World's fastest supercomputer belongs to China (great---ugh)

Technically, folding@home is the world's fastest supercomputer coming in at a sustained speed of 3-3.3 petaflops and rising (peaks at 5 petaflops). It truly is the world's, as it relies on a network of volunteer computers from around the globe to process its data (simulates protein folding in hopes of curing diseases like AIDS, cancer). Now, you might say folding@home is not one device, so therefore it is not a computer. Wrong, these machines are all connected through the internet, which technically makes them one device. Therefore folding@home would fit the definition of a computer, which according to the Webster dictionary is: "one that computes; specifically : a programmable usually electronic device that can store, retrieve, and process data"

Originally posted by snusfanatic
reply to post by anon72

 

the most powerful computer in the world means crap if you have an oppressive government restricting what it can and cannot be used for, or what the people can or cannot say or read. china has nuclear weapons too, big deal. that einstein quote cracks me up though its probably statistically true. the question is, does that little chinese einstein have the opportunity to accomplish einstein like feats while living in china. i say no.

edit on 28-10-2010 by snusfanatic because: (no reason given)

Actually, the most powerful computer in the world could be utilized for ingenious use by affiliates with the Chinese government e.g. oil corporations for oil field exploration, or defense corporations for missile and guidance system design, or the PLA, for military C4ISR. The potential uses are endless.

reply to post by john_bmth

Originally posted by john_bmth
They use off-the-shelf components because they're cheap and readily available. It's pretty ignorant to suggest that China would be incapable of designing such components themselves. Why bother reinventing the wheel when it's cheaper, easier and quicker to use what's already there?

Yes, but would the supercomputer be running today if China had to design their own CPUs and GPUs from scratch for the T1A? Definitely not.

Would their CPUs and GPUs be as fast as Intel and Nvidias? Nope.

My point was that any country with the will, knowledge, and money could make a supercomputer that would crunch a few more numbers than T1A. Yeah, it’s a big deal China has the fastest one right now, but in a few years there will be another faster supercomputer and then another one. Not that big of a problem.

Originally posted by tooo many pills
reply to post by john_bmth

 

Originally posted by john_bmth
They use off-the-shelf components because they're cheap and readily available. It's pretty ignorant to suggest that China would be incapable of designing such components themselves. Why bother reinventing the wheel when it's cheaper, easier and quicker to use what's already there?

Yes, but would the supercomputer be running today if China had to design their own CPUs and GPUs from scratch for the T1A? Definitely not.

Would their CPUs and GPUs be as fast as Intel and Nvidias? Nope.

What are you basing this on? Do you have sources to verify your claims? Designing GPUs/CPUs isn't some dark art, it follows well known, established principles. The idea of China developing bespoke CPU/GPU hardware that could outperform off-the-shelf products is not exactly far-fetched. However, what would be the point?

reply to post by anon72


Never you worry, IBM and Intel are ahead of the game on this one.
Pleiades will be adapted to run at 10 petaflops by 2012, and Sequoia is expected to hit 20 petaflops in 2012.

2012 will be an exciting year, if only because of the enormous increase in global supercomputing power!

Not a big deal.

The crown has been usurped before. Japan has held the title, I believe the French have held it before and possibly the Germans as well.

The one thing all the titled holders have in common is that they all use American designed processors to achieve the feat.

This is about money, not technical know-how.

You can shake in your boots when/if the Chinese begin produce home grown super computers that we can't compete with technologically.

Until then, it's all just a question of how much one is willing to spend.

reply to post by anon72


i wouldn't worry too much about this "super computer" its made out of nvidia tesla gpu's and intel xeon processors connected together, any one can build one of these things with off shelf components. i'm sure darpa has much better systems at their disposal that are not rated by this list...

People you have to remember also china holds so much american dosh, why not buy something america does well. You people need to remember how many dollars china holds.

So its far cheaper for them to just buy american, if you get me.

Originally posted by T0XiK
reply to post by anon72

 

i wouldn't worry too much about this "super computer" its made out of nvidia tesla gpu's and intel xeon processors connected together, any one can build one of these things with off shelf components. i'm sure darpa has much better systems at their disposal that are not rated by this list...

exactly, i am sure underground bases in europe and usa have many super computers, doing who knows what.

Originally posted by anon72
reply to post by antonia

 

Every Empire dies.... I'll get over it? You're heartless

Naw, the USA ain't dying. It is alive and well. You can feel it. People are moving in one direction (most). The goal-to take our gov't back, fix it and continue to move forward. Without Obama and his pals. The US is down a little now but that is about to change.

Now I feel better.

Delude yourself if you wish. The end of American prominence began over 15 years ago. It was natural after the ending of the Cold War. What is on the horizon now is fragmentation. Countries are going to fight over what little resources we have left. It is illogical to believe the U.S. is going to beat everyone else on the planet. There's simply too many of them. Either way, all things end. it's only a matter of time. I don't have a stake in it. I'll live either way, call it heartless if you want. I simply don't care anymore.

Originally posted by mecheng
That's what spying gets you.
Besides, the fastest 'computer' actually belongs to you... it's your brain.

No spying involved. This supercomputer is merely a collection of run-of-the-mill Intel and NIVIDIA GPU chips. With enough money and a couple of computer scientists, you too could have one of these.!

It ain't rocket science and if I remember rightly, this record is broken quite frequently. Only a few weeks ago, the US computer stole the record off another one...