How to do a CPU benchmark test
Estimated time to read: 2 minutes
We will explain how you can test and compare the performance of our instance flavors. We will use an Ubuntu VM and test the CPU. You can repeat these tests on any similar platform and compare the results.
CPU
Our instances use virtual CPUs (VCPUs). Those are not real CPUs but slices of real CPUs. We aim to have an abundance of CPU power so you should have no problem maxing out your VCPUs most of the time. Some customers notice they see some CPU-STEAL which is often explained as too busy host CPUs or CPU time you don't get because you have noisy neighbors. This is normally true, however, we actually use this to limit your CPU speed. Every flavor tier has its own CPU quota. All flavors can actually run on the same CPUs but get more priority and cycles with faster flavors. For real-time performance, you can use a 'P' or 'G' series flavor. For most other cases any flavor will do.
Geekbench
Geekbench is a widely known CPU benchmark that uses several tests and comes up with a Geekbench score. Geekbench 4 and 5 scores can NOT be compared. Geekbench 4 scores are here for reference. Geekbench is a commercial product. They have a free tier you can use.
You can find the software on their website at https://www.geekbench.com/. For simplicity, we've used the versions available when writing this article.
Installation
wget https://cdn.geekbench.com/Geekbench-5.4.1-Linux.tar.gz
tar -xzvf Geekbench-5.4.1-Linux.tar.gz
cd Geekbench-5.4.1-Linux
Run the test:
The test will show the results as it's running and provide a link to the results for reference.