For the first time AMD is naming their 3rd generation Infinity Fabric, which will be used to connect the processors within each blade. From the nature of AMD’s comments about the part, it sounds like whatever it is, we should expect to find out more architectural details about it soon.īut perhaps the biggest part of today’s reveal is the interconnect. On the whole, these broad specifications are very close to the GPU slated to be used in Frontier, so El Capitan may very well be using the same GPU, or at least a further derivative of it. For now, what they are saying is that these GPUs will be using next-generation HBM for their memory, and that they’ll bring support for mixed precision compute for improved deep learning performance. While the companies are confirming that this will use a next-generation AMD GPU using a new architecture, they aren’t naming the architecture or offering too much in the way of details about it. Meanwhile on the GPU side of matters, AMD and Cray are continuing to hold their cards rather close. Notably, this is a greater level of detail on the CPU than we currently have for Frontier, which is using an unspecified and customized next-generation EPYC CPU. ![]() As it’s still two generations out from AMD’s current wares, the amount of information on Zen 4/Genoa is limited, but AMD is promising support for next-generation memory, Infinity Fabric 3, as well as broad promises of both single and multi-threaded performance leadership. On the CPU side of matters, AMD will be supplying a standard version of their Zen 4-based “Genoa” EPYC processor. However in an interesting turn of events, LLNL is being just a bit more forthcoming about what specific hardware will be in their new supercomputer. With Cray serving as the prime contractor on both systems, El Capitan and Frontier are Cray Shasta systems, employing AMD’s processors along with Cray’s cabinets and their Slingshot interconnect technology. And indeed, at a high level El Capitan looks a whole lot like Frontier from a hardware perspective. US Department of Energy Exascale SupercomputersĮl Capitan is the second exascale supercomputer win for AMD, who is also providing the CPUs and GPUs behind the 1.5 exaflops Frontier system for Oak Ridge National Laboratory. LLNL will be using it primary for nuclear weapons modeling – substituting for actual weapon testing – while the system will also see secondary use as a research system in other fields, particularly those where machine learning can be applied. All told, El Capitan will be 16 times more powerful than the system it replaces. LLNL will be using the system to replace Sierra, their current IBM Power 9 + NVIDIA Volta supercomputer. Like the similar Frontier system, El Capitan comes with a $600 million price tag and is intended to ensure the US’s leadership in supercomputers in the exascale era. ![]() Overall, El Capitan is the second ( and apparently final) system being built as part of the US DOE’s CORAL-2 program for supercomputers. However thanks to some late configuration changes, the DOE now expects the system to reach 2 exaflops once it’s fully installed, which would cement its place at the top of the US’s supercomputer inventory. ![]() Already expected to be the fastest of the US’s exascale systems, El Capitan was originally commissioned as a 1.5 exaflop system seven months ago. This afternoon the DOE and HPE are announcing the architectural details of the supercomputer, revealing that AMD will be providing both the CPUs and accelerators (GPUs), as well as revising the performance estimate for the supercomputer. At the time the system was announced, The DOE and LLNL confirmed that they would be buying a Shasta system from Cray (now part of HPE), however the announcement at the time didn’t go into any detail about what hardware would actually be filling one of Cray’s very flexible supercomputers.īut as of today, the wait is over. Scheduled to be installed in Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in early 2023, the system is intended primarily (but not exclusively) for use by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), who uses supercomputers in their ongoing nuclear weapons modeling. Back in August, the United States Department of Energy and Cray announced plans for a third United States exascale supercomputer, El Capitan.
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