China’s Tianhe-2 Retains Top Spot on List of World’s Top Supercomputers

[Dungeness]

Good, let's see who will be the true winner of 2016.

Regardless who will take the crown, I will be happy since the honor always goes to China.

Good, let's see who will be the true winner of 2016.

Regardless who will take the crown, I will be happy since the honor always goes to China.

The USA bans Intel from exporting Xeon HPC processors to China, so Tianhe-2 has to use domestic processors. It is good in a way, but there will be more hard work ahead. Applications are still lagging though.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

The USA bans Intel from exporting Xeon HPC processors to China, so Tianhe-2 has to use domestic processors. It is good in a way, but there will be more hard work ahead. Applications are still lagging though.

The Tianhe series has always the very advanced architecture, but the layout of the Sunway series has been more adapted to be compatible with the indigenous processors.

That's why they have announced their 100 petaflop model earlier than the Tianhe-2A, and it will take the Tianhe-2 some time to adapt to be compatible with the indigenous processors.

 

[Kyle Sun]

just having a conversation.

your supercomputers aren't insignificant.. just pointing out it's too early to say China will dethrone the U.S in this area

you have the top supercomputer which isn't even being utilized at it's full potential!! not even close

you all got a long way to go in this department

Our guys arew not saying cn supercomputer will dethrone us in this field.
for the utilization of Our supercomputer, I agree with you. We have the best sp but dont have so many respective application softwares .

but just try to recall your impression of china 15 years ago. no one would believe we can make such achievement at that time.

although we are still behind you, your superiorities in many fields are not so insurmountable now.

we are catching up very fast

 

[GS Zhou]

Here is a notice post at a Chinese university. The notice asks the professors to submit calculation programs to a new super computer that installed in east China. Two interesting/surprising points mentioned by the notice:
1. the new super computer has BETTER performance than Tianhe 2!
2. the new super computer is powered by Chinese chips!

 

[Nike]

Can i play Civ series with this?

 

[Counterpunch]

like I said I will eat crow

but in 2017 U.S will have 3 supercomputers above 150 petaflops so it's all good

I thought the "stick" measuring prevailed only between Pakistan & India

On a side note China will still clock 100 petaflops one year earlier than US so this indeed is an achievement worth feeling proud of. And, if China can deliver 100+ pertaflops with indigenous processors and hardware then the US supremacy (achieved in 2017) will be strongly threatened

 

[GS Zhou]

Can i play Civ series with this?

theoretically, you can use it to play your game. But its calculation hour is super expensive, hence not a reasonable choice!

 

[Economic superpower]

Our guys arew not saying cn supercomputer will dethrone us in this field.
for the utilization of Our supercomputer, I agree with you. We have the best sp but dont have so many respective application softwares .

but just try to recall your impression of china 15 years ago. no one would believe we can make such achievement at that time.

although we are still behind you, your superiorities in many fields are not so insurmountable now.

we are catching up very fast

China has gradually removed the aura of invincibility of the US over the years.

China has proven by surpassing the US in many categories, that American power is not insurmountable and that China can be as powerful as the US.

China now has the belief it can challenge the US in every field. That confidence is important.

 

[Bussard Ramjet]

October 31, 2011 at 10:15 am
really a article from way back in 2011/12??


where is this magical supercomputer now??

why wasn't Tianhe or any other supercomputer by China not using this super Chinese chips


Tianhe-2 was due for a upgrade to 100 petaflops by adding more Intel Xeon processors but Uncle Sam stopped that

if China makes two or more 100+ petaflop supercomputers in 2016 that uses Chinese processors or is even 100% Chinese
I will eat crow

I think you underestimate Chinese advances in supercomputing.

China is already world class in general computer design.

It has already got its own interconnect technologies.

The only major deadlock is processors, and accelerators.

But there have been multiple reports in huge advances in these.

like I said I will eat crow

but in 2017 U.S will have 3 supercomputers above 150 petaflops so it's all good

The competition for the fastest supercomputer is really just for show.

Once the computer is built, it lies vacant, doing almost nothing, because there isn't even enough software background to do much.

Is is like an ultra fast computer, but with minimal software on it.


The main competition in supercomputers today, is not total net speed, which can always be extended as much as one wants, by spending the appropriate sum of money, but by making breakthroughs in processor and interconnect tehnologies that can reduce the energy consumption per TFLOP of performance.

Super computers and their impact will be limited if the energy consumption were not to be reduced.

 

[Shotgunner51]

Obama signs executive order to build world's fastest supercomputer - Jul. 30, 2015

President Obama wants to bring back the glory days of 2012.

China's Tianhe-2 became the fastest supercomputer in the world in 2013, beating the American Titan. Obama thinks it's time to bring that title back home.

On Wednesday, he signed an executive order to announce the National Strategic Computing Initiative, which will be responsible for building the world's fastest supercomputer.

The Defense and Energy Departments along with the National Science Foundation will lead the research on the development of a new high-performance computer. The technology will be used for better "economic competitiveness and scientific discovery," according to Obama's order.

Supercomputers are used for many purposes, some critical to national security and the country's economic viability. U.S. scientists could use the new supercomputer to pioneer research into all fields ranging from nuclear energy to climate change.

The NSCI will develop the first ever "exascale" computer, which will be about 30 times faster than anything currently in use.

The new supercomputer will operate at 1 exaflop, or 1 quintillion (1,000,000,000,000,000,000) calculations per second. The Tianhe-2 runs at 33.86 petaflops, or 38.86 quadrillion (38,860,000,000,000,000) calculations per second.

Calling a supercomputer fast is clearly an understatement.

