HPC@Intel: The New Intel Xeon Architecture

By Richard Dracott and Thor Sewell

April 15, 2009

What do HPC users need?

Whether they work in manufacturing, energy, life sciences, financial services, weather, digital content creation, or other fields, many users have similar requirements in selecting HPC solutions. First and foremost, they need outstanding total application performance so they can simulate, analyze, and visualize larger, more complex models in less time. And they need to achieve that performance without increasing data center power or real estate.
 
In addition, HPC users want those performance gains immediately, with little to no software development. If they do invest time and resources to parallelize or optimize applications for a new architecture, they want to be sure that the work they do today will continue to benefit them in the future.
 
Finally, HPC users want to simplify the process of choosing, configuring, and operating clusters. Small research labs and departmental groups need solutions that do not require extensive IT expertise. Large organizations want to focus on innovation, not server management.
 
The new Intel® Xeon® processor 5500 series (code named “Nehalem”) will play a key role in helping HPC users meet these requirements. This new microarchitecture enables HPC users to experience groundbreaking, intelligent, and energy-efficient performance quickly and easily. The Intel® Cluster Ready program makes it even simpler for organizations of all sizes to select, deploy, and operate HPC clusters with the new microarchitecture. At the same time, Intel provides software development tools that can help users scale performance forward, so the work they invest in parallelizing or optimizing their applications for this multi-core architecture will benefit them when they migrate to the many-core architectures of the future.
 

Immediate improvements in total application performance

Many HPC users moving from previous-generation Intel® architectures or competing architectures will experience significant and immediate gains in total application performance with the new microarchitecture. Users will be able to experience those gains with little or no software development. Internal Intel total application benchmarking shows that key applications in manufacturing, reservoir modeling, and seismic modeling, for example, have achieved more than three times greater performance with this microarchitecture compared with the previous quad-core Intel architecture.
 
New “intelligent” features help to deliver those performance gains. For example, dynamic management of cores, threads, cache, interfaces, and power provides energy-efficient performance on demand. In addition, Intel® Turbo Boost Technology automatically increases processor frequency to boost application performance. Meanwhile, Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology enables users to run multiple threads on each processing core to increase total application performance while requiring only a fraction of the power that would be necessary to support additional cores.
 
Memory-bound applications will also benefit right away from the dramatic increase in available memory bandwidth. The new microarchitecture provides three channels of directly connected, native DDR3 memory through an Integrated Memory Controller. In addition, the Intel® QuickPath Architecture facilitates high-speed, direct connections among microprocessors and the I/O hub to provide each microprocessor with fast, coherent access to the memory attached to the other microprocessor. Together, these changes provide more than three times the memory bandwidth per node compared with the previous-generation dual-socket architecture.
 
By increasing memory bandwidth along with processor performance, the new microarchitecture helps to deliver a balanced platform. HPC users can incorporate new Intel® solid-state drives and Intel® Ethernet server cluster adapters to improve I/O speeds as well. The end result is not just acceleration of one part of the code, but real, sustainable improvements in total HPC application performance.
 

Performance without more watts or square feet

The new microarchitecture can deliver these performance benefits while helping to conserve energy and real estate. By running more instructions per clock cycle, the processors can complete more work, faster than before. The microarchitecture also provides more power states, faster transitions between states, and lower idle power than the previous-generation architectures so the processors can conserve energy between tasks. As a result, this new microarchitecture delivers the highest system-level performance per watt of any Intel® microarchitecture.
 
At the same time, the new microarchitecture helps to increase the density of HPC clusters. By packing more performance into servers with the same form factor, the new microarchitecture will help HPC users who are refreshing their data centers see tremendous gains without having to expand the HPC physical footprint.
 

Scaling performance forward

The Intel Xeon processor 5500 series can help many HPC users experience immediate results without any software development. But for those users (or software developers) who are ready to parallelize or optimize applications for this and future microarchitectures, Intel provides a full range of software development tools. Intel® software development tools can help improve application programmability, reducing the time to develop, operate, and maintain HPC application solutions. The tools can also increase application portability, allowing users to port code between clusters easily.
 
In addition, Intel software development tools can help programmers scale performance forward. By using the tools to parallelize an application correctly, programmers will be able to drop in a new runtime optimized for a future platform and achieve immediate performance improvements. The work that programmers do today will continue to deliver benefits in the future.
 

Making HPC simpler with Intel Cluster Ready

The Intel Cluster Ready program can help organizations of any size simplify the path to the benefits of the new microarchitecture. The Intel Cluster Ready program helps to ensure application and hardware platform interoperability at time of purchase and throughout the lifetime of the cluster. By running a registered Intel Cluster Ready application on any certified Intel Cluster Ready cluster equipped with the new microarchitecture, users can achieve performance improvements and gain the confidence that everything will work together from the first project through the life of the cluster.
 

