ZDNet UK / News and Analysis / Workspace IT / Processors

Is AMD losing its supercomputing lustre?

By Matthew Broersma, ZDNet.co.uk, 18 April, 2002 16:55

Daily Newsletters

Sign up to ZDNet UK's daily newsletter.

Topics

Intel, AMD, Athlon, Pentium 4, Laboratory, Beowulf, Supercomputer

NEWS
A major British research centre has installed a supercomputer based on AMD's Athlon MP computer processors and the Linux operating system, the organisations announced this week. But Workstations UK, which built the computer, said that since it was installed last year AMD chips no longer have a major advantage over Pentium 4 processors in the high-performance computing market. The government-backed Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CLRC) has established the "supercluster" in Oxfordshire's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory for use with work on genomics, climate modelling, computational fluid dynamics and other research. The supercomputer is based on 32 of AMD's Athlon MP chips in dual-processing configurations, Wulfkit interconnects and Linux-based Beowulf clustering software. Workstations UK said the cluster was installed last summer, at a time when the Athlon performed far better than Intel's Pentium III. However, following price cuts and a manufacturing process shrink, the Pentium 4 is about on par with Athlon, Workstations UK said. "Things have moved on from where they were then, and we tend to quote on both chips now," said Workstations UK director Robin Harker. "Last year Athlon was clocked faster, and had better floating-point and integer performance than Pentium III. It was an easy sell." He said the company finds that the Pentium 4 works well for applications requiring high memory bandwidth. To achieve the improved performance it is usually necessary to recompile the software, something that academics can usually do because they have access to the source code of the software they use, Harker said. Athlon is a better buy in cases where the software can't be recompiled, he said, and it is also somewhat cheaper, although the processor price isn't as much of an issue in the high-performance market as in the desktop arena. One disadvantage of Athlon is its high heat dissipation, Harker said, which he hopes will improve with new chips based on a 0.13-micron manufacturing process. Another improvement for high-performance uses would be a larger on-die memory cache, but he said AMD had told him there was "no market" for this. The cluster is connected to the UK's e-Science Grid, a project sometimes referred to as Internet 2, which is designed to give scientists high-speed access to computing resources across the UK and, ultimately, across Europe. Though AMD is known chiefly for giving rival Intel a run for its money in the desktop computer market, the company also has a modest effort under way to crack into the low-budget Beowulf supercomputer market. Supercomputers, used for heavy-duty number-crunching tasks such as modelling global warming or simulating car crashes, typically have been available only to large corporations or others with big budgets. But a newer generation of Beowulf systems is bringing costs down -- though the systems aren't appropriate for all computing jobs. In March of last year AMD sold a Linux Networx-built 96-processor Beowulf cluster to Boeing to aid in designing the Delta IV rocket for launching satellites into orbit. News.com's Stephen Shankland contributed to this report.
See Chips Central for the latest headlines on processors and semiconductors. To find out more about the computers and hardware that these chips are being used in, see ZDNet UK's Hardware News Section. Have your say instantly, and see what others have said. Go to the Chips Central Forum. Let the Chips Central editor know what you think by email. And sign up for the weekly Chips Central newsletter.

Related stories

HP to build Linux supercomputer

New boost for open-source supercomputing

AMD looks to ARM itself for low-power tablets

Apple tops list of semiconductor buyers

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

  • Login

Will not be displayed with your comment

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

JCB33

How dare film makers, artists or anybody that invests in creativity stop us pirating their works for free. I want to be able to walk into my local...

32 minutes ago by JCB33 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
Moley

@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...

3 hours ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
greycynic

The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel. The first bug that I found was applying the median...

3 hours ago by greycynic on Ten flawed products that derail productivity
GrueMaster

Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...

4 hours ago by GrueMaster on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Frederick Wrigley

I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...

5 hours ago by Frederick Wrigley via Facebook on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
bdantas

Excellent article. One small correction, though--although a fresh installation of Linux Mint 12 will, indeed, provide the user with a version of...