That's why the Titan, currently the world's second-fastest super computer, located in the Oakridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, uses around 10 megawatts to power itself. That's almost 2000 times the energy our personal laptops use. A computer with greater hardware and software capability will likely use up even more power.

The technology will be used by five national agencies -- NASA, the FBI, NOAA, National Institutes of Health and the Department of Homeland Security, who will be able to co-design and test the machine from its early stages to include special requirements to meet their own needs.

The government organization can work with the private sector to advance its plan too. Typically, private researchers can apply to use the supercomputers as well even though they are mostly used by national organizations.

"This national response will require a cohesive, strategic effort within the Federal Government and a close collaboration between the public and private sectors," the order states.

The National Strategic Computing Initiative has 90 days from the date of the order to create an implementation plan. Although there is no completion date, the group is expected to update the plan with their progress annually for the next five years.

 

[Bussard Ramjet]

Good job China I can't remember when was the last time an american supercomputer topped the list, another sign of america's continued decline

No, China hasn't surpassed American technology as yet. But it has grown tremendously, and is second only to the US.

Having a fast supercomputer doesn't necessarily mean that one is good. Even Saudi Arabia has a supercomputer than falls within top 10.

you all listed these Chinese processors which none are used in Chinese Supercomputers as right now

There is one Petaflop device.

I get that, but why haven't they built more of these Supercomputers??


why wait 5 years??? why go from 1 Petaflop all the way to 100 Petaflops.

if it's true congrats to China on it's product

I wonder how it will compare to Intel,IBM,Nvidia made system


and it still doesn't address the software gap between China and the West/Japan

Again, as I say, the focus in supercomputing circles has shifted from building faster computers, to ones more energy efficient.

As such you can buy chips and scale the supercomputer as much as you like, but that may not necessarily prove anything.

You are correct that Chinese processors are not as advanced or mature as Intel Xeon/Phi series. Yet, they are good enough, and have good energy efficiency.

The biggest thing that you miss though is the speed at which China is progressing.

They were not much even as recent as 10 years, but now they are second only to the US in core competencies.

 

[AndrewJin]

No, China hasn't surpassed American technology as yet. But it has grown tremendously, and is second only to the US.

Having a fast supercomputer doesn't necessarily mean that one is good. Even Saudi Arabia has a supercomputer than falls within top 10.



There is one Petaflop device.



Again, as I say, the focus in supercomputing circles has shifted from building faster computers, to ones more energy efficient.

As such you can buy chips and scale the supercomputer as much as you like, but that may not necessarily prove anything.

You are correct that Chinese processors are not as advanced or mature as Intel Xeon/Phi series. Yet, they are good enough, and have good energy efficiency.

The biggest thing that you miss though is the speed at which China is progressing.

They were not much even as recent as 10 years, but now they are second only to the US in core competencies.

Long time no see, Indian atheist.

 

[Dungeness]

Here is a notice post at a Chinese university. The notice asks the professors to submit calculation programs to a new super computer that installed in east China. Two interesting/surprising points mentioned by the notice:
1. the new super computer has BETTER performance than Tianhe 2!
2. the new super computer is powered by Chinese chips!
View attachment 272784

Is this the new 100P HPC? It seems this new HPC has too much computing power in idle so that they have to ask university professors to come up with new applications. I think the applications are more important than the raw speed of HPC system to China right now. I am wondering what domestic processors this new HPC are using.

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

No, China hasn't surpassed American technology as yet. But it has grown tremendously, and is second only to the US.

Having a fast supercomputer doesn't necessarily mean that one is good. Even Saudi Arabia has a supercomputer than falls within top 10.

Again, as I say, the focus in supercomputing circles has shifted from building faster computers, to ones more energy efficient.

As such you can buy chips and scale the supercomputer as much as you like, but that may not necessarily prove anything.

You are correct that Chinese processors are not as advanced or mature as Intel Xeon/Phi series. Yet, they are good enough, and have good energy efficiency.

The biggest thing that you miss though is the speed at which China is progressing.

They were not much even as recent as 10 years, but now they are second only to the US in core competencies.

Saudi Arabia's was bought from and designed by a foreign company.

The real issue is that super computers, as you said, aren't really being used to their full potential. However, they ARE used to their full potential some of the time, and it is this critical "some of the time" that matters. For most other applications, they actually lease out sections of cores to outside users to perform their calculations.

 

[Bussard Ramjet]

Saudi Arabia's was bought from and designed by a foreign company.

The real issue is that super computers, as you said, aren't really being used to their full potential. However, they ARE used to their full potential some of the time, and it is this critical "some of the time" that matters. For most other applications, they actually lease out sections of cores to outside users to perform their calculations.

Exactly.

That is why I say, that acquiring a powerful supercomputer is not a big deal, given of course, that you have cash.

The Saudis, literally did NOTHING concerning their supercomputer, except to roll out cash, yet were able to procure a top 10 supercomputer, that is still a thing of envy for most of the world.

The whole focus of HPC was astray sometime back, with just efforts to get brute force out of the machine. Not much work was done to build an accompanying ecosystem, of application softwares etc.

Similarly, China still doesn't have similar core competencies like the US, for most of the competencies are similar to the ones commercially used widely. That is the most fundamental aspects of supercomputers are processors, and accelerators, (their design, fabrication) all of which China is behind the US in.

China is catching up, will continue to do so, but it will still take time. Essentially the capability to design good accelerators and processors is the same, be its application in normal PCs, or in supercomputers. That is the reason why the commercial companies leading the processor and graphic card market in commercial space, Intel and Nvidia, also have the best supercomputing products.