A technological giant has emerged in the world of computing. It’s called El Capitan, and it’s the most powerful supercomputer in the world as of November 2024. Located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, this incredible machine took five years to build and costs a whopping $600 million.
El Capitan isn’t just big in price; it’s a powerhouse with a performance of 1.742 exaFLOPS on a special test called the LINPACK benchmark. That means it can do a mind-boggling number of calculations every second. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the U.S. nuclear stockpile through detailed simulations nuclear stockpile safety.
El Capitan, a computing titan, achieves 1.742 exaFLOPS on the LINPACK benchmark, performing an astonishing number of calculations every second.
This supercomputer is packed with high-tech parts. It uses AMD 4th Gen EPYC CPUs and AMD Instinct MI300A GPUs, with over 11 million cores working together. It runs at a speed of 1.8 GHz and can hit a peak speed of 2.7 exaFLOPS. Even at a steady pace, it keeps up an amazing 1.7 exaFLOPS.
Compared to older systems, it’s about 30% faster than Frontier and over 20 times faster than Sierra, the lab’s previous top computer. But all this power comes with a cost—it uses nearly 29,581 kW of electricity, though it’s still pretty efficient at 58.89 GF/watt. Notably, it features a 100% fanless, direct liquid-cooled system for optimal performance liquid-cooled system.
El Capitan isn’t just for show; it has important jobs. It helps model nuclear weapons with super detail to keep countries safe. It also works on big science projects like studying stars, climate, and new materials. Plus, it’s used for earthquake simulations and even helps research fusion energy, which could be a future power source. Soon, it’ll play a big role in artificial intelligence too. Additionally, its computational power could significantly advance healthcare by aiding in drug discovery processes.
This giant was built with help from Hewlett-Packard Enterprise and AMD, along with support from the U.S. government and other companies. Hosted by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, it’s the third supercomputer worldwide to reach exascale power.
While it’s at the top now, competitors like Frontier and Aurora are close, and future systems like Colossus might challenge it. Ranked #18 on the GREEN500 list for energy efficiency, El Capitan is shaping the future of global computing. Its impact will likely grow, with possible uses in drug discovery and more exciting fields.
