High Performance Computing
Posts tagged Avatar
3D Microchips for More Powerful and Environmentally-Friendly Computers
Jan 12th
Years ago, home computers were powered by single-core processors, and in time, dual- and quad-core designs emerged which meant that two of four cores were placed alongside each other.
NOW, experts are looking to create 3D microprocessors, in which the cores will not be stacked next to each other, but on top of each other.
The vertical stacking allow for a much higher transfer speed between the cores – up to 10 times faster than currently possible – as well as for improved heat efficiency and overall performance.
But, efficiency is not the only reason why 3D architectures are researched. It is predicted that the supercomputers of 2100 would theoretically use up the whole of the US’ electrical supply. A new, revolutionary cooling system that would further reduce temperatures inside future 3D microprocessors is being studied now. The architecture of 3D microprocessor and its comparison with today’s multichip can be seen in the right picture.
BlueArc Storage Solution Powers Visual Effects Behind ‘Avatar’
Jan 11th
BlueArc Corporation is a network storage device manufacturer. Its products are network attached storage (NAS) systems.
The primary feature of the BlueArc’s NAS products is BlueArc’s heavy reliance on FPGA’s. The FPGA’s provide hardware acceleration of processing which typically occurs in software running on general purpose CPU’s on competing products. As a result, BlueArc is able to provide high performance for a single system or node. – For more details goes to Wiki/BlueArc
There is no doubt that the movie ‘Avatar’ is one of the hottest topics in the world these days. Putting aside the visual feast this film brings us, we should focus more on the wide range of the applications of high performance computing behind the ‘Avatar’.
As http://www.hpcwire.com reported on January 6 2010, Weta Digital uses BlueArc to manage unprecedented rendering workloads with high performance for ‘Avatar’. The data below is really prodigious:
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