- El Capitan is the new world leader in raw computing power
- It is located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)
- El Capitan is powered by AMD Instinct MI300A APUs
The global supercomputing rankings have a new presence at the top spot, as El Capitan, powered by AMD, takes a prime position to become the most powerful configuration in the world.
With sustained computing power of 1.7 exaflops and peak computing power of over 2.7 exaflops, El Capitan displaces previous leader Frontier into second place on the list of the world's most powerful supercomputers.
The Captain was built by HPE for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to simulate nuclear weapons testing. It is powered by AMD Instinct MI300A APUs and is not only the fastest, but also among the top 20 greenest computers.
Calculations reduced from months to weeks.
For perspective, El Capitan can perform a task in less than a second that requires a human to make a calculation every second since the Earth formed and then again for nine more Earths.
The supercomputer will allow LLNL to significantly improve the ability to predict and model nuclear weapons performance as the arsenal ages and new systems are introduced.
This will help LLNL better understand and make informed decisions regarding security. It will also be leveraged for a variety of other missions to help understand emergencies such as natural disasters and man-made crises.
It does this by providing higher resolutions in 3D modeling that were not possible with previous machines or were too computationally expensive to run regularly.
More precise replication of physics allows for higher-quality analysis of components, helping scientists incorporate more real-world factors, such as material and manufacturing imperfections and environmental conditions.
Previously, these calculations were impossible or took weeks or months on current LLNL systems, which has now been reduced to days or even hours.
“Leveraging AMD Instinct MI300A APUs, we have built a system that was once unimaginable, pushing the absolute limits of computational performance while maintaining exceptional power efficiency,” said Bronis R. de Supinski, LLNL chief technology officer for Livermore Computing.
“As AI becomes increasingly prevalent in our field, El Capitan allows us to integrate AI with our traditional simulation and modeling workloads, opening new avenues of discovery across various scientific disciplines.”
AMD now powers the two most powerful supercomputers in the world, with a combined power of more than 3 exaflops totaling 61% of the performance of the top 10.
Of the top 10, AMD now powers five devices, including the El Capitan, Frontier, ENI's HPC6, LUMI, and Tuolumne.
“We are thrilled to see El Capitan become the second AMD-powered supercomputer to break the exaflop barrier and become the world's fastest supercomputer. Showcasing the incredible performance and efficiency of AMD Instinct MI300 APUs, this innovative machine is a testament to the dedicated work between AMD, LLNL and HPE,” said Forrest Norrod, executive vice president and general manager, AMD.