[Yandex Cloud documentation](../../index.md) > [Yandex Compute Cloud](../index.md) > [Concepts](index.md) > Virtual machines > vCPU performance levels
# vCPU performance levels
When creating a virtual machine, you need to select a vCPU performance level. This level defines the physical core computing time a vCPU can guarantee.
* Virtual machines with performance level **below 100%** have access to the computing power of physical cores for at least the specified percentage of a unit of time.
> At 20% performance, a VM will have access to the physical cores at least 20% of the time, i.e., 200 milliseconds out of every second. During that time, the processor clock speed is not limited and depends on the selected platform, e.g., 2 GHz for Intel Ice Lake (`standard-v3`).
VMs with performance level below 100% are designed to run applications that do not require high performance and are not sensitive to delays. These VMs cost less.
* Virtual machines with **100%** performance level have continuous access (100% of the time) to the computing power of physical cores. Such VMs are designed to run applications that require high performance all the time.
## Specifics and limitations {#features-and-restrictions}
* Actual performance may exceed the guaranteed level.
* Available configurations of computing resources may change for different levels, depending on the selected [platform](vm-platforms.md).
* Available disk space does not depend on the VM performance level.
* VMs with vCPU performance level below 100% may operate at lower [speed](storage-read-write.md) with network drives.
* Network drive service cores [do not depend](../../vpc/concepts/software-accelerated-network.md#reg-vm) on VM parameters; however, vCPU performance reduction directly affects disk read and write speed.
* VMs with over 256 vCPUs will run correctly only on operating systems with Linux kernel version 5.15 or higher.
* For Windows-based VMs, the maximum number of vCPUs is 224.
For other limitations, see [Quotas and limits in Compute Cloud](limits.md).
## Minimum and maximum configurations {#minmax-configurations}
This subsection presents the minimum and maximum computing resource configurations depending on the platform. You can achieve these values in [different combinations](#available-configurations).
{% note info %}
The option with simultaneous maximum configuration of all computing resources is not available for all platforms. For more information, see [Available configurations](#available-configurations).
{% endnote %}
* Intel Broadwell (`standard-v1`):
Limit | Performance
level | vCPU | RAM, GB
total | RAM, GB
per core
------------ | ----------------------------- | ---- | ---------------- | -----------------
Min | 5% | 2 | 1 | 0.5
Max | 100% | 32 | 256 | 8
* Intel Cascade Lake (`standard-v2`):
Limit | Performance
level | vCPU | RAM, GB
total | RAM, GB
per core
------------ | ----------------------------- | ---- | ---------------- | -----------------
Min | 5% | 2 | 0.5 | 0.25
Max | 100% | 80 | 1280 | 16
* Intel Ice Lake (`standard-v3`):
Limit | Performance
level | vCPU | RAM, GB
total | RAM, GB
per core
------------ | ----------------------------- | ---- | ---------------- | -----------------
Min | 20% | 2 | 1 | 0.5
Max | 100% | 96 | 640 | 16
* Intel Ice Lake Compute-Optimized (`highfreq-v3`):
Limit | Performance
level | vCPU | RAM, GB
total | RAM, GB
per core
------------ | ----------------------------- | ---- | ---------------- | -----------------
Min | 100% | 2 | 2 | 1
Max | 100% | 56 | 448 | 16
* AMD Zen 3 (`amd-v1`)^1^:
Limit | Performance
level | vCPU | RAM, GB
total | RAM, GB
per core
----- | ----------------------------- | ---- | ---------------- | -----------------
Min | 20% | 2 | 1 | 0.5
Max | 100% | 128 | 768 | 6
* AMD Zen 4 (`standard-v4a`):
Limit | Performance
level | vCPU | RAM, GB
total | RAM, GB
per core
----- | ----------------------------- | ---- | ---------------- | -----------------
Min | 20% | 2 | 1 | 0.5
Max | 100% | 288 | 1792 | 8
* AMD Zen 4 Compute-Optimized (`highfreq-v4a`):
Limit | Performance
level | vCPU | RAM, GB
total | RAM, GB
per core
----- | ----------------------------- | ---- | ---------------- | -----------------
Min | 20% | 2 | 1 | 0.5
Max | 100% | 80 | 960 | 12
^1^ `amd-v1` is available to a limited number of users for private testing at the [Preview](../../overview/concepts/launch-stages.md) stage and is not free of charge. To request access to the platform, contact your account manager.
## Available configurations {#available-configurations}
* Intel Broadwell (`standard-v1`):
Level
level | vCPU | RAM, GB
per core
--- | --- | ---
5% | 2, 4 | 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2
20% | 2, 4 | 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4
100% | 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14,
16, 20, 24, 28, 32 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
* Intel Cascade Lake (`standard-v2`):
Level
level | vCPU | RAM, GB
per core
--- | --- | ---
5% | 2, 4 | 0.25, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2
20% | 2, 4 | 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4
50% | 2, 4 | 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4
100% | 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14,
16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36,
40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60,
64, 68, 72, 76, 80 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
* Intel Ice Lake (`standard-v3`):
Level
level | vCPU | RAM per core, GB
--- | --- | ---
20% | 2, 4 | 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4
50% | 2, 4 | 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4
100% | 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
100% | 24 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
100% | 28 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
100% | 32 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
100% | 36, 40 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
100% | 44 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
11, 12, 13, 14
100% | 48 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
11, 12, 13
100% | 52 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
11, 12
100% | 56 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
11
100% | 60, 64 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
100% | 68 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
100% | 72, 76, 80 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
100% | 84, 88 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
100% | 92, 96 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
* Intel Ice Lake Compute-Optimized (`highfreq-v3`):
vCPU | RAM, GB per core
--- | ---
2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14,
16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36,
40, 44, 48, 52, 56 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
* AMD Zen 3 (`amd-v1`)^1^:
Level
level | vCPU | RAM, GB
per core
--- | --- | ---
20% | 2, 4 | 0.5, 1, 1.5
50% | 2, 4 | 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4
100% | 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 48, 64, 96, 128 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
* AMD Zen 4 (`standard-v4a`):
Level
level | vCPU | RAM, GB
per core
--- | --- | ---
20% | 2, 4 | 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2
50% | 2, 4 | 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4
100% | 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 48, 64, 96, 128, 224 | 1, 2, 4, 8
100% | 256, 288 | 1, 2, 4
* AMD Zen 4 Compute-Optimized (`highfreq-v4a`):
Level
level | vCPU | RAM, GB
per core
--- | --- | ---
20% | 2, 4 | 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2
50% | 2, 4 | 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4
100% | 2, 4, 8, 16, 24, 32, 48, 80 | 1, 2, 4, 8, 10, 12
^1^ `amd-v1` is available to a limited number of users for private testing at the [Preview](../../overview/concepts/launch-stages.md) stage and is not free of charge. To request access to the platform, contact your account manager.