C4 VMs based on Intel 6th Gen Xeon Granite Rapids now GA

C4 VMs on Intel Xeon 6

Initially launched with Intel 5th generation Xeon processors (Emerald Rapids), C4 VMs provided advancements in performance and control for enterprise and mission-critical workloads, especially AI, gaming, databases, and data analytics. And now with Xeon 6 (Granite Rapids), C4 VMs power even more demanding workloads, delivering the highest frequency of any Google Compute Engine VM — up to 4.2 GHz, the most vCPU and RAM of any Intel-based comparable product, larger L3 cache size, and 1.35x higher maximum memory bandwidth. The C4 machine series offers enhanced maintenance controls with a 30-day uptime window between planned maintenance events, and scalable Hyperdisk storage with up to 500k IOPS and 10 GB/s, including features like Hyperdisk Storage Pools.

Inference workloads on C4 with Xeon 6 demonstrate up to 60% better performance per core compared to prior-generation C3. C4’s new shapes support FP16-trained models with Intel AMX-FP16, making it a great choice for accelerating machine learning inference. Also, a new larger half- and full-host C4 shape (144 and 288 vCPU) guarantees memory isolation, for highly predictable performance. The largest C4 shape enables up to 30% more performance per core on the estimated SPECrate®2017_int_base benchmark versus C3.