Graphics chips break supercomputing speed barrier

**Mid** · 28-10-2010, 05:31 PM

Graphics chips break supercomputing speed barrier
Stewart Mitchell
28 Oct 2010

Nvidia claims its graphics chips are the driving force behind a Chinese supercomputer called Tianhe-1A that has claimed the world's speed record for number crunching.

The fully-operational computer is based at China's National Supercomputer Center (NSC) in Tianjin and knocked the US's Cray XT5 Jaguar from the top of the flops with a new performance record of 2.507 petaflops on Linpack benchmarks.

The scientific research that is now possible with a system of this scale is almost without limits

According to project leaders, the 155-tonne system uses 7,168 Tesla M2050 GPUs and 14,336 CPUs, but the graphics processors are the real power behind the system, which would otherwise have required more than 50,000 CPUs to achieve the same results.

"The performance and efficiency of Tianhe-1A was simply not possible without GPUs," said Guangming Liu, chief of NSC. "The scientific research that is now possible with a system of this scale is almost without limits."

Efficiency drive

According to Nvidia, the machine GPU infrastructure is also more efficient than traditional supercomputers and the company claims that a 2.507 petaflop system built entirely with CPUs would consume more than 12 megawatts of electricity compared to the Tianhe-1A's 4.04 megawatts.

A CPU-based machine would also require twice the Tianhe-1A's 1,000 square metre footprint.

GPUs are increasingly used in high-performance machines because their parallel computing power is well suited to processing complex problems, such as defence code-breaking work, medical research and climate modelling.

Reportedly carrying a price tag of over $88 million and shoehorned into 103 refrigerated cabinets, the Tianhe-1A is expected to run at a mere 563.1 teraflops in general use designing air planes and modelling potential oil deposits.

The Chinese scientists still need to have their feat confirmed by the supercomputing equivalent of the Guinness Book of records – the Top 500, which is due to release its next list next month.

pcpro.co.uk

**Takeovers** · 28-10-2010, 06:47 PM

That's two news items in one.

The smaller, less important being that GPUs are better suited for number crunching than CPUs.

More important that China has built the fastest supercomputer existing. They are going from cheap low quality to hightech at top speed. That is true even if they import the chips and it will take some time until they catch up at designing top quality chips yet.

**harrybarracuda** · 28-10-2010, 07:00 PM

$88 million seems rather cheap compared to the supercomputers of yesteryear. Now they can do more nuclear detonation simulations.

**Agent_Smith** · 29-10-2010, 06:47 PM

Originally Posted by Mid

their parallel computing power is well suited to processing complex problems, such as defence code-breaking work

Another weapon in their covert war against the West.

Still, though, I won't be impressed about any kind of new technology until we get the flying cars everyone was talking about when I was kid. Where's the flying cars?!

**Butterfly** · 29-10-2010, 07:14 PM

Originally Posted by Takeovers

They are going from cheap low quality to hightech at top speed.

using American technology though, so hardly hi-tech, but only hi-tech assembly

**Takeovers** · 29-10-2010, 09:32 PM

Originally Posted by Butterfly

using American technology though

True, that's why I mentioned it in my post.

Originally Posted by Butterfly

so hardly hi-tech, but only hi-tech assembly

It is a lot more than high-tech assembly. Making that many chips work in parallel to spec is high tech in itself.

The first mainframe computer I worked at had two CPUs and the performance increase over one was only 30%. 70% was lost in coordination of the two.

But that is a while ago.

**Butterfly** · 29-10-2010, 09:54 PM

Originally Posted by Takeovers

The first mainframe computer I worked at had two CPUs and the performance increase over one was only 30%. 70% was lost in coordination of the two.

that must have been in the 50s, how old are you ? the mainframe issues of double CPU being lost in com was resolved since,

**Takeovers** · 30-10-2010, 12:31 AM

I am 60. It was in the 70ies. It came with a full 1Mbyte of magnetic core memory, contained in 16 memorybanks with the price of a detached family home each.

Originally Posted by Butterfly

the mainframe issues of double CPU being lost in com was resolved since

I believe that.

**harrybarracuda** · 30-10-2010, 01:48 AM

Ah yes we had two IBM 360/195s and the cooling room was bigger than the data centre. When they finally sold it for scrap I couldn't believe how much it made, mostly down to the amount of gold in it!

**Butterfly** · 30-10-2010, 09:16 AM

our "mainframe room" was called the iceberg, it was fucking freezing and all white

**TizMe** · 30-10-2010, 11:41 AM

The latest IBM zEnterprise 196 mainframe has 96 microprocessors running at 5.2Ghz, capable of executing more than 50 billion instructions per second.

One box can run not only z/OS, z/VM, Z/TPF & z/Linux, but will also support AIX on Power and Linux on System x (SOD).

BTW: They are no longer blue:

Nostradamus · 30-10-2010, 11:50 AM

I had an Acorn Electron that was probably more powerful.

**Norton** · 30-10-2010, 12:04 PM

Originally Posted by Butterfly

using American technology though, so hardly hi-tech, but only hi-tech assembly

A lot of this going on. US companies have historically found it difficult to productize many of their technologies.

**harrybarracuda** · 30-10-2010, 12:51 PM

Originally Posted by TizMe

The latest IBM zEnterprise 196 mainframe has 96 microprocessors running at 5.2Ghz, capable of executing more than 50 billion instructions per second.

One box can run not only z/OS, z/VM, Z/TPF & z/Linux, but will also support AIX on Power and Linux on System x (SOD).

BTW: They are no longer blue:

Pfft we had punched card readers bigger than that. But then again, we 'ad it tough.

**Norton** · 30-10-2010, 01:43 PM

How the world of computing has changed. Keeps getting exponentially faster, better and cheaper.

The first "digital" computer I worked with Univac 1218.

With a whopping 16,384 words (18 bit) of magnetic core memory, a memory cycle speed of 4 microsecond, punch paper tape drive and a killer Trim III assembly language, it was the only thing to have.

The 1218 was the "digital" version of an electro/mechanical one which I struggled with maintaining for a few years.

**harrybarracuda** · 30-10-2010, 05:11 PM

Luxury,

We used to have to do complex fluid flow calculations on one of these....

I give you.... the 1108

**Mid** · 30-10-2010, 05:32 PM

^

suspect my current laptop has more grunt than that , bet the P4 desktop sure has

Thread: Graphics chips break supercomputing speed barrier

Thread Tools

Display

Graphics chips break supercomputing speed barrier

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

Posting Permissions