University of Antwerp stuffs 13 GPUs into FASTRA II supercomputer
By Donald Melanson 
posted December 14th 2009 4:20PM
posted December 14th 2009 4:20PM
The researchers at the University of Antwerp's Vision Lab caused quite a stir last year when they built a supercomputer with four high-end NVIDIA graphics cards, but it looks like they've truly stepped up their game for their followup: a supercomputer that packs no less than thirteen GPUs. That, as you might have guessed, presented a few new challenges, but after wrangling some flexible PCI cables into a specially-made case and loading up a custom BIOS courtesy of ASUS, they were apparently able to get six dual-GPU NVIDIA GTX295 cards and one single-GPU GTX275 card up and running with only a few hiccups. As before, the big advantage with this approach is that you get an enormous amount of computing power for a relatively small cost -- twelve teraflops for less than €6,000, to be specific. Head on past the break for a pair of videos showing the thing off, and hit up the link below for the complete details (including some jaw dropping benchmarks).
Nice. Gotta love the fact they used a Lian Li case. Very classy.
But seriously, no Tesla cards? Now THAT would've been a super computer. Hell, some Quadros would've been better.
I will be helping a faculty member build an initially 24 tesla setup...looking to eventually be 32. I can't wait to see how much fun it is, because it looks like a lot of fun :)
@IDIOT
Wow... just wow...
Holy mother of God! This a simply amazing.
at least this device does not consume as much power as my microwave oven, 2KW.
I could use one of those in my apartment. It has been cold in Seattle this winter! :P
They didn't use NVIDIA Tesla because these units cost a lot more and are limited to four GPUs. Even with 13 GPUs their system is still not powerful enough, I think the ultimate goal is to create a desktop supercomputer that can run their algorithm in nearly real-time.
@(Unverified)
Yes, there's no need for ANYONE to own a truck. Because a Prius can definately haul a horse trailer or a trailer full of firewood. *rolls eyes*
there are super people....
***http://www.iphoneservicesdepot.com****
oh yeah, my country style :p !