AWS C8g Instances: Graviton4–Powered Compute with Next-Level Performance
Amazon’s compute-optimized lineup continues to evolve, and the C8g family represents the latest leap forward. Powered by AWS Graviton4 processors, these instances deliver substantial performance gains for compute-intensive workloads—perfect for modern, demanding applications.
Overview
- Processor: AWS Graviton4 (Arm-based Neoverse V2 cores), offering up to 30% better compute performance compared to Graviton3 (C7g) instances (Amazon Web Services, Inc.).
- Designed for high-performance, compute-intensive tasks such as HPC, gaming, batch processing, ML inference, scientific modeling, video encoding, ad serving, and distributed analytics (Amazon Web Services, Inc.).
- Built on the AWS Nitro System, ensuring high performance, security, and isolation through custom hardware and lightweight virtualization (Amazon Web Services, Inc., AWS Documentation).
- Includes enhanced security features like always-on memory encryption, dedicated vCPU caches, and pointer authentication (Amazon Web Services, Inc.).
Instance Sizes & Specs
C8g offers a wide range of sizes—from compact to ultra-large—with the latest DDR5-5600 memory, expanded resources, and higher throughput (Amazon Web Services, Inc.).
| Instance | vCPUs | Memory (GiB) | Network BW (Gbps) | EBS BW (Gbps) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
c8g.medium |
1 | 2 | Up to 12.5 | Up to 10 |
c8g.large |
2 | 4 | Up to 12.5 | Up to 10 |
c8g.xlarge |
4 | 8 | Up to 12.5 | Up to 10 |
c8g.2xlarge |
8 | 16 | Up to 15 | Up to 10 |
c8g.4xlarge |
16 | 32 | Up to 15 | Up to 10 |
c8g.8xlarge |
32 | 64 | 15 | 10 |
c8g.12xlarge |
48 | 96 | 22.5 | 15 |
c8g.16xlarge |
64 | 128 | 30 | 20 |
c8g.24xlarge |
96 | 192 | 40 | 30 |
c8g.48xlarge |
192 | 384 | 50 | 40 |
Bare Metal Options: metal-24xl, metal-48xl |
Same as 24x/48x | Same as above | Same as above | Same as above |
Additionally, variants like C8gd (with local NVMe SSD storage) and C8gn (optimized for extreme network bandwidth, up to 600 Gbps) are also available (Amazon Web Services, Inc.).
These newer Graviton4 instances bring up to:
- 3× more vCPUs and memory than their Graviton3-based predecessors,
- 75% more memory bandwidth,
- Double the L2 cache,
- Up to 50 Gbps networking and 40 Gbps EBS bandwidth (Amazon Web Services, Inc.).
Use Cases
C8g is ideally suited for:
- High-performance computing (HPC)
- Scientific and batch processing
- Video encoding and gaming servers
- Machine Learning (CPU inference)
- Ad serving and distributed analytics
The high compute density, memory bandwidth, and scalable network I/O make C8g a perfect match for modern, demanding workloads.
Benefits at a Glance
- Up to 30% higher compute performance vs Graviton3-based C7g (Amazon Web Services, Inc.).
- Larger instance sizes, better suited for scaling workloads.
- Superior memory and cache architecture: DDR5 memory, more L2 cache.
- Improved networking and EBS performance: up to 50 Gbps and 40 Gbps respectively.
- Enhanced security features such as pointer authentication and always-on memory encryption (Amazon Web Services, Inc.).
- Flexible variants: choose C8gd for fast local storage or C8gn for maximal networking needs.
Performance & Pricing Insights
For example, the c8g.8xlarge delivers 32 vCPUs and 64 GiB RAM, with an observed clock speed of approximately 2.8 GHz on Neoverse-V2 cores (sparecores.com).
According to benchmark data, the c8g.large averages a Passmark single-threaded score of \~1912, with on-demand pricing around $0.08/hour and spot pricing often \~50–60% cheaper (RunsOn).
Availability
AWS launched C8g and M8g instances with general availability on September 25, 2024 (Amazon Web Services, Inc.). Initially, these appeared in regions like US East (N. Virginia), US East (Ohio), US West (Oregon), and Europe (Frankfurt) (Amazon Web Services, Inc.). Availability may vary across specific Availability Zones, a known quirk when new instance types are rolled out (Reddit).
Conclusion
The AWS C8g instance family, powered by Graviton4, offers a compelling blend of high compute performance, scalable memory, and advanced architecture for compute-centric workloads. With features like DDR5 memory, enhanced security, and variants for storage or networking intensity, C8g provides a powerful, cost-efficient platform — especially if your workloads are Arm-compatible.