Explanation
Why the waste happens and who it affects.
However, AWS offers AMD and Graviton-based alternatives that often deliver significantly better price-performance for general-purpose and compute-optimized workloads.
By not testing workloads across available architectures, teams may continue paying a premium for Intel instances even when no specific performance or compatibility benefit exists. Over time, this results in unnecessary compute spend across development, staging, and even production environments.
Billing model
The pricing dimensions that drive this cost.
- EC2 instances are billed per second with a 60-second minimum (Linux, Windows, RHEL and Ubuntu Pro; SLES is billed per full hour) based on:
- Instance type and size
- Architecture family (e.g., Intel, AMD, Graviton)
- Graviton instances (`m6g`, `c6g`, etc.) typically offer 20-40% better price-performance
- AMD-based instances (`m6a`, `r6a`, etc.) are often priced lower than equivalent Intel types
How to detect
2 checks to find it in your estate.
- Identify EC2 instances running on Intel-based families
- Identify applications with general-purpose compute requirements that could be migrated to Graviton or AMD
How to fix
4 ways to remove the waste.
- Check for architecture-specific performance issues or compatibility blockers before switching
- Benchmark representative workloads on Intel, AMD, and Graviton instance types
- Migrate to the instance family that offers the best price-performance for the workload
- Update provisioning defaults and infrastructure templates to prefer AMD or Graviton when appropriate
Documentation
Vendor references for pricing and configuration.