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 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. $0.027 vs $0.07/vCPU/hr).

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

Building a multiplayer game? Gameye hosts dedicated game servers: ship your server as a Docker container and start one per match with a single API call, in a region near your players.

[See how it works →](https://gameye.com/how-it-works/)

[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/)