Big Mac Benchmark Drops to 7.4 TFlops

coolmacdude writes "Well it seems that the early estimates were a bit overzealous. According to preliminary test results (in postscript format) on the full range of CPUs at Virginia Tech, the Rmax score on Linpack comes in at around 7.4 TFlops. This puts it at number four on the Top 500 List. It also represents an efficiency of about 44 percent, down from the previous result of 80 achieved on a subset of the computers. Perhaps in light of this, apparantly VT is now planning to devote an additional two months to improve the stability and efficiency of the system before any research can begin. While these numbers will no doubt come as a disappointment for Mac zealots who wanted to blow away all the Intel machines, it should still be noted that this is the best price/performance ratio ever achieved on a supercomputer. In addition, the project was successful at meeting VT's goal of developing an inexpensive top 5 machine. The results have also been posted at Ars Technica's openforum."

snazzy new G5 logo too!

[JUSTONEMORELATTE]

Way to go /. -- updated the logo from G4 to G5 just in time.

--

the REAL reason to build a top-5 supercomputer

[Anonymous Coward]

What they're not telling you is that the real reason they are building a supercomputer is because the only copy of the router passwords is GPG-encrypted, and they lost the key.

Big mac cluster..

[jandrese]

That's nothing, last time I benchmarked my Big Mac Cluster (100 Big Macs) it came to almost 57.6 megacalories. Those Apples will never be able to match that!

Does anyone else have trouble reconciling...

[ikewillis]

"best price performance" and "Apple" in their minds?

Catch Phrase

[humpTdance]

Best Price/Performance ratio = promotional video with the phrase:

"Virginia Tech: Home of the Poor Man's Supercomputer and Michael Vick."

My computer is SUPER!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks for asking!!

Big Mac? How does that compare with a WOPR?

[Anonymous Coward]

/Watched WarGames too many times as a kid.

I am sick and tired...

[DavidBrown]

of all of these so-called "benchmark" discussions. Everyone really knows, in their heart of hearts, that the only valid benchmark is to be found in real-world applications such as Quake III. I want to know how many fps this alleged "supercomputer" gets.

Re:Big mac cluster..

[mccrew]

...my Big Mac Cluster...

Um, yeah, could I get some fries with that?

Re:A supercomputer by Any Other Name....

[BostonPilot]

Nah, the real defintions is:

Super computers cost more than 5 million dollars

Mainframes cost more than 1 million dollars

Mini-Super computers cost more than 1/4 million dollars

Everything else is by definition a Plain Jane (TM) computer

btw, I've worked on all 4 kinds ;-)

Re:Big mac cluster..

[Frymaster]

1 Cal (uppercase C) is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1g of water 1 degree celsius

which brings up a totally off topic question.... a can of coke is 350 ml. it contains 300 calories.

now, let's say i drink this coke. it is really cold - say 4 degrees. my body temperature is a nice, mamallish 37 degrees. by drinking this coke i am warming up 350 g of what is essentially water from the temperature of the can to that of my body - a difference of 33 degress.

33c * 350ml = 11550 calories.

since the coke is only 300ish calories in the first place...

why don't i lose weight drinking ice cold coke?

Thats nothing

[madpierre]

I installed a button on the front of my cluster
to manually clock the CPU's.

So far i've managed ONE whole flop.

My record is for the slowest supercomputer
on the planet.

Re:Big mac cluster..

[cK-Gunslinger]

I find your ideas intriguing and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

Re:Thats nothing

[IM6100]

Build a computer that uses all CMOS static registers.

Attach a hall-effect sensor to a hamster wheel to drive the clock.

Go out and buy a hamster.

Re:Thats nothing

[madpierre]

Them Hamsters are pretty damn quick.
Do they byte ?

This also makes the Big Mac...

[Anonymous Coward]

the first supercomputer to feature exactly 1 mouse-button.

(hides/ducks - I ain't an anonymous coward for nothing!)

Re:snazzy new G5 logo too!

[t0ny]

While these numbers will no doubt come as a disappointment for Mac zealots who wanted to blow away all the Intel machines, it should still be noted that this is the best price/performance ratio ever achieved on a supercomputer.

Way to go there; lets just keep encouraging their terrorism.

Re:A supercomputer by Any Other Name....

[cosmo7]

supercomputer pronunciation key(spr-km-pytr)
n.
A mainframe computer that, as the result of birth on an alien planet, is impervious to bullets, is capable of flight, has x-ray vision, can run faster than a speeding train, etc.

"Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it's a Cray XM-P!"
- Seymour Fights The Demon World, Action Comics, 1932

Source: The American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright (C) 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

new updated troll

[McAddress]

I have been sitting here by my 1100 node G5 cluster trying to copy a 17.6 MB file for the last 20 minutes. It is so freaking slow now that I only get 44% efficiency. On my 1.5 Ghz P3 I would be able to do this in under 20 seconds. .....