diff --git a/testing/benchmark/terraform.tfvars.example b/testing/benchmark/terraform.tfvars.example
index cf24af76107..d58973b61b1 100644
--- a/testing/benchmark/terraform.tfvars.example
+++ b/testing/benchmark/terraform.tfvars.example
@@ -13,9 +13,10 @@ user_name = "USER"
 # of the available stack pack versions.
 # stack_version = "8.4.0"
 
-# The size of the APM Server. It is possible to go over 8GB, and cloud
-# will provision additional instances / 8gb, for example, if 16gb is
-# set, then there will be 2 x 8gb APM Servers in the same AZ.
+# The size of the APM Server.
+# There is a max size per instance depending on deployment_template.
+# If apm_server_size exceeds the max size per instance, it will be
+# distributed over multiple instances in the same AZ.
 # apm_server_size = "8g"
 
 # The number of AZs the APM Server should span.
diff --git a/testing/benchmark/variables.tf b/testing/benchmark/variables.tf
index 0e91d774c0c..deb2d05d6b0 100644
--- a/testing/benchmark/variables.tf
+++ b/testing/benchmark/variables.tf
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ variable "ess_region" {
 }
 
 variable "deployment_template" {
-  default     = "gcp-compute-optimized-v2"
+  default     = "gcp-compute-optimized-v3"
   description = "Optional deployment template. Defaults to the CPU optimized template for GCP"
   type        = string
 }
diff --git a/testing/cloud/variables.tf b/testing/cloud/variables.tf
index 71286831000..fafb0c716c9 100644
--- a/testing/cloud/variables.tf
+++ b/testing/cloud/variables.tf
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ variable "ess_region" {
 }
 
 variable "deployment_template" {
-  default     = "gcp-compute-optimized-v2"
+  default     = "gcp-compute-optimized-v3"
   description = "Optional deployment template. Defaults to the CPU optimized template for GCP"
   type        = string
 }
diff --git a/testing/infra/terraform/modules/ec_deployment/README.md b/testing/infra/terraform/modules/ec_deployment/README.md
index 719b9a4036f..84e228d1682 100644
--- a/testing/infra/terraform/modules/ec_deployment/README.md
+++ b/testing/infra/terraform/modules/ec_deployment/README.md
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ used to configure the module, please refer to the [EC Provider docs](https://reg
 | <a name="input_apm_server_zone_count"></a> [apm\_server\_zone\_count](#input\_apm\_server\_zone\_count) | Optional apm server zone count | `number` | `1` | no |
 | <a name="input_custom_apm_integration_pkg_path"></a> [custom\_apm\_integration\_pkg\_path](#input\_custom\_apm\_integration\_pkg\_path) | Path to the zipped custom APM integration package, if empty custom apm integration pkg is not installed | `string` | `""` | no |
 | <a name="input_deployment_name_prefix"></a> [deployment\_name\_prefix](#input\_deployment\_name\_prefix) | Optional ESS or ECE region. Defaults to GCP US West 2 (Los Angeles) | `string` | `"apmserver"` | no |
-| <a name="input_deployment_template"></a> [deployment\_template](#input\_deployment\_template) | Optional deployment template. Defaults to the CPU optimized template for GCP | `string` | `"gcp-compute-optimized-v2"` | no |
+| <a name="input_deployment_template"></a> [deployment\_template](#input\_deployment\_template) | Optional deployment template. Defaults to the CPU optimized template for GCP | `string` | `"gcp-compute-optimized-v3"` | no |
 | <a name="input_docker_image"></a> [docker\_image](#input\_docker\_image) | Optional docker image overrides. The full map needs to be specified | `map(string)` | <pre>{<br>  "apm": "docker.elastic.co/cloud-release/elastic-agent-cloud",<br>  "elasticsearch": "docker.elastic.co/cloud-release/elasticsearch-cloud-ess",<br>  "kibana": "docker.elastic.co/cloud-release/kibana-cloud"<br>}</pre> | no |
 | <a name="input_docker_image_tag_override"></a> [docker\_image\_tag\_override](#input\_docker\_image\_tag\_override) | Optional docker image tag overrides, The full map needs to be specified | `map(string)` | <pre>{<br>  "apm": "",<br>  "elasticsearch": "",<br>  "kibana": ""<br>}</pre> | no |
 | <a name="input_drop_pipeline"></a> [drop\_pipeline](#input\_drop\_pipeline) | Whether or not to install an Elasticsearch ingest pipeline to drop all incoming APM documents. Defaults to false | `bool` | `false` | no |
@@ -76,4 +76,4 @@ used to configure the module, please refer to the [EC Provider docs](https://reg
 | <a name="output_elasticsearch_username"></a> [elasticsearch\_username](#output\_elasticsearch\_username) | The Elasticsearch username |
 | <a name="output_kibana_url"></a> [kibana\_url](#output\_kibana\_url) | The secure Kibana URL |
 | <a name="output_stack_version"></a> [stack\_version](#output\_stack\_version) | The matching stack pack version from the provided stack\_version |
-<!-- END_TF_DOCS -->
\ No newline at end of file
+<!-- END_TF_DOCS -->
diff --git a/testing/infra/terraform/modules/ec_deployment/variables.tf b/testing/infra/terraform/modules/ec_deployment/variables.tf
index 0a0077f8929..1a0f67932e7 100644
--- a/testing/infra/terraform/modules/ec_deployment/variables.tf
+++ b/testing/infra/terraform/modules/ec_deployment/variables.tf
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ variable "region" {
 }
 
