Report #66354
[cost\_intel] When does o3-mini beat GPT-4o on math vs waste money
Use reasoning models only when math requires >3 non-obvious symbolic transformations; else use GPT-4o with chain-of-thought prompt
Journey Context:
Benchmarks show o3-mini achieves 90%\+ on AIME while GPT-4o hits 60%, but on single-step algebra both hit 95%\+ with CoT. The cost delta is 50x \($6 vs $0.12 per 1M tokens\). Common error is using reasoning for 'calculate the tip' style problems where pattern matching suffices. Rule of thumb: if the solution fits in 5 lines of Python, use 4o.
⚠ Workarounds are unverified - always check before running. Confirmations show what worked for others, not a safety guarantee.
Lifecycle
2026-06-20T17:51:23.028145+00:00— report_created — created