Petaflops and 32,000 processors...

[AlBDamned]

Check this out. IBM's new supercomputer, to be built from "off the shelf" parts tp the US government can simulate the condition of its nuclear arsenal.

It'll wipe the floor with current supercomputer, BlueGene and will be capable of petaflop processing and have 16,000 standard processors, working alongside 16,000 cell (PS3) processors.

Crazy sh*t.

 

[Scarlet Fever]

Nice, but...

...PowerBook G5 is better

 

[liketom]

i'd rather have them chips in PS3's for europe

 

[AlBDamned]

i'd rather have them chips in PS3's for europe

I know what you're saying. March 07 is still a fair while away. These two announcement are quite close. I guess the US government's business takes priority over Europe...

 

[JRM PowerPod]

Nice, but...

...PowerBook G5 is better

It may be, we don't know the specs yet

 

[Mac Rules]

They don't need a supercomputer, we need those for PS3's, and some bloody blue lights for the Blu-ray drives! Grrr sony!!!
[/rant]

Cheers

 

[Coheebuzz]

The laboratory is owned by the US Department of Energy (DOE). Eventually the machine could be used for a programme that ensures the US nuclear weapons stockpile remains safe and reliable, the DOE said in a statement.

Using supercomputers to simulate how nuclear materials age negates arguments for the resumption of underground nuclear testing.

So to get this straight, they are wasting all this processing power that could benefit mankind in many many ways, just to make sure that it's ok to fire nukes in the atmosphere? Nice .

The funny thing is that we'll find a way to blast the planet to pieces, before finding a way to get the hell out of here... go humans!

 

[AlBDamned]

They don't need a supercomputer, we need those for PS3's, and some bloody blue lights for the Blu-ray drives! Grrr sony!!!
[/rant]

Cheers

Looks like there'll be enough for the US though

Crunchgear

 

[slooksterPSV]

Ok, one chip can do 256 billion calculations per second, how fast is that in MHz or GHz?

 

[dpaanlka]

Ok, one chip can do 256 billion calculations per second, how fast is that in MHz or GHz?

I don't think that can be translated directly.

 

[jasterm]

Ok, one chip can do 256 billion calculations per second, how fast is that in MHz or GHz?

1Hz, you know... per second

but seriously it depends how many calculation it can do in one cycle, or how many cycles it takes to do one calculation. Then you could figure out the speed.

 

[AlBDamned]

It depends how many calculation it can do in one cycle, or how many cycles it takes to do one calculation. Then you could figure out the speed.

The article says this with regard to calculation and speed - it looks pretty mindblowing:

The new machine will be able to achieve "petaflop speeds," said IBM. One petaflop is the equivalent of 1,000 trillion calculations per second.

Running at peak speed, it will be able to crunch through 1.6 thousand trillion calculations per second.

By comparison, BlueGene/L is capable of mere "teraflop" (trillion calculations per second) speeds.

Installed at the DOE's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and also used for the DOE's Stockpile Stewardship Program, it has achieved 280.6 teraflops and is theoretically capable of 367 teraflops.

Roadrunner should be capable of much more.