 |
Search |
|
|
|
|
Classic 2 Guys |
|
10 Random Stories:
|
|
|
|
Fun Facts About Supercomputing |
|
 You wonder why supercomputing would matter to us here at 2 Guys? Well Apple set precedents with Virginia Tech's supercomputer, which was ranked 3rd on the Top 500 List of the worlds fastest supercomputers.
Since then many things have changed, though it did not really get worse for Apple. Let's take a look at some numbers:
The fastest supercomputer is IBM's Blue Gene. It uses PowerPC 440 processors running at 0.7 ghz each. Doesn't sound like much, does it ? Well this supercomputer has 32768 of them! With all this combined power, it managed to reach 70720 gigflops max. Just as a reminder, the Virginia Tech supercomputer reached 12250 gigaflops with 2200 IBM PowerPC 970 (G5) Processors running at 2.3 ghz each.
The Virginia Tech cluster dropped to rank 7 recently, and even the almighty Earth Simulator moved down two ranks to number 3. Rank two is now held by SGI. Yes, SGI. They still exist. And they sure build one impressive system, which easily reached 51870 gigaflops with it's 10160 SGI Altix 1.5 ghz processors.
Intel managed to get on Rank 5 with a Intel Itanium2 Tiger4 system. All processors used had 1.4 ghz. 19940 gigaflops for this one. Not bad, but Itanium2 processors are extremely costy. Not long ago, you were able to buy two complete Powermac G5 systems with dual processors for one(1(!)) Itanium processor. Nowadays it should be about three. (According to IBM the "IBM XSERIES 455 2-ITANIUM2 1.5G/6MB 88553RX" is as cheap as $35,290.95, but of course that is a fully featured server with two processors...)
IBM still holds most of the top list with nearly 50%, Intel lost again, SGI had a major comeback and AMD is not to be seen at all. Apple can still be content knowing that their supercomputer managed to stay in the top ten with just 2200 processors, which is the lowest number of processors in the whole top ten (followed by a Dell system on rank ten with 2500 3.06 Ghz P4 Xeon Processors and 9819 gigaflops - which is embarassing if you consider the price of a Xeon, and their higher Mhz rate of course). Also we should not forget that the G5's that were used for their cluster weren't made for supercomputing, but as normal home and work machines.
If the Virginia Tech Supercomputer was really as cost effective as the Apple ad said, we can look forward to see more Apple clusters in the near future. And if i look at all these numbers one thing becomes very clear to me: The G5 is one hell of an effective processor. Edit: Update ! " The "SuperMac" is also back. The upgraded X-System at Virginia Tech built using Apple's XServe boxes is at #7 now, with 12.25 Tflop/s performance." |
|
March 4 2005, 10:11 PM EDT, by |
Comments:
|
| fuzzmanmatt |
3/5/05, 3:43 PM EDT |
I don't mind supercomputers, I don't need the power, though. I'm starting to digitize 200 hours of analog video, my PowerBook can power through that. What I need is 3 terabytes of space to store all this stuff, and then the supercomputer to index it all.
|
| nhmacusr |
3/6/05, 10:43 AM EDT |
Those things have been cropping up like mad.
University of Maine
University of Illinois
Louisiana State University
What is really interesting is the price column on the Top 500 list. Blue Gene and the Earth Simulator aren't even close at 375 million +.
|
| DJLC |
3/6/05, 5:11 PM EDT |
Ahhh! Numbers! RUUUUUN!!!
|
| cAtraXx |
3/7/05, 8:19 AM EDT |
Fuzz: The reason why you don't need supercompters (apart from the fact that you probably won't have enough money to by one, even if you have alot of money) is probably that you're not into Gene folding and unfolding, massive rendering of 3d movies or nuclear war simulation ;)
mhmacusr:
Yes, it really is interesting. I really like IBM's approach with slower processors, it should effectively eliminate all the heat problems that systems with 1+ghz have to face.
|
| panth |
3/7/05, 10:42 AM EDT |
If *I* were going to hack some heavy metal....< /Hackers >
|
| cAtraXx |
3/7/05, 8:54 PM EDT |
:P Gibson is dead.
|
This article is archived, so you may not comment on it.
(The good news is there's always the shoutbox, the forums or the contact form if you're socially-inclined at the moment!)
|
|
|
|
Site Links |
|
|
|
|
Deep Thoughts |
|
|
When in doubt, remember, two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do!
|
|
Around Da Web |
|
| iProng: |
iPhone steals show at CTIA Wireless 2007
|
DLO offers dual cover fashion case for iPod
|
AT&T received 1M inquiries on iPhone
|
| MacDailyNews: |
Ars Technica in-depth review: Apple TV ?impressed all those who touched it?
|
Inside Apple?s Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Server OS
|
The chips inside Apple TV
|
| Think Secret: |
Adobe Creative Suite 3 pricing revealed
|
|
|
We Like: |
|
|
|
|
Side Projects |
|
Jonahan
- JediPoker.net
- Jonahan.com
- iProng
- MacProng
iKen
Jedbeck
J.P.
|
|
