Chip manufacturer AMD has set a new speed record with a gas turbine simulation.
Energy technology company Baker Hughes has set a world record for the fastest axial turbine simulation of 2.2 billion cells, thanks to AMD processors. With their Instinct MI250X GPUs, the simulation could be performed more than 25 times faster than on traditional hardware.
From 38 Hours to 1.5 Hours
The test was conducted on the Frontier supercomputer in the US. There, 1,024 AMD Instinct MI250X GPUs were deployed along with AMD Epyc processors. A complex airflow simulation, which normally takes 38.5 hours on thousands of CPUs, was completed in just an hour and a half.
The technology was successfully used by Baker Hughes to test the efficiency of future gas turbines.
AMD and Its Supercomputers
Nvidia remains the market leader in the AI market, but AMD shows with this that it is a serious player in the field of scientific and technical supercomputers. Frontier and its successor El Capitan are both in the top ranks of the fastest supercomputers. Both run entirely on AMD hardware.
However, AMD still faces a software lag, causing many companies to lean towards Nvidia. Tom’s Hardware reports that start-up Tiny Corp previously had issues with AMD GPUs in its AI systems. Tiny Corp ultimately recommended Nvidia due to more stable drivers.
If AMD solves this problem, it can likely attract more customers for its chips and secure an equivalent position to Nvidia in the AI GPU market.
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