AWS Graviton
Hacker ApprovedRanked 2 of 8 server CPUs by recommenders
People recommend AWS Graviton ARM processors for better price-performance than x86 instances, often lowering AWS bills. Some critics report regressions on certain workloads and slower single-thread speed than Intel or AMD.
People recommend AWS Graviton ARM processors for better price-performance than x86 instances, often lowering AWS bills. Some critics report regressions on certain workloads and slower single-thread speed than Intel or AMD.
23 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 16
- criticize it
- 7
- approval share
- 70%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 16 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Better price-performance than x86
“ARM has better performance per watt, which translates to better performance per $.”
Comment from 16 May 2026 in “Europe built sovereign clouds to escape US control. Forgot about the processors” “the result was better performance at a lower price point”
Comment from 7 Mar 2026 in “Never Bet Against x86” “It's effectively better in terms of performance/price”
Comment from 16 Feb 2026 in “Arm wants a bigger slice of the chip business” - Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “Amazon EC2 M9g Instances”
- Comment from 11 Dec 2025 in “Amazon EC2 M9g Instances”
Cheaper than Intel and AMD instances
“One of the easiest hack to reduce your AWS bills is to migrate from x86 to arm64 CPU.”
Comment from 2 Dec 2025 in “Comparing AWS Lambda ARM64 vs. x86_64 Performance Across Runtimes in Late 2025” “It works out cheaper without the Intel / AMD "tax".”
Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “Amazon EC2 M9g Instances” Reliable for Linux workloads
“We run a handful of Linux workloads on Graviton without any issues.”
Comment from 5 Dec 2025 in “Framework Laptop 13 gets ARM processor with 12 cores via upgrade kit” “has been quite pleasant to use”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “AWS introduces Graviton5–the company's most powerful and efficient CPU” Newer generations keep improving
“they gave the definitive push for ARM in the datacenter by proving it's effectively feasible and cost-effective”
Comment from 13 Jun 2026 in “Israeli firm BlackCore suspected of meddling in New York and Scotland votes” “Graviton5 in particular is a big deal.”
Comment from 27 Jun 2026 in “Apple to Skip High-End M6 Mac Chips in Favor of AI-Focused M7 Line” “Graviton is dominating AWS.”
Comment from 21 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia Vera CPU in Detail: High Perf Chip Takes Aim at Broader AI Server Market”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Regressions on some workloads
“I've also seen crazy regressions on AWS Graviton (compared to how its supposed to perform)”
Comment from 5 Apr 2026 in “AWS Engineer Reports PostgreSQL Perf Halved by Linux 7.0, Fix May Not Be Easy” “reports of earlier Graviton (pre v3) instances having mediocre AES NI performance”
Comment from 2 Dec 2025 in “Comparing AWS Lambda ARM64 vs. x86_64 Performance Across Runtimes in Late 2025” Slower than Intel or AMD
“Single thread CPU scores for Graviton2 are about half that of Intel”
Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “Amazon EC2 M9g Instances” “AMD/Intel. Which are far superior to Graviton 4.”
Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “Amazon EC2 M9g Instances”
Other server CPUs people recommend
The four most recommended other server CPUs, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMD EPYC | 26 | 3 | 90% | 11 | — | Approved |
| AWS GravitonThis page | 16 | 7 | 70% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Intel Xeon | 14 | 11 | 56% | 4 | 15 yrs3 owners | — |
| Nvidia Vera CPU | 11 | 7 | 61% | 6 | — | — |
| Ampere CPU | 8 | 6 | 57% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
All 25 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“where Ampere and Graviton was different from the M1 mac in benchmark”
“Amazon gets this. Except for the 4th generation their Graviton systems are not NUMA.”
“Graviton5 in particular is a big deal.”
“Graviton has had a price increase nearly every generation”
“they gave the definitive push for ARM in the datacenter by proving it's effectively feasible and cost-effective”
“ARM has better performance per watt, which translates to better performance per $.”
“I've also seen crazy regressions on AWS Graviton (compared to how its supposed to perform)”
“Graviton is dominating AWS.”
“the benchmarks don't show any results for using these larger-than-memory models, only the size difference”
“the result was better performance at a lower price point”
“AWS Graviton instances, even our CI runners are now ARM to match local development”
“the slight discount on ARM instances is a gimmick from Amazon to diversify their servers”
“It's effectively better in terms of performance/price”
“Great engineering pieces, the three of them.”
“Gravitons offer better $/perf”
“It works out cheaper without the Intel / AMD "tax".”
“Single thread CPU scores for Graviton2 are about half that of Intel”
“the Graviton's are far and away ahead on that metric”
“It really is incredible how ARM basically commoditized processors (in a good way).”
“Not if you are looking at price/performance.”
“AMD/Intel. Which are far superior to Graviton 4.”
“has been quite pleasant to use”
“We run a handful of Linux workloads on Graviton without any issues.”
“One of the easiest hack to reduce your AWS bills is to migrate from x86 to arm64 CPU.”
“reports of earlier Graviton (pre v3) instances having mediocre AES NI performance”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.