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*****For immediate use September 18, 2003
30% Price Performance Improvement to Supercomputer SX-6 Realized
TOKYO, September 18, 2003 - NEC Corporation today announced up to a 30% price performance improvement to its vector type supercomputer SX-6. NEC has made significant improvements in CPU processing performance and has undertaken developments to maximize memory capacity. The SX-6 is mainly used worldwide in HPC (High Performance Computing) within the scientific computing field. Shipment will commence in October, 2003 with the monthly rental price starting from 2.4million yen.
Main improvements:
CPU Performance: By enhancing the CPU overall performance has been improved by 13%. Single nodes achieve a peak vector performance of 72GFLOPS (a theoretical peak performance of 93.3GFLOPS) (see notes), and 128-node configuration achieves high-speed processing of a peak vector performance of 9.2TFLOPS (theoretical peak performance of 11.9TFLOPS) (see notes).
Maximum Memory Capacity: Maximum memory capacity has been doubled as compared with previous SX-6 capacity. The single-node system delivers up to 128 GB memory in shared memory architecture that is well acknowledged for its high performance and user-friendliness. In a 128-node multi-node system, large capacity memory of up to 16Terabytes (TB) can be configured, and a maximum total data transfer speed of 36.8TB/s between the CPU and the memory is achieved.
NEC's vector supercomputers have enjoyed a reputation for high processing performance in a wide spectrum of large-scale simulations due to the efficient data transfer between memory units and CPUs, as well as the high performance of a single CPU. Since the release of SX-6 in October 2001, NEC has received over 230 orders across high-end users in the fields of meteorology/climate, aerospace- and automotive- industries. Increasing demands for a faster supercomputer with larger memory capacity, easier operation, and computing power sufficient to run large-scale simulation led NEC to make major enhancements to the SX-6. The maximum memory capacity of the "SX-6i" has also been increased from 8GB to 16GB.
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(Notes)
| Theoretical peak performance: |
Total floating point operation ability of all the operations (vector multiplication, add/shift and division, scalar addition/division and multiplication) that can be carried out simultaneously. |
| GFLOPS: |
One billion floating point operations per second. |
| Peak vector performance: |
Total floating-point operation ability of multiplication and addition within a vector unit that can be operated simultaneously. |
| TFLOPS: |
One trillion floating point operations per second. |
SX-6 Specifications
(1) Single-node System
| Model Name |
B |
A |
| Central Processing Unit (CPU) |
| Number of CPUs |
2 ~ 4 |
4 ~ 8 |
| Theoretical Peak Performance |
23.34~46.68GFLOPS |
46.68~93.36GFLOPS |
| Peak Vector Performance |
18 ~ 36GFLOPS |
36 ~ 72GFLOPS |
| Vector Register |
144k bytes(IW(B2 ~ 4 |
144k bytes(IW(B4 ~ 8 |
| Scalar Register |
64bits(IW(B128(IW(B2 ~ 4 |
64bits(IW(B128(IW(B4 ~ 8 |
| Main Memory Unit (MMU) |
| Memory Architecture |
Shared Memory |
| Capacity |
16 ~ 64G Bytes |
32 ~128G Bytes |
| Maximum Transfer Rate |
144G Bytes/Sec. |
288G Bytes/Sec. |
| Input/Output Processor (IOP) |
| Number of IOP |
1 ~ 2 |
1 ~ 4 |
| Maximum Channel |
63 channels |
127 channels |
| Maximum Transfer Rate |
4G Bytes/Sec. |
8G Bytes/Sec. |
(2) Multi-node System
| Number of Nodes |
2 ~ 128 |
| Central Processing Unit (CPU) |
| Number of CPUs |
8 ~ 1,024 |
| Theoretical Peak Performance |
93.36~11,950GFLOPS |
| Peak Vector Performance |
72 ~ 9,216GFLOPS |
| Vector Register |
144k bytes(IW(B8 ~ 1,024 |
| Scalar Register |
64bits(IW(B128(IW(B8 ~ 1,024 |
| Main Memory Unit (MMU) |
| Memory Architecture |
Shared/Distributed Memory |
| Capacity |
64G ~ 16T Bytes |
| Maximum Transfer Rate |
Max. 36.8T Bytes/Sec. |
| Input/Output Processor (IOP) |
| Number of IOP |
Max.512 |
| Maximum Channel |
Max. 16,256 channels |
| Maximum Transfer Rate |
Max. 1,024G Bytes/Sec. |
| Internode Crossbar Switch (IXS) |
| Maximum Transfer Rate |
Max. 1,024G Bytes/Sec. |
About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation (NASDAQ: NIPNY) (FTSE: 6701q.l) is one of the world's leading providers of Internet, broadband network and enterprise business solutions dedicated to meeting the specialized needs of its diverse and global base of customers. Ranked as one of the world's top patent-producing companies, NEC delivers tailored solutions in the key fields of computer, networking and electron devices, by integrating its technical strengths in IT and Networks, and by providing advanced semiconductor solutions through NEC Electronics Corporation. The NEC Group employs more than 140,000 people worldwide and had net sales of approximately $40 billion in the fiscal year ended March 2003. For additional information, please visit the NEC home page at: http://www.nec.com.
Media Contact:
In Japan
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