How can Arm chips like AWS Graviton or Apple M1/2 be faster and cheaper than x86 chips from Intel or AMD

Wed, 25 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The Arm price/performance paradox

In my cost optimization gigs I often see how many people don’t understand how Arm chips (such as AWS Graviton and Apple M1/M2) can be both cheaper and faster than x86 chips from Intel and AMD.

It’s counter-intuitive, so many think that since Graviton is ~20% cheaper, it must also be slower.

To explain this paradox, imagine two development teams:

Team x86 has 4 engineers and 6 managers
Team Arm has 6 engineers and 2 managers

That’s how you can get 50% more output at 20% less costs.

Arm on AutoSpotting

How can Arm chips like AWS Graviton or Apple M1/2 be faster and cheaper than x86 chips from Intel or AMD

The Arm price/performance paradox