One of the fastest supercomputers in the world is currently being auctioned. At its launch, the computer was ranked 21st; today it is ranked 160th.
The U.S. General Services Administration has decided to auction the Cheyenne supercomputer, which was commissioned in 2016. In its statement, the government agency mentions that there have been ongoing repair and maintenance issues. This does not initially bode well for the purchase of such a computer giant.
The current highest bid is around $100,000 (via gsaauctions.gov), and the auction runs until May 6, 2024. Therefore, the price could still rise.
The computer is currently located at the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Supercomputer consumes large amounts of power
What kind of system is this?
- The supercomputer contains 8,064 Intel E5-2697v4 CPUs.
- 313,344 GB DDR4-2400 ECC RAM.
- The supercomputer consumes about 1,727 megawatts of power per day while running.
The Intel E5-2697v4 belongs to the Xeon series, thus part of Intel’s high-end and server processors. Since 2022, the mentioned processor no longer receives security and maintenance updates.
Is it worth it? For the average user, such a high investment is not worth it anyway. If you still consider the investment of currently $100,000, you should be aware that the federal agency is selling the system because it is no longer considered cost-effective due to high costs and downtime “associated with addressing current cooling issues.”
Moreover, the hardware installed is now considered outdated and no longer current. From today’s perspective, for example, colleagues from TomsHardware explain that the Cayenne computer is considered sluggish by standards of 2024. Many older supercomputers that have been around for a few years face this problem.
As a bonus, you might be pleased with the electricity bill. Consuming 1,727 megawatts of power per day costs several thousand euros per day, depending on electricity prices and providers. Moreover, electricity prices are expected to rise significantly in Germany in 2024. Whether you really want to invest in such a “power sucker” is something you should also consider.
Supercomputers in Germany: The supercomputer JUPITER (Joint Undertaking Pioneer for Innovative and Transformative Exascale Research) was commissioned by the European supercomputer consortium EuroHPC JU in October 2023. The new supercomputer is currently being built in Jülich. You can read more about it on MeinMMO:
