The resulting system, with components purchased at retail prices, cost a little more than $50,000. Researchers at the supercomputing center believe the system may be capable of a half trillion operations a second, well within the definition of supercomputer, although it may not rank among the worlds 500 fastest supercomputers.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of the project, which uses the open-source Linux operating system, is that the only hardware engineering involved was placing 70 of the individual game machines in a rack and plugging them together with a high-speed Hewlett-Packard network switch. The centers scientists bought 100 machines but are holding 30 in reserve, possibly for high-resolution display application.
"It took a lot of time because you have to cut all of these things out of the plastic packaging," said Craig Steffen, a senior research scientist at the center, who is one of four scientists working part time on the project.
The scientists are taking advantage of a standard component of the PS2 that was originally intended to move and transform pixels rapidly on a television screen to produce lifelike graphics. That chip is not the PlayStation 2s MIPS microprocessor, but rather a graphics co-processor known as the Emotion Engine. That custom-designed silicon chip is capable of producing up to 6.5 billion mathematical operations a second.
http://news.com.com/2100-1043_3-1010037.html
Monday, May 26, 2003
Popular Posts
-
Some good stuff from a Canadian futurist: - The rising power of the knowledge worker - Continuous training replaces job security; respect is...
-
Not a bad audio book, but I expected more. Big ideas: Build a high performance, high-trust culture; Identify desired results and un...
-
Very dry, dull book with some basic financial info like ROI and cash flow. Not a lot here.
-
Here's my (edited) journal entry for this event dated 12/01/98: Wow. I just sessioned and started reading "The Tao of Physics...
-
... or, Decemberween. Whatever. http://www.homestarrunner.com/xmas04.html
-
Peruvian archeologists have discovered the first full Inca burial site at Machu Picchu since the famous mountaintop citadel was discovered 9...
-
Increasingly, the overstretched and overburdened have a new answer to work lives of gunning harder for what seems like less and less: Dont j...
-
http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail94.html
-
U.S. President George Bush is a big winner in this year's World Stupidity Awards, joining the likes of the entire petroleum industry and...
-
Very good bottle as a gift from Jason. Clean, woody, and elegant. http://www.theglenrothes.com/uk/