Did you know that AMD-based machine series on Google Cloud are not only more cost-effective but also offer better performance? Read on for the details of why you should consider making the switch.

Cost Savings and Performance Boost

Savings: AMD-based machines are 13% cheaper compared to their Intel counterparts.

Performance: AMD machines provide up to 20% better performance.

Comparing Intel and AMD machines

All the following examples come from the US-Central-1 Region.

First, let’s see the vCPUs:

Example 1: N2 Series

• Intel (n2-standard-4)
  • vCPUs: 4
  • RAM: 16 GB
  • Cost: $141.79/month
• AMD (n2d-standard-4)
  • vCPUs: 4
  • RAM: 16 GB
  • Cost: $123.36/month (-13%)

Example 2: C3 Series

• Intel (c3-standard-4)
  • vCPUs: 4
  • RAM: 16 GB
  • Cost: $152.43/month
• AMD (c3d-standard-4)
  • vCPUs: 4
  • RAM: 16 GB
  • Cost: $132.57/month (-13%)

In both cases, the cost is 13% less for AMD machines than for the Intel ones.
The 13% difference also applies if you have CUDs. (Source)

As for performance, let’s compare their CoreMarks.
CoreMark is a benchmark that measures the performance of CPUs, higher is better. (Source)

Example 1: N2 Series

• Intel (n2-standard-4)
  • CoreMark Score: 66,884
• AMD (n2d-standard-4)
  • CoreMark Score: 80,098 (+20%)

Example 2: C3 Series

• Intel (c3-standard-4)
  • CoreMark Score: 80,609
• AMD (c3d-standard-4)
  • CoreMark Score: 94,572 (+17%)

So, in both cases, AMD machines can give a significantly better performance: +17% and +20%.

Real-World Impact

One customer using Rabbit switched their GKE node pool from N2 to N2D, resulting in:

• 26.5% total savings
  • 13.5% reduction in the number of nodes
  • 13% decrease in node costs

Considerations Before Switching

• Active Resource-Based Commitments: Wait until they expire to switch.
• Nested Virtualization: Not supported on AMD-based machines.
• Hyperdisk Extreme: Not compatible with AMD.

Next steps

Switching to AMD-based machines can lead to significant cost savings and performance improvements. Check your specific environment and see how much you can save with AMD on Google Cloud.

For more details, refer to the Google Cloud pricing page and CoreMark scores. Or if you want to see for yourself how much you can save in your GCP environment, see below how Rabbit shows multiple options for machine types:

Sign up for a free trial, or contact us to try Rabbit on demo data.