The global race for supercomputing dominance has a new champion: El Capitan. Powered by AMD’s cutting-edge Instinct MI300A APUs, the system now officially holds the title of the world’s fastest supercomputer.
Developed by HPE for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), El Capitan delivers an extraordinary sustained compute power of 1.7 exaflops and peaks at over 2.7 exaflops, dethroning the previous leader, Frontier.
Not only is El Capitan the most powerful supercomputer, but it also ranks among the top 20 greenest, achieving exceptional performance while maintaining impressive energy efficiency.
Revolutionising computational capabilities
El Capitan is designed to simulate nuclear weapons tests, enabling LLNL to predict and model the performance of ageing nuclear stockpiles and new systems with unprecedented accuracy. Its capabilities are staggering: tasks that once took months can now be completed in mere days or hours. For context, it can solve in under a second what would take a human performing one calculation per second since Earth’s formation, multiplied by nine.
The machine’s advanced 3D modelling capabilities provide higher resolutions and more accurate physics replication, allowing scientists to factor in real-world imperfections such as material flaws and environmental variables. These insights extend beyond nuclear simulations, supporting emergency response efforts for natural disasters and manmade crises.
Pushing the boundaries of compute power
The integration of AI into traditional simulation workloads is a defining feature of El Capitan. This fusion opens up new possibilities in scientific discovery across multiple disciplines. According to LLNL’s Chief Technology Officer, Bronis R. de Supinski, the system represents a once-unimaginable leap in computational performance while adhering to stringent energy efficiency goals.
With El Capitan, AMD now powers the two most powerful supercomputers globally, together delivering over 3 exaflops of compute power, accounting for 61 percent of the total performance of the top 10 supercomputers. The achievement further solidifies AMD’s dominance, with the company powering five systems in the top 10, including Frontier, HPC6, LUMI, and Tuolumne.
AMD’s track record in supercomputer
AMD executives celebrated the milestone, with Forrest Norrod, the company’s Executive Vice President, calling El Capitan a groundbreaking machine. He highlighted the collaboration between AMD, LLNL, and HPE as instrumental in achieving this feat. El Capitan’s arrival marks the second AMD-powered supercomputer to break the exaflop barrier, showcasing the exceptional performance and efficiency of AMD’s Instinct MI300 APUs.
As the boundaries of supercomputing continue to expand, El Capitan sets a new benchmark, revolutionising scientific research and computational modelling while redefining what’s possible in energy-efficient design.
