diff --git a/go/test/endtoend/onlineddl/vrepl_stress/onlineddl_vrepl_mini_stress_test.go b/go/test/endtoend/onlineddl/vrepl_stress/onlineddl_vrepl_mini_stress_test.go
index 983739a976d..7f560a24f9e 100644
--- a/go/test/endtoend/onlineddl/vrepl_stress/onlineddl_vrepl_mini_stress_test.go
+++ b/go/test/endtoend/onlineddl/vrepl_stress/onlineddl_vrepl_mini_stress_test.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import (
 	"math/rand"
 	"os"
 	"path"
+	"runtime"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"testing"
@@ -135,13 +136,14 @@ var (
 	writeMetrics WriteMetrics
 )
 
+var (
+	countIterations = 5
+)
+
 const (
-	maxTableRows                  = 4096
-	workloadDuration              = 5 * time.Second
-	maxConcurrency                = 20
-	singleConnectionSleepInterval = 2 * time.Millisecond
-	countIterations               = 5
-	migrationWaitTimeout          = 60 * time.Second
+	maxTableRows         = 4096
+	workloadDuration     = 5 * time.Second
+	migrationWaitTimeout = 60 * time.Second
 )
 
 func resetOpOrder() {
@@ -377,6 +379,9 @@ func checkTablesCount(t *testing.T, tablet *cluster.Vttablet, showTableName stri
 	query := fmt.Sprintf(`show tables like '%%%s%%';`, showTableName)
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 5*time.Second)
 	defer cancel()
+	ticker := time.NewTicker(time.Second)
+	defer ticker.Stop()
+
 	rowcount := 0
 
 	for {
@@ -388,7 +393,7 @@ func checkTablesCount(t *testing.T, tablet *cluster.Vttablet, showTableName stri
 		}
 
 		select {
-		case <-time.After(time.Second):
+		case <-ticker.C:
 			continue // Keep looping
 		case <-ctx.Done():
 			// Break below to the assertion
@@ -491,7 +496,7 @@ func generateDelete(t *testing.T, conn *mysql.Conn) error {
 	return err
 }
 
-func runSingleConnection(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T) {
+func runSingleConnection(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T, sleepInterval time.Duration) {
 	log.Infof("Running single connection")
 	conn, err := mysql.Connect(ctx, &vtParams)
 	require.Nil(t, err)
@@ -502,6 +507,9 @@ func runSingleConnection(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T) {
 	_, err = conn.ExecuteFetch("set transaction isolation level read committed", 1000, true)
 	require.Nil(t, err)
 
+	ticker := time.NewTicker(sleepInterval)
+	defer ticker.Stop()
+
 	for {
 		switch rand.Int31n(3) {
 		case 0:
@@ -515,20 +523,31 @@ func runSingleConnection(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T) {
 		case <-ctx.Done():
 			log.Infof("Terminating single connection")
 			return
-		case <-time.After(singleConnectionSleepInterval):
+		case <-ticker.C:
 		}
 		assert.Nil(t, err)
 	}
 }
 
 func runMultipleConnections(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T) {
-	log.Infof("Running multiple connections")
+	// The workload for a 16 vCPU machine is:
+	// - Concurrency of 16
+	// - 2ms interval between queries for each connection
+	// As the number of vCPUs decreases, so do we decrease concurrency, and increase intervals. For example, on a 8 vCPU machine
+	// we run concurrency of 8 and interval of 4ms. On a 4 vCPU machine we run concurrency of 4 and interval of 8ms.
+	maxConcurrency := runtime.NumCPU()
+	sleepModifier := 16.0 / float64(maxConcurrency)
+	baseSleepInterval := 2 * time.Millisecond
+	singleConnectionSleepIntervalNanoseconds := float64(baseSleepInterval.Nanoseconds()) * sleepModifier
+	sleepInterval := time.Duration(int64(singleConnectionSleepIntervalNanoseconds))
+
+	log.Infof("Running multiple connections: maxConcurrency=%v, sleep interval=%v", maxConcurrency, sleepInterval)
 	var wg sync.WaitGroup
 	for i := 0; i < maxConcurrency; i++ {
 		wg.Add(1)
 		go func() {
 			defer wg.Done()
-			runSingleConnection(ctx, t)
+			runSingleConnection(ctx, t, sleepInterval)
 		}()
 	}
 	wg.Wait()
diff --git a/go/test/endtoend/onlineddl/vtgate_util.go b/go/test/endtoend/onlineddl/vtgate_util.go
index 3d99a2cef92..693523cec48 100644
--- a/go/test/endtoend/onlineddl/vtgate_util.go
+++ b/go/test/endtoend/onlineddl/vtgate_util.go
@@ -247,9 +247,13 @@ func WaitForMigrationStatus(t *testing.T, vtParams *mysql.ConnParams, shards []c
 	for _, status := range expectStatuses {
 		statusesMap[string(status)] = true
 	}
-	startTime := time.Now()
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), timeout)
+	defer cancel()
+	ticker := time.NewTicker(time.Second)
+	defer ticker.Stop()
+
 	lastKnownStatus := ""
-	for time.Since(startTime) < timeout {
+	for {
 		countMatchedShards := 0
 		r := VtgateExecQuery(t, vtParams, query, "")
 		for _, row := range r.Named().Rows {
@@ -266,9 +270,12 @@ func WaitForMigrationStatus(t *testing.T, vtParams *mysql.ConnParams, shards []c
 		if countMatchedShards == len(shards) {
 			return schema.OnlineDDLStatus(lastKnownStatus)
 		}
-		time.Sleep(1 * time.Second)
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			return schema.OnlineDDLStatus(lastKnownStatus)
+		case <-ticker.C:
+		}
 	}
-	return schema.OnlineDDLStatus(lastKnownStatus)
 }
 
 // CheckMigrationArtifacts verifies given migration exists, and checks if it has artifacts