HPC challenges drive Intel forward

The new Intel Xeon processor 5500 series, Intel software development tools, and the Intel Cluster Ready program are important examples of Intel’s ongoing efforts to meet the requirements of HPC users. Intel is driven to create these products by the complex problems that HPC users are trying to solve. As long as organizations want to increase the detail of crash test simulations, find new sources of energy, enhance genomic analysis, accelerate business analytics, predict larger weather patterns, or create better 3D animation, Intel will be working to deliver the products to achieve those goals.

Richard Dracott is the General Manager of High Performance Computing in Intel’s Server Platform Group. He is responsible for driving a cross organizational team to grow Intel’s overall business in this fast growing market segment including silicon, platforms and software products, in addition to industry initiatives and collaboration.

Thor Sewell is the Director of Technical Computing Marketing in Intel’s Server Platform Group. He is responsible for driving Intel’s marketing strategy for High Performance Computing and Workstations, and working with the industry to incorporate Intel’s products and platforms for these fast growing segments.

Subscribe to HPCwire's Weekly Update!

Be the most informed person in the room! Stay ahead of the tech trends with industry updates delivered to you every week!

Q&A with Nvidia’s Chief of DGX Systems on the DGX-GB200 Rack-scale System

March 27, 2024

Pictures of Nvidia's new flagship mega-server, the DGX GB200, on the GTC show floor got favorable reactions on social media for the sheer amount of computing power it brings to artificial intelligence.  Nvidia's DGX Read more…

Call for Participation in Workshop on Potential NSF CISE Quantum Initiative

March 26, 2024

Editor’s Note: Next month there will be a workshop to discuss what a quantum initiative led by NSF’s Computer, Information Science and Engineering (CISE) directorate could entail. The details are posted below in a Ca Read more…

Waseda U. Researchers Reports New Quantum Algorithm for Speeding Optimization

March 25, 2024

Optimization problems cover a wide range of applications and are often cited as good candidates for quantum computing. However, the execution time for constrained combinatorial optimization applications on quantum device Read more…

NVLink: Faster Interconnects and Switches to Help Relieve Data Bottlenecks

March 25, 2024

Nvidia’s new Blackwell architecture may have stolen the show this week at the GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, California. But an emerging bottleneck at the network layer threatens to make bigger and brawnier pro Read more…

Who is David Blackwell?

March 22, 2024

During GTC24, co-founder and president of NVIDIA Jensen Huang unveiled the Blackwell GPU. This GPU itself is heavily optimized for AI work, boasting 192GB of HBM3E memory as well as the the ability to train 1 trillion pa Read more…

Nvidia Appoints Andy Grant as EMEA Director of Supercomputing, Higher Education, and AI

March 22, 2024

Nvidia recently appointed Andy Grant as Director, Supercomputing, Higher Education, and AI for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). With over 25 years of high-performance computing (HPC) experience, Grant brings a Read more…

Q&A with Nvidia’s Chief of DGX Systems on the DGX-GB200 Rack-scale System

March 27, 2024

Pictures of Nvidia's new flagship mega-server, the DGX GB200, on the GTC show floor got favorable reactions on social media for the sheer amount of computing po Read more…

NVLink: Faster Interconnects and Switches to Help Relieve Data Bottlenecks

March 25, 2024

Nvidia’s new Blackwell architecture may have stolen the show this week at the GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, California. But an emerging bottleneck at Read more…

Who is David Blackwell?

March 22, 2024

During GTC24, co-founder and president of NVIDIA Jensen Huang unveiled the Blackwell GPU. This GPU itself is heavily optimized for AI work, boasting 192GB of HB Read more…

Nvidia Looks to Accelerate GenAI Adoption with NIM

March 19, 2024

Today at the GPU Technology Conference, Nvidia launched a new offering aimed at helping customers quickly deploy their generative AI applications in a secure, s Read more…

The Generative AI Future Is Now, Nvidia’s Huang Says

March 19, 2024

We are in the early days of a transformative shift in how business gets done thanks to the advent of generative AI, according to Nvidia CEO and cofounder Jensen Read more…

Nvidia’s New Blackwell GPU Can Train AI Models with Trillions of Parameters

March 18, 2024

Nvidia's latest and fastest GPU, codenamed Blackwell, is here and will underpin the company's AI plans this year. The chip offers performance improvements from Read more…

Nvidia Showcases Quantum Cloud, Expanding Quantum Portfolio at GTC24

March 18, 2024

Nvidia’s barrage of quantum news at GTC24 this week includes new products, signature collaborations, and a new Nvidia Quantum Cloud for quantum developers. Wh Read more…

Houston We Have a Solution: Addressing the HPC and Tech Talent Gap

March 15, 2024

Generations of Houstonian teachers, counselors, and parents have either worked in the aerospace industry or know people who do - the prospect of entering the fi Read more…

Alibaba Shuts Down its Quantum Computing Effort

November 30, 2023

In case you missed it, China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba has shut down its quantum computing research effort. It’s not entirely clear what drove the change. Read more…

Nvidia H100: Are 550,000 GPUs Enough for This Year?

