Alternative processors tapped to fulfill supercomputing’s need for speed
As world powers compete to build the fastest supercomputers, more attention is being paid to alternative processing technologies as a way to add more horsepower to such systems.One thing is clear: It is becoming prohibitive to build blazing CPU-only supercomputers, due to power and space constraints. That's where powerful coprocessors step in -- the processors work in conjuction with CPUs to conduct complex calculations in a power-efficient manner. Coprocessors are an important topic at this week's Supercomputing 15 conference in Austin, Texas. According to the Top500 list of the fastest supercomputers, released on Monday, 104 systems used coprocessors, growing from 90 systems in a list released in July.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here