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Head-to-head comparison

Llama 3 1 Nemotron 51B Instruct vs Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1

Llama 3 1 Nemotron 51B Instruct (NVIDIA) and Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 (NVIDIA) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 6 November 2026

As of 6 November 2026, Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#172 vs #266).

Which should you choose?

Choose Llama 3 1 Nemotron 51B Instruct if…

  • ModelCap publishes no field on which Llama 3 1 Nemotron 51B Instruct leads Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 for this pair.

Choose Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #172 against #266 (38.9 vs 23.8 points).
  • Arena text is your yardstick — 1348 against 1287.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1390 against 1312.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 was listed 7 April 2025, Llama 3 1 Nemotron 51B Instruct 22 September 2024.

Llama 3 1 Nemotron 51B Instruct vs Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Llama 3 1 Nemotron 51B Instruct and Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1
FieldLlama 3 1 Nemotron 51B InstructNVIDIALlama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1NVIDIA
ModelCap Index position#266#172
Index score23.838.9
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokensUnlistedUnlisted
Output price / 1M tokensUnlistedUnlisted
Context window— tokens— tokens
Declared route output cap--
API providers listed00
Weight accessRestricted licenseRestricted license
Input modalitiesTextText
First listed22 September 20247 April 2025
PublisherNVIDIANVIDIA

Evidence: 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards · 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Llama 3 1 Nemotron 51B Instruct vs Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1

Public benchmark boards where Llama 3 1 Nemotron 51B Instruct or Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 has a published result
BoardLlama 3 1 Nemotron 51B InstructLlama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1Leads
Arena textArena (LMArena)12871277–1297Not reported13481336–1359Not reportedLlama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1
Arena codingArena (LMArena)13121290–133413901361–1420Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1
BFCL V4UC Berkeley (Gorilla)—10.0Function callingOnly one result

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

Llama 3 1 Nemotron 51B Instruct vs Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1: common questions

Is Llama 3 1 Nemotron 51B Instruct better than Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1?

Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 6 November 2026: #172 against #266. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it. Their published uncertainty intervals do not overlap, but the aggregate Index does not predict performance on every task; compare the relevant benchmark configurations before choosing.

Is Llama 3 1 Nemotron 51B Instruct cheaper than Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1?

At least one of the two has no listed API price on ModelCap right now, so no price comparison is made.

Which has the bigger context window, Llama 3 1 Nemotron 51B Instruct or Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1?

Llama 3 1 Nemotron 51B Instruct: context unknown. Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1: context unknown. OpenRouter catalogue or provider-endpoint declaration. Limits can vary by provider and prompt length; a model-wide maximum has not been independently verified.

Which is better for coding, Llama 3 1 Nemotron 51B Instruct or Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1?

Arena coding: Llama 3 1 Nemotron 51B Instruct 1312, Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 1390 — Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 leads.

Are Llama 3 1 Nemotron 51B Instruct and Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 open-weight models?

Llama 3 1 Nemotron 51B Instruct: Restricted license. Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1: Restricted license. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence. A missing weight link does not identify every API or chat product that offers a model.

Where can I run Llama 3 1 Nemotron 51B Instruct and Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1?

ModelCap currently lists 0 API providers for Llama 3 1 Nemotron 51B Instruct and 0 for Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Llama 3 1 Nemotron 51B Instruct vs Llama 3 1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 comparison?

Every figure and ModelCap Index position comes from the same published snapshot dated 6 November 2026. Publication and page updates happen separately; use the snapshot date shown on the page.

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