AMD-Powered El Capitan Takes Supercomputer Crown
Semiconductor company AMD has secured its position in the high-performance computing sector as its processors power El Capitan, which has reached the top position in the Top500 supercomputer rankings. The achievement marks a transformation for AMD, which has evolved into a leading force in computational processing.
The system, located at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California, has achieved a High-Performance Linpack score of 1.742 exaflops – meaning it can perform 1.742 quintillion calculations per second. El Capitan uses AMD's Instinct MI300A accelerated processing units (APUs), which integrate central and graphics processing functions in one component.
This marks AMD's sixth consecutive system to lead the Top500 list, representing a shift in a sector previously controlled by other processor manufacturers. The installation demonstrates the growing importance of processors designed for artificial intelligence and scientific computing applications in the data centre sector.
The system operates alongside Tuolumne, a separate installation focused on non-classified research including climate modelling and pharmaceutical development. Both systems incorporate AI capabilities for data analysis functions.
Market position
AMD-powered systems now represent 61% of computing capacity among the top 10 supercomputers globally, including both El Capitan and the Frontier system at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This positioning indicates a shift in the high-performance computing landscape, where specialised processing units have become central to data centre operations.
“We are thrilled to see El Capitan become the second AMD powered supercomputer to break the exaflop barrier and become the fastest supercomputer in the world,” says Forrest Norrod, Executive Vice President and General Manager at AMD.
Enterprise applications
IBM will offer AMD's Instinct MI300X accelerators through its cloud computing platform from 2025, targeting enterprise requirements for generative AI and technical computing.
The collaboration will enable support for AMD Instinct MI300X accelerators within IBM's watsonx AI and data platform, alongside Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI inferencing support. This integration aims to provide enhanced performance for AI models and high-performance computing applications.
"As enterprises continue adopting larger AI models and datasets, it is critical that the accelerators within the system can process compute-intensive workloads with high performance and flexibility to scale," says Philip Guido, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at AMD.
European market development
Eni SpA, the Italian energy corporation, has implemented AMD components in its HPC6 system, which holds fifth position in the global rankings. Academic institutions including the University of Paderborn and Sigma2 AS are deploying systems with AMD's latest processors.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Japan's National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology has ordered a system incorporating 280 AMD Instinct MI300A APUs from NEC Corporation, an information technology enterprise.
Security applications
El Capitan serves as the primary computing resource for the US National Nuclear Security Administration's laboratory network, where it processes classified data for national security applications. The system's processing capabilities enable complex simulations for defence and security programmes.
Rob Neely, Director of LLNL's Advanced Simulation and Computing programme, says: “El Capitan is crucial to the National Nuclear Security Administration's core mission and significantly bolsters our ability to perform large ensembles of high-fidelity 3D simulations.”
“Leveraging the AMD Instinct MI300A APUs, we've built a system that was once unimaginable, pushing the absolute boundaries of computational performance while maintaining exceptional energy efficiency,” says Bronis R. de Supinski, LLNL's Chief Technology Officer for Livermore Computing. “With AI becoming increasingly prevalent in our field, El Capitan allows us to integrate AI with our traditional simulation and modeling workloads, opening new avenues for discovery across various scientific disciplines.”
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