Source: https://gameye.com/glossary/vcpu/

---
title: "vCPU | Gameye"
description: "A vCPU (virtual CPU) is a unit of compute capacity representing one logical processor core. Game server hosting is typically priced per vCPU-hour."
---

# vCPU

A vCPU (virtual CPU) is a unit of compute capacity representing one logical processor core. In cloud computing, a vCPU typically maps to one hardware thread of a physical CPU core. In bare metal, one vCPU equals one dedicated core with no sharing.

## vCPU in game server hosting

Game server hosting is typically priced per vCPU-hour. A 1 vCPU container running for one hour at $0.07/vCPU/hr on-demand costs $0.07. A 4 vCPU container running for the same hour costs $0.28.

The number of vCPUs a game server needs depends on the game type, player count, and tick rate. A 10-player shooter at 128 Hz typically needs 1 vCPU. A 100-player battle royale at 30 Hz might need 2-4 vCPUs. An MMO shard with 200 players could need 4-8 vCPUs.

## Bare metal vCPU vs cloud vCPU

Not all vCPUs are equal. A bare metal vCPU on a 5 GHz Ryzen 7950X delivers more single-threaded performance than a cloud vCPU on a 3.5 GHz shared instance. Game servers are predominantly single-threaded, so clock speed per core matters more than core count. This is why bare metal often needs fewer vCPUs to run the same workload — roughly 30% fewer compared to equivalent cloud VMs.

## Billing models

- **Per vCPU-hour** — Pay for the vCPUs your containers use, billed per second or per hour.

- **Reserved vCPU** — Commit to a block of vCPUs at a lower rate (e.g. $0.035 vs $0.07/vCPU/hr on-demand).

- **Per instance** — Pay for a full VM regardless of how many vCPUs your containers use (common in cloud, leads to waste).

Not sure how many vCPUs your server needs? Enter player count, tick rate and game type to get a vCPU and RAM estimate.

[Estimate your server size →](https://gameye.com/server-sizing/)

[Back to Glossary](https://gameye.com/glossary/)

## Related terms

- ### Resource profile

A resource profile will figure out how many resources your game will take, and in turn, how much compute power a server needs to reserve to run your game. [Read more](https://gameye.com/glossary/resource-profile/)
- ### Bare-metal servers

A bare-metal server is a physical machine which lives inside a data centre. It’s a place where you’ll host your games matches and sessions. [Read more](https://gameye.com/glossary/bare-metal-servers/)
- ### Cloud servers

Your cloud server is a virtual server. It runs in a cloud computing environment, and it's a place where you’ll host your games’ matches and sessions. [Read more](https://gameye.com/glossary/cloud-servers/)