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100 Teraflop Cray to Use Opterons

ackthpt writes "Code named Red Storm, Cray and Sandia National Laboratories (US Dept. of Energy) to build a 100 Teraflop super computer employing AMD's Opteron (Hammer) processors. Alluded to in the WSJ (non-free-as-in-beer subscription required), also in Infoworld, and Reuters."

25 of 269 comments (clear)

  1. Captain Opteron by JPelorat · · Score: 5, Funny

    There's something comic-bookish about that name... maybe it's just cos it sounds like a Transformer.

    --
    Hokey statistics and ancient misconceptions are no match for a good thought in your head, kid!
    1. Re:Captain Opteron by TrekCycling · · Score: 3, Funny

      Megatron: Opterons merge to form Crayaking!

    2. Re:Captain Opteron by merz · · Score: 5, Funny

      The Amdbots vs. The Intelicons. I like it.

    3. Re:Captain Opteron by Anonvmous+Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      "what if the transformers was based on real events...and where does linux end up in this scheme."

      The Constructicons were probably the Linux bots. They were small parts a of a giant robot called Devastator that was very good at the task at hand. (usually de-construction.) Devastator also had a limited vocabulary so he wasn't the most social. Few Decepticons knew how to give him the right commands to get him to do what he wanted.

  2. Wow! by daeley · · Score: 3, Funny

    Dang! Just imagine a Beow--

    Ah, never mind.

    (Shuffle, shuffle.)

    --
    I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
  3. Cool.. but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I wonder if it will be as fast as the computer William Shatner and Priceline.com use?

  4. Just imagine... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...building a supercomputer as a cluster of commodity off-the-shelf personal computers, interconnected with a local area network technology like Ethernet, and running programs written for parallel processing out of those!

    1. Re:Just imagine... by slyfox · · Score: 5, Funny

      Seymour Cray said it best: "If you were plowing a field, which would you rather use? Two strong oxen or 1024 chickens?"

    2. Re:Just imagine... by RzUpAnmsCwrds · · Score: 3, Funny

      "...or 1024 chickens"

      Wouldn't that be pigeons?

  5. hmmm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I wonder if those are PR ratings that they're throwing out!

    If the Opteron's anything like my T-bird, that supercomputer's going to melt a hole to the center of the earth a la Chernobyl.

  6. Re:The mighty have fallen by ackthpt · · Score: 2, Funny
    Relax, they could always overclock them and use liquid nitrogen cooling. ;-)

    You can't imagine how this deal has to leave Intel smarting.

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  7. Oh well. Code named red storm..? by ketamine-bp · · Score: 2, Funny
    from the infoworld report:
    The machine, code-named Red Storm, will require over 16,000 microprocessors to achieve that performance level, according to a researcher quoted in the Journal report.

    This can be rephrased easily into
    The machine, named code-red Storm, will require over 16,000 microprocessors' performance level to archive that, according to a researcher quoted in the Journal report.

    oh well.

    1. Re:Oh well. Code named red storm..? by user32.ExitWindowsEx · · Score: 2, Funny
      "code-red Storm"

      Is it going to be running an unpatched version of Windows on an OC-48 line?

      /me cringes in horror

      --
      "Evil will always triumph because good is dumb." -- Dark Helmet
  8. Calculon by csb · · Score: 3, Funny

    Once again, AMD missed their chance. They should have named the K8 after the male lead on the robot soap-opera that Bender watches on Futurama:

    "Calculon! We thought you were dead!"

    --
    We reserve the right to serve refuse to anyone. -management
  9. Re:Heating issues? by stratjakt · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'd imagine some sort of phase-change system (same as an air conditioning unit uses).

    For 90 mill, I doubt you'd see a bay bus with a bunch of Delta 80mm fans..

    --
    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
  10. Not only the fastest, but also the hottest by asscroft · · Score: 3, Funny

    computer on earth!!

    1. cluster lots of opterons
    2. place popcorn on top
    3. sell popcorn and cycles
    4. profit

    I'd like a beowulf cluster of those...

    does it play quake?

    yeah, but how much longer before it is DRM-enabled to run only MS....

    etc..

    --
    because I have been enjoined by this Holy Office to abandon the false opinion which maintains that the Sun is the centre
  11. Re:next generation == last generation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    A $254 million loss in a quarter is not very convincing

    Find me a US company that didn't lose money last quarter. And anybody who uses Arthur Anderson doesn't count.

  12. Units nitpicking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Since the expression "100 teraflop" contains no time related unit, it probably refers to the total number of flop that will be delivered by the system running at 40 teraflop/s before its predicted meltdown after 2.5 s.

  13. Free-as-in-Beer by 42 · · Score: 2, Funny

    I have seen the expression "Free-as-in-Beer" a few times on Slashdot, yet I have no idea what this means. I have scoured my head to think of what it could mean, but can't figure it out.

    What does "Free-as-in-Beer" mean?

    Free beer, to me, would seem to be the greatest thing in the history of the world!

  14. Re:Might want to check out what Cray and Sandia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Obviously, you have bought into the OP myth. This new system, using AMD processors, is the EQUIVALENT of 100 teraflops.

  15. Buy a case... by scrod98 · · Score: 5, Funny

    and come over to my house, and I will demonstrate.

    --
    LETS DECOMPOSE & ENJOY ASSEMBLING
  16. Re:The mighty have fallen by dubiousmike · · Score: 3, Funny

    This sort of thing must just be braking all the classic Crayons hearts.

    Especially those which got phased out in the age of political correctness like indian Red and Prussian Blue.

    Never thought I'd ever be linking to the Enquirer. I feel dirty.

  17. gotta move now by imsirovic5 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I hope they are not putting that supercomputer anywhere near Antarctica.. 16,000 Athlons can get pretty hot resulting in some serious polar melting forcing me to evacuate from New Orleans (we are already underwater).

  18. Re:Heating issues? by BasharTeg · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm just waiting for Tom's Hardware to do a video with one of these supercomputers in the event of "total cooling failure." Of course, total cooling failure would mean something like the cooling system springs a leak, all the cooling liquid runs out on the floor, the copper cooling panels "fall off" (just like those damned heatsinks are always doing), the laws of thermodynamics are modified by God, and Q decides to change the gravitational constant of the universe bringing the earth unusually close to the sun. This all will likely cause the Opteron CPUs to smoke and burn out, giving Tom an opportunity to point out that if the Pentium 4 were used, it would just slow down to 10 frames per second when playing Quake 3.

    Doh! Gotta end this post, the damned heatsink just fell off my Athlon again. Those wacky fucking heatsinks always jumping off.

  19. Re:Heating issues? by delus10n0 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yeah, my heatsink just commited suicide too!

    Apparently gripping onto all three tabs on each side of the socket just isn't enough!

    We need to devise a solution where the heatsink and CPU are permanantly joined! Yeah, that's the ticket!

    Just don't hit the heatsink, or you'll rip the die clean off the board.

    --
    Not All Who Wander Are Lost