China’s Tianhe 2 .:. World’s Fastest Super Computer

China’s Tianhe-2 is now the world’s fastest super computer, with speeds reaching up to 30.65 petaflops; 74 percent faster than the current record holder Cray XK7 system-based Titan at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the US, according to a report by Ars Technica.

What makes it more amazing is that, the supercomputer wasn’t even running to its full capacity during the test. A five-hour Linpack test using 14,336 out of 16,000 compute nodes, or 90 percent of the machine, clocked in at 30.65 petaflops. The benchmarks are used to rank the Top 500 supercomputers in the world. The previous title holder, Titan, hit 17.59 petaflops. Tianhe-2 achieved 1.935 gigaflops per watt, which is slightly less efficient than Titan’s 2.143 gigaflops per watt.

Tianhe-2’s numbers were revealed this week in a paper by University of Tennessee professor Jack Dongarra, who created the Linpack benchmarks and helps compile the bi-annual Top 500 list.