Instances›AWS EC2›c7gd›c7gd.xlarge
Compute
vCPUs4
Memory8 GiB
Mem / vCPU2.00 GiB
ProcessorGraviton3 Processor
Clock speed2.5 GHz
Architecturearm64
Storage
Type1 × 237 GB NVMe SSD
Bandwidth10,000 Mbps
Throughput1250 MB/s
IOPS40,000
Networking
PerformanceUp to 12.5 Gigabit
Max ENIs4
IPv6Yes
GPUNone
Family sizes
c7gd.medium1 vCPU · 2 GiB
c7gd.large2 vCPU · 4 GiB
c7gd.xlarge4 vCPU · 8 GiB
c7gd.2xlarge8 vCPU · 16 GiB
c7gd.4xlarge16 vCPU · 32 GiB
c7gd.8xlarge32 vCPU · 64 GiB
c7gd.12xlarge48 vCPU · 96 GiB
c7gd.16xlarge64 vCPU · 128 GiB
c7gd.metal64 vCPU · 128 GiB
c7gd.xlarge

c7gd.xlarge is AWS's compute-optimized EC2 size at 4 vCPU and 8 GiB. In the name, "c" stands for compute, "7" is the generation, "gd" marks AWS Graviton (ARM) processors and local NVMe storage and "xlarge" is the size within the c7gd family. It runs on AWS Graviton3 Processor at 2.5 GHz, and AWS introduced it in July 2023. AWS has since shipped c8gd and c9gd; c8gd.xlarge is the direct replacement at this size. On Rackspace Spot the same shape is ch.vs2.large — 4 vCPU, 8 GiB, matched on both dimensions, about 88% below the US East (N. Virginia) on-demand rate.

Match qualityx86 substitution

c7gd.xlarge is Graviton (arm64). Rackspace Spot does not have arm64 servers, so ch.vs2.large is an x86_64 substitute with similar specs.

You will need x86 builds of your container images. Most software rebuilds without changes, but anything with compiled native code needs a real rebuild rather than a retag. Speed per core also differs between the two chips, so it is worth testing before deciding how many nodes to run.

No local diskc7gd.xlarge comes with 1 × 237 GB NVMe SSD attached to the machine. Spot nodes use network storage only, so that disk doesn't come with it. If you were using it as fast scratch space, you'd move to a persistent volume or object storage, which are slower to read.
Pricing by region
1 hr
RegionAWS on-demandAWS Spot1-yr Reserved3-yr ReservedRackspace SpotYou save
US East, N. Virginia$0.181$0.073$0.114$0.076$0.021
$0.160 savings
US Central, Chicagono AWS region$0.011
US Central, Dallasno AWS region$0.021
Hong Kong$0.036
Sydney, Australia$0.238$0.103$0.150$0.103$0.011
$0.227 savings
London, UK$0.217$0.087$0.137$0.094$0.026
$0.191 savings
US West, San Jose$0.227$0.071$0.143$0.098$0.031
$0.196 savings
US Central, Dallas 2no AWS region$0.041
US East, N. Virginia 2$0.181$0.073$0.114$0.076$0.031
$0.150 savings
When to use it
Good for
  • ●Scientific modelling and simulation
  • ●Ad serving and real-time bidding
  • ●Game servers and matchmaking
  • ●Workloads that fit inside 8 GiB of RAM
  • ●Jobs that want 1 × 237 GB of local NVMe scratch space
  • ●Network-heavy services — AWS rates this size at Up to 12.5 Gigabit
Avoid if
  • ●Starting a new deployment. c8gd.xlarge is the newer generation at this size.
  • ●The working set needs more than 8 GiB of RAM
  • ●You cannot rebuild x86-only binaries or vendor images for aarch64
  • ●GPU or FPGA acceleration is needed
  • ●Memory-hungry applications. A memory-optimized family gives more RAM per dollar.
  • ●More than 2.00 GiB of RAM per vCPU is needed — that ratio is fixed for the whole family
$132/mo on AWS on-demand against $15/mo on Rackspace Spot for the equivalent — market-priced, not list-priced.
  • Spot sells spare capacity at market prices. It is the cheapest compute on the internet.
  • Prices are set by supply and demand. You pay what the market decides.
  • Compute is delivered as fully managed Kubernetes. All infrastructure is taken care of.
  • Egress costs $0.01/GB after the free allowance. AWS charges $0.09/GB.
Build your Cloudspace
Frequently asked questions