El Capitan: The World’s Most Powerful Supercomputer
Now under HP, Cray Computing has exceeded expectations with El Capitan, a supercomputer achieving 1.742 exaflops, making it the world's most powerful, dedicated to nuclear security.
El Capitan: The New Computing Prodigy
Cray Computing, a supercomputer manufacturer acquired by HP in 2019, has astounded the tech world by unveiling El Capitan, a supercomputer that shattered expectations by achieving a performance of 1.742 exaflops. Originally projected to peak at 1.5 exaflops, El Capitan not only exceeded this forecast but also claimed the title of the world’s most powerful supercomputer.
Three Supercomputers, One Pinnacle
El Capitan is one of the three “exascale” computers, each capable of performing over a quintillion calculations per second. The other two, Frontier and Aurora, rank second and third in the TOP500 list, respectively. All three technological titans are housed in government research centers: El Capitan at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Frontier at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Aurora at Argonne National Laboratory.
El Capitan’s Technological Feat
Boasting over 11 million combined CPU and GPU cores powered by AMD’s 4th generation EPYC processors, El Capitan represents a monumental achievement. These 24-core processors, operating at 1.8 GHz each, are equipped with AMD Instinct M1300A APUs. The supercomputer is also relatively power-efficient, achieving an estimated 58.89 Gigaflops per watt.
A Machine Dedicated to Security
The primary mission of El Capitan is to “address the security of nuclear stockpiles”, but it will also serve in nuclear counter-terrorism efforts. Exceeding its expected power, El Capitan is likely to remain atop the supercomputer hierarchy for some time before another exascale computer surpasses it.