6 hours ago by bdantas on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Alan Ralph

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

6 hours ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material
Alan Ralph

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

6 hours ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material
Moley

For Gnome 2 die-hards, it is possible to add icons to the bottom panel (or top top panel, if you prefer) which provide the exact Gnome 2...

7 hours ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
ramwellian

Your comments would seem pretty naive and immature. Your 'solution' appears to be, "gee, let's all just give in to the hackers and give them...

7 hours ago by ramwellian on Cloud computing security: no more oxymoron?
BugStalker

"Interesting thought ... If you installed Win7 as a dual boot on a machine that previously only had Linux, and it wrecked your Linux installation,...

8 hours ago by BugStalker on Windows 7 Declares War on GRUB
whs001

This is an excellent summary of Ubuntu and Mint and the interface differences between them. Most such articles take a very partisan position for...

8 hours ago by whs001 on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Moley

@ewallace. Not so clear. Anyone can obtain the text, for example from here http://www.ustr.gov/webfm_send/2379. I support ACTA so long as it and...

8 hours ago by Moley on ACTA: Facts, misconceptions and questions
45283

I think WinRT is fantastic. I just wish it was an option for people that didn't want to go through Microsoft's App Store with its attendant...

11 hours ago by 45283 on Why Windows 8 needs architectural hygiene for WOA
Burn-IT

Nine people? £30m? Who's back pocket is that lot going in? And IF they say it is for new buildings, what about all the ones the government has...

12 hours ago by Burn-IT on Police set to launch three £30m e-crime hubs
ewallace

Just to be clear, nobody knows what is in the text of ACTA, here is a photograph of the text of ACTA http://twitpic.com/8h9iju as submitted to the...

12 hours ago by ewallace on ACTA: Facts, misconceptions and questions
fgvrg56

Unfortunately main issue is that ASUS is refusing to accept that they make some mistake on this version of asus Transformer prime. 1 - GPS sensor...

13 hours ago by fgvrg56 on Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime Wi-Fi & GPS problems?
Ben Woods

@Marcus A fair question. Just talked with Archos which said it was working on an announcement for next week....

14 hours ago by Ben Woods on Archos confirms G9 Ice Cream Sandwich update schedule
Marcus Karlsson

Any update on this, considering the claimed "first week of February"?

16 hours ago by Marcus Karlsson via Facebook on Archos confirms G9 Ice Cream Sandwich update schedule
apexwm

Bill Goodrich : Just as al_langevin pointed out, with Windows Server 2008 there is no Services for Macintosh anymore. It's gone, not available....

24 hours ago by apexwm on Windows Server 2008 drops the ball for Mac compatibility

Latest in Processors

AMD looks to ARM itself for low-power tablets

Apple tops list of semiconductor buyers

Featured white papers

Tech breakthroughs to watch in 2012

ZDNet UK

Tech breakthroughs to watch in 2012

From invisibility cloaks to virtual atom smashing, from Cern to Nasa, this ZDNet UK guide presents the discoveries to watch in... Read more

10 must-read silicon.com Cheat Sheets

silicon.com

10 must-read silicon.com Cheat Sheets

This exclusive e-book covers 10 of the most important issues facing business and technology professionals today, from cloud computing to... Read more

The virtual presenter's handbook

Citrix Online

The virtual presenter's handbook

Web seminars or webinars can be interactive and engaging, just like having every person in the same room, and this white paper outlines how they can benefit your... Read more

Inside ZDNet UK

A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

2012 Predictions: VCE FastPath, VI SAN Probe & Hadoop

2012 Predictions: VCE FastPath, VI SAN Probe & Hadoop

BlackBerry Bold 9790

BlackBerry Bold 9790

Case study: How cloud enables growth

Case study: How cloud enables growth

Ten factors that make Ubuntu 11.10 a hit

Ten factors that make Ubuntu 11.10 a hit

Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P Review

Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P Review

BT's archive: Pictures from the vault

BT's archive: Pictures from the vault