- IBM's 'Sequoia' beats Japan's 'K machine', running 1.55 times faster while being 15 per cent more energy efficient
- Computer - which is nearly 300,00 times faster than machines from 20 years ago - will be used for nuclear studies
By Eddie Wrenn
|
In the super-computing league table, the U.S. has reclaimed 'top spot' from China.
IBM's Sequoia computer, which is 1.55 times faster than China's previous record-breaker, the Fujitsu K Computer, was installed and switched on at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.
Throwing evidence behind Moore's Law - which dictates that computers get twice as powerful and twice as small every 18 months - the new super-computer is a powerful machine.
It can perform - in less than a second - calculations which would take the super computers of 1993 three days to solve.
In fact, the IBM team say it is 273,930 times more powerful than the 1993 machine - called the CM-5/1024 and created by American firm Thinking Machines.
The Sequoia: This grey slab is just part the most powerful computer on the planet, and will be used in nuclear power research, with perhaps a game or two of chess on the side
The BBC reports that Sequoia is capable of calculating, in one hour, 'what otherwise would take 6.7 billion people using hand calculators 320 years.'
The computer will be used carry out simulations to help extend the life of nuclear weapons, in a bid to avoid real-world underground tests
Sequoia and uses over 1.5 million processors - to put that in perspective, your brand-new, luxurious £3,000 desktop PC will like be a quad-core, e.g. with four processors.
Gamers and computer enthusiasts all over the world will be very tempted to install some modern computer games like the first-person shooter Crysis onto Sequoia to watch the hardware destroy all previous hardware benchmarks.
National Nuclear Security Administration administrator Thomas D'Agostino said: 'While Sequoia may be the fastest, the underlying computing capabilities it provides give us increased confidence in the nation's nuclear deterrent.
THE SPECIAL K
Japan's 'No 2' computer is certainly nothing to be sneered at.
It packs 88,128 2.0 GHz 8-core processors (spread over 864 separate cabinets).
To put that in perspective, this is nearly 90,000 very-high-end home computers, all strung up together to work in sync.
That creates around 705,000 processors in total, less than half of Sequoia's 1.5million, but still a mighty beast in its own right.
It runs on Linux, the open-source and free alternative to Windows which means, if nothing else, Fujitsu got to save some money on the software side.
'Sequoia also represents continued American leadership in high performance computing.'
It is also the machine with relatively outstanding economy power-wise, consuming 7.9 megawatts compared to the K computer, which consumes12.6 megawatts.
Other countries with supercomputers include China and Japan, with two apiece, and and Japan, France and Italy each have one.
IBM has built five out of the top 10 computers.
David Turek, vice president of deep computing at the firm, told the BBC: 'Substantial planning went into this. We knew the day would come.'
Not everyone was left excited by the new machine: ZDNet’s Zack Whittaker said: 'The U.S. may claim home to some the world’s top scientists, just as China has for two non-consecutive years claimed the world’s fastest computer. ... At the end of the day: supercomputers are just tools.'
However, in reply, another ZNET w riter, Dan Kusnetzky, said: 'On the other hand, IBM or any other supplier’s ability to create such a complex, powerful computing research is of extreme importance.
'The thought, the tools and the procedures needed to build and operate such a huge system are directly applicable to other types of computing.'
-
'How would a Jewish person feel if you put a swastika on a... -
Man with 100-pound scrotum REJECTS offers to perform $1... -
Obama's Harvard law professor says 'President MUST be... -
The gypsies are not for turning! Police open up field to... -
Number of stay-at-home dads has DOUBLED in past decade as... -
Man who 'beat up priest for molesting him when he was seven'... -
Meet 'Overly Attached Girlfriend!' Hilarious Justin Bieber... -
Awesome mushroom storm cloud dominates skyline over Beijing... -
Rielle Hunter attacks Elizabeth Edwards as abusive 'witch on... -
What's for lunch? Depends which state you're in! Artist... -
‘She has the patience of a saint’: Mother, 104,... -
Pre-med student, 22, fell to her death at Las Vegas hotel...
Share this article:
Here's what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.
The comments below have been moderated in advance.
- Newest
- Oldest
- Best rated
- Worst rated
Love seeing the idiots turn up on the science pages, thanks for making us realise why we care about information.
Report abuse
I bet it contributes to global warming greatly, better tax it straight away.
Report abuse
In other words we're being Everyone's being watched
Report abuse
how long does it take to get to the corner shop when the wind is blowing easterly considering that i have a bad leg?
Report abuse
"Other countries with supercomputers include China and Japan, with two apiece, and and Japan, France and Italy each have one." Ok!
Report abuse
From the boxout about the SPECIAL K Machine - 'It runs on Linux, the open-source and free alternative to Windows which means, if nothing else, Fujitsu got to save some money on the software side'. Is this comment suggesting that the IBM Sequoia runs on Windows ??
Report abuse
If this is the case then all illnesses can be cured and hey no more money troubles
Report abuse
It only takes one idiot to put the wrong info in and the whole thing becomes a useless piece of junk. It is called GIGO, garbage in, garbage out! Most government agency's and local councils do this regularly, as can be seen from the rubbish regularly spouted!
Report abuse
U.S. reclaims top spot in super-computer wars with machine that 'can do more in an hour than the world's population working non-stop for 320 years'........... - No I can't.. Lets see it do a set of Nissan Skyline R35 gearbox bearings faster than me!
Report abuse
Great, all you need now is a monitor, mouse and keyboard.
Report abuse
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar