Posted on Thursday, September 18 2008 @ 2:57 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
Cray debuts a new $25,000 CX1 supercomputer, this new system is the smallest supercomputer the firm has ever built. The Cray CX1 includes either 32 or 64 Intel cores, 4TB of internal storage and features optional NVIDIA Tesla GPU computing cards.
After more than two years of pushing its scientific computing efforts, Nvidia’s graphics processors will be offered as an option in the newest line of Cray desktop supercomputers. The chipmaker plans to announce next week that its Tesla chips can be used in the $25,000 Cray desktop supercomputer, according to Nvidia spokesperson Andrew Humber. He said Nvidia has been in talks with Cray ever since the chipmaker announced its Tesla line of graphics processors in 2007, but that this is the first deal the two companies have inked.
The Cray CX1 computer launched today, with specs that include either 32 or 64 Intel cores and 4 terabytes of internal storage. The new machine, which runs a new version of Microsoft Windows, is a testament to both the demand for and the democratization of computing power. Indeed, people who earlier might have turned to grids or supercomputers for their problems are building powerful desktops with accelerator chips, while less scientifically minded folks, such as traders or product designers, who want to render things in 3-D are seeking more processing power.
Source: GigaOM
