In Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), hardware generations are referred to as Shapes. Oracle maintains a mix of the latest "cutting-edge" silicon for AI and high-performance needs, alongside stable "standard" generations for general-purpose apps.

As of 2026, here are the hardware generations available for rental:

1. AMD EPYC Generations (The "E" Series)

The AMD shapes are the most popular due to their Flexible nature, allowing you to pick custom CPU and RAM ratios.

• E6 (Current Gen): Powered by 5th Gen AMD EPYC processors. These are the latest general-purpose instances, offering up to a 2x price-performance improvement over the previous generation.

• E5 (Stable Gen): Based on 4th Gen AMD EPYC (Genoa). Very widely available across all global regions and excellent for modern enterprise workloads.

• E4/E3 (Legacy/Specialty): Older generations often used for specific legacy compatibility or lower-cost "Dense I/O" (local storage-heavy) workloads.

2. Intel Xeon Generations (The "X" Series)

Intel shapes are typically used for applications optimized for Intel-specific features (like AVX-512) or traditional "fixed" sizing.

• X10 (Current Gen): Based on 4th/5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable (Sapphire/Emerald Rapids). These often power the high-end GPU and HPC shapes.

• X9 (Stable Gen): Based on 3rd Gen Intel Xeon (Ice Lake). These are the workhorse shapes for standard Intel-based virtual machines.

• X7 (Legacy): Older hardware still available in select regions for legacy requirements.

3. Arm-Based Generations (The "A" Series)

OCI is a leader in Arm-based cloud computing, offering incredible price-per-core economics.

• A4 (Cutting Edge): Powered by AmpereOne® M processors. This is the latest generation (released late 2025/early 2026), designed for cloud-native performance and AI inference.

• A2 (Modern): The successor to the A1, based on the AmpereOne architecture.

• A1 (Standard/Free Tier): Based on Ampere Altra. This is the hardware that powers OCI’s famous "Always Free" tier (up to 4 OCPUs/24GB RAM).

4. GPU & AI Hardware

For AI training and 3D rendering, OCI offers the latest from both NVIDIA and AMD:

• NVIDIA Blackwell (B200/GB200): The top-tier hardware for zettascale AI training.

• NVIDIA H200 / H100: The "gold standard" for LLM training and heavy inference.

• AMD Instinct MI300X / MI450: High-memory bandwidth alternatives to NVIDIA, often used in OCI's AI Superclusters.

• NVIDIA L40S / A10: Mid-range GPUs optimized for graphics, video processing, and smaller AI models.

Comparison Summary