AMD has teamed up with the University of Frankfurt's Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS) to deliver the SANAM supercomputer, securing the number two ranking on the latest Green500 List. The supercomputer will aid FIAS in quantum chromodynamics research.
Powered by 420 AMD FirePro S10000 dual-GPU server graphics cards based on AMD Graphics Core Next Architecture, SANAM is claimed to redefine supercomputing with its high power efficiency.
Capable of sustaining 420 Tflops, providing a system energy efficiency of more than 2.3 Gflops per watt and performing 2,351 million calculations per second per watt, the SANAM supercomputer is aimed at shifting the industry mindset of determining performance through flops to focusing on eco-conscious measurements like performance per watt.
This latest AMD technology milestone comes after the announcement that AMD Opteron processors power the world's highest-performance supercomputer, Titan, as ranked on the Top500's Supercomputer Sites list. In addition to the number-two ranking on the Green500 List, SANAM can also claim the performance crown as the most powerful and energy-efficient supercomputer powered primarily by graphics processors.
'There is a massive shift in the HPC industry from defining supercomputing performance in terms of flops to performance-per-watt and developing environmentally responsible technologies,' said John Gustafson, senior fellow and chief product architect, graphics business unit, AMD.
'The SANAM supercomputer, equipped with AMD FirePro S10000 GPUs based on our Graphics Core Next Architecture, consumes a mere 180 kilowatts of power while running. With solutions like the FirePro S10000, along with innovative software from AMD and technology partners like AccelerEyes, Caps Entreprise and PGI, we enable institutions engaged in cutting-edge research – like the university's work in quantum chromodynamics – to achieve massive compute performance and processor density while staying within their power budget,' he added.
