based in Rotterdam, we help musicians, collectors, and studios keep old synthesizers making sound for years to come. We do it with patience and respect.
Specs and numbers
| Mistral Large 4 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Mistral | Alibaba |
| Made in | France | China |
| Released | 6 Oct 2026 | 3 Sep 2026 |
| Price in, per M tokens | $0.70 | $2.00 |
| Price out, per M tokens | $2.10 | $6.00 |
| Context | 1,048,576 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens |
| Weights | open | closed |
| Hacker News points | 4,688 | 3 |
| Time for the six prompts | 51 min 22 s | 77 min 11 s |
| List price of the six prompts | $0.61 | $1.20 |
Mistral Large 4 was cheaper: $0.59 less at list price, and less on each of the 6 prompts. Mistral Large 4 was faster: 25 min 48 s less in total, and faster on 4 of the 6 prompts.
In the recording, both Breakout games play.
Rebuild this screen experiment: Mistral Large 4's rebuild matched the screenshot at 46%, Qwen3.8 Max (0902)'s 81%. Tea Garden experiment: Mistral Large 4's game passed 2 of 5 checks, Qwen3.8 Max (0902)'s 5 of 5.





