Civilian Supercomputer Shatters Nuke Simulator’s Speed Record

[Ichingcarpenter]

The retooled Jaguar supercomputer blew away the competition on the latest list of the 500 fastest computers in the world, clocking an incredible 1.759 petaflops — 1,759 trillion calculations per second.

The machine, housed at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, added two more cores with the aid of almost $20 million in stimulus spending. With the new processors, the Cray XT5 plowed past the Top500 competition. It’s more than 69 percent faster than the previous record holder, Los Alamos National Laboratory’s IBM Roadrunner, and is more than twice as powerful as the third-fastest computer on the list.

But it’s not just how many calculations the machine performs that’s noteworthy. The new supercomputer also marks a turning point in the placement for funding of America’s computing resources.

Jaguar’s spot atop the list marks the first time a civilian Department of Energy computer has been the most powerful in the world. Instead of modeling nuclear explosions, which is Roadrunner’s primary job, Jaguar carries out scientific research on the globe’s climate and other computational-intensive problems.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/11/civilian-supercomputer-shatters-nuke-simulators-speed-record/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29

[Systematic Chaos]

1. Oooh!! Jaguar?? I always wanted to "Do the Math" with one of those back in the day.

:D

[Ichingcarpenter]

2. Put this one in your room

calculations before the update



I hope this fits in your room



I'm glad its being used for science and not nuclear explosions.

[Aragorn]

3. more proof of climate change

which can be ignored? hope not but things gotta change,soon.

[TheMadMonk]

4. how many PPM (CO2) does it take to power that pup^H^H^Hkitty? nt

[phasma ex machina]

5. Jaguar's too big but Beowulf fits in my room