 variable "deployment_template" {
-  default     = "gcp-compute-optimized-v2"
+  default     = "gcp-compute-optimized-v3"
   description = "Optional deployment template. Defaults to the CPU optimized template for GCP"
   type        = string
 }
diff --git a/testing/rally-cloud/variables.tf b/testing/rally-cloud/variables.tf
index 926379a13b9..49517b124d2 100644
--- a/testing/rally-cloud/variables.tf
+++ b/testing/rally-cloud/variables.tf
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ variable "ess_region" {
 variable "deployment_template" {
   type        = string
   description = "Optional deployment template. Defaults to the CPU optimized template for GCP"
-  default     = "gcp-compute-optimized-v2"
+  default     = "gcp-compute-optimized-v3"
 }
 
 variable "stack_version" {
diff --git a/testing/smoke/main.tf b/testing/smoke/main.tf
index 23c5994f688..d7586f03d59 100644
--- a/testing/smoke/main.tf
+++ b/testing/smoke/main.tf
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ module "ec_deployment" {
   source = "../../infra/terraform/modules/ec_deployment"
   region = var.region
 
-  deployment_template    = "gcp-compute-optimized-v2"
+  deployment_template    = "gcp-compute-optimized-v3"
   deployment_name_prefix = "smoke-upgrade"
 
   apm_server_size = "1g"
diff --git a/testing/smoke/managed/main.tf b/testing/smoke/managed/main.tf
index 27acee2a2c4..4d79c93bc81 100644
--- a/testing/smoke/managed/main.tf
+++ b/testing/smoke/managed/main.tf
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ module "ec_deployment" {
   source = "../../infra/terraform/modules/ec_deployment"
   region = var.region
 
-  deployment_template    = "gcp-compute-optimized-v2"
+  deployment_template    = "gcp-compute-optimized-v3"
   deployment_name_prefix = "smoke-upgrade"
 
   apm_server_size = "1g"
diff --git a/testing/smoke/supported-os/main.tf b/testing/smoke/supported-os/main.tf
index 7a79ee37bfd..2367b1d3c4e 100644
--- a/testing/smoke/supported-os/main.tf
+++ b/testing/smoke/supported-os/main.tf
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ module "ec_deployment" {
   source = "../../infra/terraform/modules/ec_deployment"
   region = var.region
 
-  deployment_template    = "gcp-compute-optimized-v2"
+  deployment_template    = "gcp-compute-optimized-v3"
   deployment_name_prefix = "smoke-upgrade"
 
   apm_server_size = "1g"