The Computer That Rendered Avatar...

Aid4nTheNoob · 20 Apr 2012 at 20:06

http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2009/12/22/the-data-crunching-powerhouse-behind-avatar/

"Thirty four racks comprise the computing core, made of 32 machines each with 40,000 processors and 104 terabytes of memory."

cheechm · 20 Apr 2012 at 20:10

wow! And only at position 193 on the super computer list.

Ricochet J · 20 Apr 2012 at 20:11

I'd love to run a direct numerical simulation on that thing.

Salsa · 20 Apr 2012 at 20:11

Obligatory "but will it run crysis" comment.

/Salsa

Srengam · 20 Apr 2012 at 20:11

All that to create a **** film.

mufc802 · 20 Apr 2012 at 20:13

Cool.

I had no idea it takes so much computing power to process the effects.

GravyMonster · 20 Apr 2012 at 20:14

Here's a good (and marginally related) article on the history of super computers. IIRC a modern desktop machine has as much processing power as a mid-80s supercomputer.

So there you have it: From 3 megaflops to 10 petaflops in 48 years. The world’s fastest supercomputer is 3.3 billion times faster than the first.

/nachos

Ricochet J · 20 Apr 2012 at 20:14

Salsa said:
Obligatory "but will it run crysis" comment.

/Salsa

Will it blend?

bitslice · 20 Apr 2012 at 20:14

Babylon 5 was rendered on Amiga's

cu3ed · 20 Apr 2012 at 20:14

Always wondered just how they do the final render.
So what the hell else is out there if its not even close to the top of "super computers"?
Is something like IBMS Watson number 1?

RomanNose · 20 Apr 2012 at 20:16

I just looked at the supercomputer table than #1 is

10510000 Gflops

Holy **** that's a lot.
Your average computer is maybe 5-10Gflops, holy moly that's a million times more powerful than your desktop computer.

CBrooksC · 20 Apr 2012 at 20:39

Aidan you ****. I showed you that at college today! LOL

ng93 · 20 Apr 2012 at 20:47

cu3ed said:
Always wondered just how they do the final render.
So what the hell else is out there if its not even close to the top of "super computers"?
Is something like IBMS Watson number 1?

http://i.top500.org/system/177232

12659.89 kW :eek:

King Damager · 20 Apr 2012 at 21:24

All of that to make a modern version of Romeo and Juliet.... Even Baz Luhrman spent less than that....

More to the point, they clearly didn't need a computer THAT powerful to do the job....

kd

2StepSteve · 20 Apr 2012 at 21:26

I bet it would still struggle to run FSX at max setting!!

Sin_Chase · 20 Apr 2012 at 22:37

What is more impressive than the compute power is the cooling solution.

Watercooled RACKS.

Hells yes!

DirtyJester · 20 Apr 2012 at 23:29

damn was waiting on ... is for sale in the MM

Spook187 · 21 Apr 2012 at 01:03

lol i bet a few on here would say,i will wait till next gen comes out.

Vonhelmet · 21 Apr 2012 at 01:09

Did the computer render the plot as well?

HecFam · 21 Apr 2012 at 01:10

Its similar to mine really, Except my Phenom II x4 would put it to shame...