Thursday, 8 March 2012

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Tesla GPUs Crank Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs Up To 11

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 11:20 AM PST

Spinal_Tap_-_Up_to_Eleven

Tesla GPUs are already used worldwide to boost supercomputers, and now they're being used to crank up performance on new Intel Sandy Bridge CPU-based servers.

We just got our hands on the HP SL250 ProLiant server, and we took it for a test drive running some popular scientific HPC applications. As expected, the Tesla GPUs significantly accelerated the performance of the system.

The HP server includes 3 Tesla M2090s GPUs, as well as new Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs. The new CPUs provide higher performance than older versions when it comes to processing sequential (serial) tasks. This frees up the GPUs to attack and complete parallel tasks significantly faster.

Here are some early benchmark results, using the popular molecular dynamics applications NAMD and LAMMPS:

Some highlights:

  • Both NAMD and LAMMPS scale almost linearly from 1 GPU to 3 GPUs in the server.
  • Adding just one GPU to the server leads to an almost 2x speedup across all the benchmarks.
  • 3 GPUs provide speedups of at least 5x compared with using 2 CPUs alone for all the benchmarks. Three Tesla M2090s GPUs accelerated the Gay-Berne (GB) method in LAMMPS by nearly 21 times over CPUs.

This is the configuration of the HP SL250 ProLiant server we tested:

  • Dual socket Intel Sandy Bridge (2.2 Ghz) CPUs (total 16 CPU cores)
  • Two Tesla M2090 GPUs
  • 66 GB DDR3 ECC
  • Redhat Enterprise Linux 6.1
  • NVIDIA driver version 295.20

If you have a Sandy Bridge server with Tesla GPUs, I encourage you to run benchmarks on your own.

Here is the data used to create the chart above:

Running your own benchmarks on your own Sandy Bridge + Tesla GPU system? Leave a comment below with your performance results.

New Tegra 3 Apps Show Benefit of 4-PLUS-1 CPU

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 10:44 AM PST

tegra-3-chip-shot

Despite the hustle and bustle of new devices and technology at last week’s Mobile World Congress 2012, NVIDIA's lineup of Tegra 3-optimized Android apps has been turning heads.

Mobile app developers are beginning to realize just how far they can take mobile applications when utilizing NVIDIA Tegra 3 – the world's only 4-PLUS-1 quad-core mobile processor with the extra battery saver core that allows it to use less power than dual-core processors.

Your Operating System, web browser, games and apps all make use of Tegra 3's four performance cores to enable a fluid, faster experience.

Here's a quick look at just a few of the top Tegra 3 apps:

  • Splashtop THD from Splashtop Inc. – allows you to seamlessly stream content from your desktop onto your Tegra 3 tablet. Whether you're playing the latest FPS shooters or streaming high-res movies from your desktop to your Tegra 3 tablet, Splashtop's remote desktop has got you covered wherever you go. Available now on Google Play.
  • Photaf THD Panorama Pro from Oren Bengigi – a new photo-stitching app that allows you to combine a sequence of photos to create a panoramic view of any scenery. This app accelerates image stitching time by using all four Tegra 3 processing cores. That means more time to create cool photos and less time waiting around. Available now on Google Play.
  • Snapseed from Nik Software – one of the easiest, most intuitive photo editors available for your Tegra 3 device. Take a picture, customize it to your liking and immediately send to friends and family. With Snapseed, you never knew your photos could look so professional, so quick and easy with your Tegra 3 mobile device. Coming to Google Play this summer.
  • PowerDirector Mobile from CyberLink– this app was once a powerful desktop-based video editing tool. Thanks to the Tegra 3's high-performance and battery-friendly 4-PLUS-1 architecture, PowerDirector Mobile will give you the power to manipulate and edit videos on your mobile device. Coming to Google Play this fall.


Check out what Tegra game developers have to say about Tegra 3 gaming here.

And these aren't the only apps. Are you a developer that has a great app to highlight? Come over to our Tegra Developer Zone and tell us about your next great app idea.

Stay plugged in to NVIDIA's latest news by following us on Twitter (@NVIDIA), this blog and our Facebook page.
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