DigitalOcean Premium Intel (8 GB, 4 Cores) vs. Vultr High Frequency Intel (2 GB, 2 Cores)
Fresh benchmarks coming at ya. Today I've spun up some brand new instance from DigitalOcean and Vultr and did some benchmarking. Each instance was spun up with Ubuntu 24.04 LTS x64 and were created in the New York area (or close to it). Let's get into the numbers.
Overview
| DigitalOcean – Premium Intel (8 GB, 4 Cores) | Vultr – High Frequency Intel (2 GB, 2 Cores) | |
|---|---|---|
| Last Benchmarked | Tue, 02 Jun 2026 06:00:52 GMT | Sun, 31 May 2026 13:00:55 GMT |
| Linux Distro | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS x64 | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS x64 |
| Kernel Version | 6.8.0-71-generic | 6.8.0-117-generic |
| MySQL Version | 8.0.45-0ubuntu0.24.04.1 | 8.0.45-0ubuntu0.24.04.1 |
| Redis Version | 7.0.15 | 7.0.15 |
| Location | New York, NY | Newark, NJ |
| Monthly Price | $64.00 | $18.00 |
| RAM (GB) | 8 | 2 |
| CPU Cores | 4 | 2 |
| Storage (TB) | 240 | 80 |
| Storage Type | NVMe | NVMe |
| Transfer (TB) | 6 | 3 |
CPU
| DigitalOcean – Premium Intel (8 GB, 4 Cores) | Vultr – High Frequency Intel (2 GB, 2 Cores) | |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | GenuineIntel | GenuineIntel |
| Model Name | DO-Premium-Intel | Intel Core Processor (Skylake, IBRS, no TSX) |
| Clock Speed (MHz) | 1,995.31 | 3,791.98 |
| CPU Cache Size (KB) | 4,096.00 | 16,384.00 |
| BogoMips | 3,990.61 | 7,583.95 |
| Events per Second | 2,100.00 | 1,552.05 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.46 | 0.62 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.48 | 0.64 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 0.77 | 4.61 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0.49 | 0.69 |
Memory
Memory Read
| DigitalOcean – Premium Intel (8 GB, 4 Cores) | Vultr – High Frequency Intel (2 GB, 2 Cores) | |
|---|---|---|
| Operations per second | 4,031,036.30 | 7,875,668.83 |
| Mebibytes per second | 3,936.56 | 7,691.08 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 0.09 | 0.12 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
Memory Write
| DigitalOcean – Premium Intel (8 GB, 4 Cores) | Vultr – High Frequency Intel (2 GB, 2 Cores) | |
|---|---|---|
| Operations per second | 4,327,248.72 | 7,729,812.11 |
| Mebibytes per second | 4,225.83 | 7,548.64 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 0.18 | 0.16 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
File I/O
| DigitalOcean – Premium Intel (8 GB, 4 Cores) | Vultr – High Frequency Intel (2 GB, 2 Cores) | |
|---|---|---|
| Reads per Second | 1,848.36 | 4,671.85 |
| Writes per Second | 1,232.24 | 3,114.56 |
| Fsyncs per Second | 3,943.27 | 9,976.90 |
| Read Mebibytes per Second | 28.88 | 73.00 |
| Written Mebibytes per Second | 19.25 | 48.67 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.14 | 0.06 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 32.73 | 2.76 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0.83 | 0.17 |
Mutex
| DigitalOcean – Premium Intel (8 GB, 4 Cores) | Vultr – High Frequency Intel (2 GB, 2 Cores) | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 496.91 | 543.27 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 678.09 | 554.74 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 755.25 | 563.70 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 759.88 | 559.50 |
MySQL
MySQL Read-only
| DigitalOcean – Premium Intel (8 GB, 4 Cores) | Vultr – High Frequency Intel (2 GB, 2 Cores) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 5,172.00 | 10,621.00 |
| Queries per second | 51,720.00 | 106,210.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 1.28 | 0.86 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.93 | 0.94 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 8.32 | 2.5 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 2.61 | 1.03 |
