NASA/Goddard Updates Computer - 8,256 New Nehalem Processors @ 3 MB Each By Fall - AFP

[hatrack]

In August, Goddard added 4,128 new-generation Intel "Nehalem" processors to its Discover high-end computing system. The upgraded Discover will serve as the centerpiece of a new climate simulation capability at Goddard. Discover will host NASA's modeling contributions to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the leading scientific organization for assessing climate change, and other national and international climate initiatives.

To further enhance Discover's capabilities, Goddard will install another 4,128 Nehalem processors in the fall, bringing Discover to 15,160 processors. "We are the first high-end computing site in the United States to install Nehalem processors dedicated to climate research," said Phil Webster, chief of Goddard's Computational and Information Sciences and Technology Office (CISTO). "This new computing system represents a dramatic step forward in performance for climate simulations."

Well-Suited for Climate Studies
According to CISTO lead architect Dan Duffy, the Nehalem architecture is especially well-suited to climate studies. "Speed is an inherent advantage for solving complex problems, but climate models also require large memory and fast access to memory," he said. Each processor has 3 gigabytes of memory, among the highest available today. In addition, memory access is three to four times faster than Discover's previous-generation processors.

In preliminary testing of Discover's Nehalem processors, NASA climate simulations performed up to twice as fast per processor compared with other nationally recognized high-end computing systems. The new computational capabilities also allowed NASA climate scientists to run high-resolution simulations that reproduced atmospheric features not previously seen in their models.

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http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Climate_Simulation_Computer_Becomes_More_Powerful_999.html

[joshcryer]

1. I wonder if they'll try simulating the "waste heat is cause for global warming; CO2 has no effect"..

...model.

[phantom power]

2. I can haz Nehalem? Every day RAM latency shoots me in the face.

And I'm the one who has to apologize for being in the way.

An old friend of mine once said being a software engineer means always having to say you're sorry. I thought he was making a joke, but I was young.