August 17, 2023

The GPU Squeeze continues to place a premium on Nvidia H100 GPUs. In a recent Financial Times article, Nvidia reports that it expects to ship 550,000 of its lat Read more…

Shutterstock 1285747942

AMD’s Horsepower-packed MI300X GPU Beats Nvidia’s Upcoming H200

December 7, 2023

AMD and Nvidia are locked in an AI performance battle – much like the gaming GPU performance clash the companies have waged for decades. AMD has claimed it Read more…

DoD Takes a Long View of Quantum Computing

December 19, 2023

Given the large sums tied to expensive weapon systems – think $100-million-plus per F-35 fighter – it’s easy to forget the U.S. Department of Defense is a Read more…

Synopsys Eats Ansys: Does HPC Get Indigestion?

February 8, 2024

Recently, it was announced that Synopsys is buying HPC tool developer Ansys. Started in Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1970 as Swanson Analysis Systems, Inc. (SASI) by John Swanson (and eventually renamed), Ansys serves the CAE (Computer Aided Engineering)/multiphysics engineering simulation market. Read more…

Choosing the Right GPU for LLM Inference and Training

December 11, 2023

Accelerating the training and inference processes of deep learning models is crucial for unleashing their true potential and NVIDIA GPUs have emerged as a game- Read more…

Intel’s Server and PC Chip Development Will Blur After 2025

January 15, 2024

Intel's dealing with much more than chip rivals breathing down its neck; it is simultaneously integrating a bevy of new technologies such as chiplets, artificia Read more…

Baidu Exits Quantum, Closely Following Alibaba’s Earlier Move

January 5, 2024

Reuters reported this week that Baidu, China’s giant e-commerce and services provider, is exiting the quantum computing development arena. Reuters reported � Read more…

Leading Solution Providers

Contributors

Comparing NVIDIA A100 and NVIDIA L40S: Which GPU is Ideal for AI and Graphics-Intensive Workloads?

October 30, 2023

With long lead times for the NVIDIA H100 and A100 GPUs, many organizations are looking at the new NVIDIA L40S GPU, which it’s a new GPU optimized for AI and g Read more…

Shutterstock 1179408610

Google Addresses the Mysteries of Its Hypercomputer 

December 28, 2023

When Google launched its Hypercomputer earlier this month (December 2023), the first reaction was, "Say what?" It turns out that the Hypercomputer is Google's t Read more…

AMD MI3000A

How AMD May Get Across the CUDA Moat

October 5, 2023

When discussing GenAI, the term "GPU" almost always enters the conversation and the topic often moves toward performance and access. Interestingly, the word "GPU" is assumed to mean "Nvidia" products. (As an aside, the popular Nvidia hardware used in GenAI are not technically... Read more…

Shutterstock 1606064203

Meta’s Zuckerberg Puts Its AI Future in the Hands of 600,000 GPUs

January 25, 2024

In under two minutes, Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, laid out the company's AI plans, which included a plan to build an artificial intelligence system with the eq Read more…

Google Introduces ‘Hypercomputer’ to Its AI Infrastructure

December 11, 2023

Google ran out of monikers to describe its new AI system released on December 7. Supercomputer perhaps wasn't an apt description, so it settled on Hypercomputer Read more…

China Is All In on a RISC-V Future

January 8, 2024

The state of RISC-V in China was discussed in a recent report released by the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. The report, entitled "E Read more…

Intel Won’t Have a Xeon Max Chip with New Emerald Rapids CPU

December 14, 2023

As expected, Intel officially announced its 5th generation Xeon server chips codenamed Emerald Rapids at an event in New York City, where the focus was really o Read more…

IBM Quantum Summit: Two New QPUs, Upgraded Qiskit, 10-year Roadmap and More

December 4, 2023

IBM kicks off its annual Quantum Summit today and will announce a broad range of advances including its much-anticipated 1121-qubit Condor QPU, a smaller 133-qu Read more…

  • arrow
  • Click Here for More Headlines
  • arrow
HPCwire