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US Pens $200 Million Deal For Massive Nuclear Security-Focused Supercomputer

An anonymous reader writes For the first time in over twenty years of supercomputing history, a chipmaker [Intel] has been awarded the contract to build a leading-edge national computing resource. This machine, expected to reach a peak performance of 180 petaflops, will provide massive compute power to Argonne National Laboratory, which will receive the HPC gear in 2018. Supercomputer maker Cray, which itself has had a remarkable couple of years contract-wise in government and commercial spheres, will be the integrator and manufacturer of the "Aurora" super. This machine will be a next-generation variant of its "Shasta" supercomputer line. The new $200 million supercomputer is set to be installed at Argonne's Leadership Computing Facility in 2018, rounding out a trio of systems aimed at bolstering nuclear security initiatives as well as pushing the performance of key technical computing applications valued by the Department of Energy and other agencies.

2 of 74 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Not bad by Zordak · · Score: 3, Funny

    Wow, just imagine a Beowulf cluster of these! / Dating myself // Hurry up, Rosie, or we'll miss the movie!

    So behind the times! The hip new kids ask if it runs Crysis. (Alternative: Yo, dawg! We clustered your cluster so you can cluster while you cluster! Also, all your petaflops are belong to us. In Soviet Natalie Portman, Beowulf clusters you! Did I miss anything?)

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  2. Re:Not bad by Zordak · · Score: 4, Funny

    No, it runs Windows 8. Most of that $200 million is per-processor license fees.

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