AMD ATHLON(tm) MP PROCESSORS DRIVE MOST POWERFUL X86
CLUSTER SUPERCOMPUTERS IN EUROPE AND ASIA
-TOP500 Supercomputer list shows University of
Heidelberg and Tokyo Institute of Technology vault into upper rankings with AMD
processors-
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND-JUNE 24, 2002-AMD (NYSE: AMD) today
announced that the latest TOP500 Supercomputer list shows that AMD Athlon(tm) MP
processor-based supercomputers from the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and
the Tokyo Institute of Technology (TITECH) are the highest performing x86
cluster supercomputers in Europe and Asia.
The University's Heidelberg Linux Cluster System (HELICS)
supercomputer performs scientific research at its Interdisciplinary Center for
Scientific Computing (ICSC). The ICSC center is a leader in the fields of
reactive flows, human genome decryption, bio-computing and applied physics.
"The AMD Athlon MP processor-based supercomputer, paired
with our expertise in parallel computing, helps significantly shorten cycle
times in our research programs including bio-computing, reactive flows,
optimization problems, technical simulations and image processing," said Dr.
Wolfgang Hafemann, HELICS Project Leader at the University's ICSC.
"Cluster supercomputers are increasingly recognized as
the most cost-effective way of generating high-performance supercomputing," said
Dr. Satoshi Matsuoka, Professor of Global Scientific Information and Computing
Center at TITECH. "And, as one can see from the latest TOP500 rankings, the AMD
Athlon MP processors provide the level of performance needed for
compute-intensive scientific applications.
"The larger significance of these rankings is that we
have demonstrated that a single university lab can achieve terascale
performance," added Matsuoka, referring to systems capable of performing a
teraflop, or one trillion floating point operations per second. "In the near
future, I expect to see multiple labs achieving computing power on the order of
tens to hundreds of teraflops, making new scientific discoveries possible."
"The potential benefits we can derive from this type of
research are astounding," said Giuliano Meroni, vice president of Sales and
Marketing for AMD Europe. "It's inspiring to see that, around the world, AMD
processors are helping the growth of scientific sectors like bio-computer
science, mathematics and chemistry.
"AMD is absolutely committed to providing high
performance computing solutions for both scientific and industrial
applications," said Meroni. "These accomplishments highlight how effectively AMD
works with our customers, and the best-in-class results achieved by working
together."
Twice each year since 1993, the TOP500 Supercomputer
organization publishes its list of the 500 most powerful computer systems based
on the LINPACK performance benchmark that measures performance among all classes
of supercomputers. The HELICS supercomputer is 35th on the new TOP500 list, and
TITECH's Presto III Cluster ranks 47th, marking the first time AMD
processor-based systems have earned places in the top ten percent of the TOP500
rankings. Both systems use the Linux operating system. The most recent list was
released June 20th during the International Supercomputer Conference in
Heidelberg, Germany. (
About the AMD Athlon(tm) MP Processor
The AMD Athlon MP processor is a seventh-generation x86
processor designed for high-performance multiprocessing servers and
workstations.
A key advantage of AMD's multiprocessing platform is
Smart MP technology, which greatly enhances overall platform performance by
increasing data movement between the two CPUs, chipset and memory system. Smart
MP technology features dual point-to-point, high-speed 266MHz system buses with
Error Correcting Code (ECC) support designed to provide up to 2.1GB per second
per CPU of bus bandwidth in a dual-processor system. Smart MP technology also
has an optimized Modified Owner Exclusive Shared Invalid (MOESI) cache coherency
protocol that manages data and memory traffic in a multiprocessing environment.
The AMD Athlon MP processor features the patented
QuantiSpeed(tm) architecture, which includes a high performance full-speed cache
with hardware data pre-fetch, a fully pipelined superscalar floating point
engine, and an exclusive L2 Translation Look-aside Buffer (TLB). The processor
also incorporates 3DNow!(tm) Professional technology, which has 51 new
instructions that extend AMD's 3DNow! technology, enabling smoother, richer and
more lifelike images, more precise digital audio and an enriched Internet
experience.
The AMD Athlon MP processor is compatible with AMD's
stable Socket A infrastructure, and supports DDR memory technology.
About AMD
AMD is a global supplier of integrated circuits for the
personal and networked computer and communications markets with manufacturing
facilities in the United States, Europe, Japan, and Asia. AMD, a Fortune 500 and
Standard & Poor's 500 company, produces microprocessors, flash memory devices,
and support circuitry for communications and networking applications. Founded in
1969 and based in Sunnyvale, California, AMD had revenues of $3.9 billion in
2001. (NYSE: AMD).
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