[FRIAM] NM Free Supercomputer

[Russell Standish]

Given that the Altix runs Linux, and you compile your code from
sources using the high performance compiler from Intel, the Altixes
are damn fine machines. I have access to a baby 4 processor Altix
pretty much all to myself, so I know.

Their main problem is expense, and as of about the middle of last
year, the latest EMT64 Intel processors outperform the Itaniums, so we
have by and larged switched to that architecture. Plus, our main
customers want Windows versions of the software, and if anything is
sucky and buggy, it is Windows running on Itanium. Don't go there if
you can avoid it.

Cheers

On Tue, Nov 06, 2007 at 08:30:34AM -0700, Douglas Roberts wrote:
> Marcus,
> 
> The story I got a few of years ago when SGI was just about to come out with
> the Altix 3000 was that SGI had decided early on to adopt the Itantium 64
> processor.  This info was presented to us by one of the members of the Altix
> development team, back in early 2005, I believe.  We were told that there
> was a lot of tuning and tie ins to processor channels that were required to
> make optimum use of the Itanium with their NUMA architecture.
> Unfortunately,  this was (just) before AMD came out with the Opteron 64.
> SGI's timing was just a bit off, as usual.  Had they been just a bit later
> to market with the Altix, they might well be running AMD 64-bit processors
> today instead of the dead-end IA-64.  As it was, SGI brought the Altix (neat
> machine, btw) to market just as industry was adopting the Opteron in
> preference to Itanium for 64-bit computing.
> 
> I am not aware of any obligations that SGI has for using Itanium processors
> in their systems, however.
> 
> --Doug
> 
> -- 
> Doug Roberts, RTI International
> droberts at rti.org
> doug at parrot-farm.net
> 505-455-7333 - Office
> 505-670-8195 - Cell
> 
> On Nov 6, 2007 7:24 AM, Marcus G. Daniels <marcus at snoutfarm.com> wrote:
> 
> > Jack Stafurik wrote:
> > > NM will have a supercomputer that will be free for in-state residents
> > > and businesses. The link below has the details, but to summarize:
> > >
> > > 1) 3,500 Intel quad-core Xeon processors with 28 terabytes memory
> > Huh, I thought SGI was obligated with Intel to use Itanium in all of its
> > computers..  (?)
> >
> > ============================================================
> > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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> >

> ============================================================
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org

-- 

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A/Prof Russell Standish                  Phone 0425 253119 (mobile)
Mathematics                         	 
UNSW SYDNEY 2052         	         hpcoder at hpcoders.com.au
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