Nvidia has announced a major win in the world of high-performance computing, with its Fermi-based Tesla GPUs forming the heart of what is now the world's fastest supercomputer.
The Tianhe-1A, created by the National University of Defense Technology in China, uses a combination of 7,168 Nvidia Fermi-based Tesla M2050 graphics processing units and 14,366 Intel processors of unknown type to hit more than 2.5 petaflops, a significant boost over the current 'official' fastest system, the Cray-manufactured Jaguar which measures 1.75 petaflops.
Nvidia claims that in order to reach the same level of performance with CPUs alone, it would require more than 50,000 processors and double the floor space along with a whopping 12 megawatts of power, compared to Tianhe-1A's modest requirement of 4.04 megawatts.
The Tianhe-1A will be offered as an open-access system to researchers looking to boost the speed of their scientific modelling and investation across China. Let us know your thoughts on this computing breakthrough in the forums.
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