MySQL Write-only
| DigitalOcean – Premium Intel (8 GB, 4 Cores) | Vultr – High Frequency Intel (2 GB, 2 Cores) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 2,301.00 | 10,229.00 |
| Queries per second | 23,010.00 | 102,290.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 1.35 | 0.64 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 4.34 | 0.98 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 12.64 | 2.08 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 7.3 | 1.23 |
MySQL Read/Write
| DigitalOcean – Premium Intel (8 GB, 4 Cores) | Vultr – High Frequency Intel (2 GB, 2 Cores) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 1,495.00 | 5,072.00 |
| Queries per second | 14,950.00 | 50,720.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 2.89 | 1.59 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 6.68 | 1.97 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 19.01 | 3.94 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 10.46 | 2.39 |
MySQL INSERT
| DigitalOcean – Premium Intel (8 GB, 4 Cores) | Vultr – High Frequency Intel (2 GB, 2 Cores) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 3,010.00 | 16,038.00 |
| Queries per second | 30,100.00 | 160,380.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 1.11 | 0.38 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 3.32 | 0.62 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 14.62 | 13.18 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 6.09 | 0.8 |
MySQL Bulk INSERT
| DigitalOcean – Premium Intel (8 GB, 4 Cores) | Vultr – High Frequency Intel (2 GB, 2 Cores) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 1,201,092.00 | 2,424,342.00 |
| Queries per second | 12,010,920.00 | 24,243,420.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.01 | 0 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 566.03 | 205.81 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0 | 0 |
MySQL SELECT
| DigitalOcean – Premium Intel (8 GB, 4 Cores) | Vultr – High Frequency Intel (2 GB, 2 Cores) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 157,927.00 | 241,313.00 |
| Queries per second | 1,579,270.00 | 2,413,130.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.04 | 0.03 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.06 | 0.04 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 2.99 | 0.76 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 0.09 | 0.05 |
MySQL SELECT (Random Points)
| DigitalOcean – Premium Intel (8 GB, 4 Cores) | Vultr – High Frequency Intel (2 GB, 2 Cores) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 5,434.00 | 12,080.00 |
| Queries per second | 54,340.00 | 120,800.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.45 | 0.21 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.84 | 0.83 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 14.81 | 3.31 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 2.71 | 1.04 |
MySQL SELECT (Random Ranges)
| DigitalOcean – Premium Intel (8 GB, 4 Cores) | Vultr – High Frequency Intel (2 GB, 2 Cores) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 6,582.00 | 10,527.00 |
| Queries per second | 65,820.00 | 105,270.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.57 | 0.16 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 1.52 | 0.95 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 5.15 | 3.25 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 2.66 | 1.23 |
MySQL UPDATE (Indexed)
| DigitalOcean – Premium Intel (8 GB, 4 Cores) | Vultr – High Frequency Intel (2 GB, 2 Cores) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 3,033.00 | 17,123.00 |
| Queries per second | 30,330.00 | 171,230.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 1 | 0.38 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 3.29 | 0.58 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 67.75 | 2 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 5.99 | 0.78 |
MySQL UPDATE (Non-Indexed)
| DigitalOcean – Premium Intel (8 GB, 4 Cores) | Vultr – High Frequency Intel (2 GB, 2 Cores) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 3,268.00 | 16,979.00 |
| Queries per second | 32,680.00 | 169,790.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 1.03 | 0.38 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 3.06 | 0.59 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 11.49 | 4.13 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 5.57 | 0.8 |
MySQL DELETE
| DigitalOcean – Premium Intel (8 GB, 4 Cores) | Vultr – High Frequency Intel (2 GB, 2 Cores) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 24,924.00 | 156,424.00 |
| Queries per second | 249,240.00 | 1,564,240.00 |
| Minimum Latency (ms) | 0.04 | 0.03 |
| Average Latency (ms) | 0.4 | 0.06 |
| Maximum Latency (ms) | 26.64 | 4.87 |
| 95th Percentile Latency (ms) | 2.81 | 0.07 |
Redis
| DigitalOcean – Premium Intel (8 GB, 4 Cores) | Vultr – High Frequency Intel (2 GB, 2 Cores) | |
|---|---|---|
| PING_INLINE per Second | 93,545.37 | 88,652.48 |
| PING_MBULK per Second | 87,796.30 | 89,605.73 |
| SET per Second | 93,457.94 | 90,171.33 |
| GET per Second | 94,250.71 | 90,579.71 |
| INCR per Second | 85,106.38 | 90,744.10 |
| LPUSH per Second | 95,057.03 | 90,497.73 |
| RPUSH per Second | 86,505.19 | 90,415.91 |
| LPOP per Second | 89,285.71 | 90,909.09 |
| RPOP per Second | 100,100.10 | 90,661.83 |
| SADD per Second | 90,661.83 | 90,252.70 |
| HSET per Second | 90,415.91 | 90,415.91 |
| SPOP per Second | 96,432.02 | 89,928.05 |
| ZADD per Second | 97,751.71 | 90,415.91 |
| ZPOPMIN per Second | 97,751.71 | 90,009.01 |
| LRANGE_100 (first 100 elements) per Second | 58,997.05 | 66,533.60 |
| LRANGE_300 (first 300 elements) per Second | 26,191.72 | 36,179.45 |
| LRANGE_500 (first 500 elements) per Second | 15,961.69 | 26,239.83 |
| LRANGE_600 (first 600 elements) per Second | 14,390.56 | 22,547.91 |
| MSET (10 keys) per Second | 73,152.89 | 88,105.73 |
Redis Average Latency (ms)
| DigitalOcean – Premium Intel (8 GB, 4 Cores) | Vultr – High Frequency Intel (2 GB, 2 Cores) | |
|---|---|---|
| PING_INLINE | 0.28 | 0.30 |
| PING_MBULK | 0.31 | 0.29 |
| SET | 0.31 | 0.29 |
| GET | 0.28 | 0.29 |
| INCR | 0.31 | 0.28 |
| LPUSH | 0.29 | 0.29 |
| RPUSH | 0.32 | 0.29 |
| LPOP | 0.32 | 0.28 |
| RPOP | 0.27 | 0.28 |
| SADD | 0.32 | 0.29 |
| HSET | 0.29 | 0.29 |
| SPOP | 0.30 | 0.29 |
| ZADD | 0.31 | 0.29 |
| ZPOPMIN | 0.28 | 0.29 |
| LRANGE_100 (first 100 elements) | 0.46 | 0.39 |
| LRANGE_300 (first 300 elements) | 1.05 | 0.71 |
| LRANGE_500 (first 500 elements) | 2.04 | 0.97 |
| LRANGE_600 (first 600 elements) | 2.12 | 1.14 |
| MSET (10 keys) | 0.49 | 0.30 |
Conclusion
From the friendly robots:
Comparing the benchmark performance of the DigitalOcean Premium Intel instance and the Vultr High Frequency Intel instance, the DigitalOcean setup shows superior overall performance across CPU, memory, I/O, and Redis benchmarks, likely due to its higher CPU cores, more RAM, and better network transfer speeds. The DigitalOcean instance excels in handling intensive CPU tasks, complex memory operations, and I/O-heavy workloads, with lower latency and higher throughput, making it ideal for CPU-intensive, high-traffic applications. In contrast, the Vultr instance, while competitive in specific Redis operations, lags behind in CPU performance, memory speed, and overall I/O capabilities, better suited for lighter workloads or cost-sensitive use cases with less demanding requirements.
From the friendly human:
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