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SuperMicro is showing its new hybrid SuperServer systems at the International Supercomputing Conference in Hamburg, Germany this week.  The Register managed to get some details on the SuperServer 6016GT-TF-TM2, the previously announced half-Tesla/Xeon system that offers 2TeraFlops in a 1U rack.

The motherboard used in this machine is a modified version of the normal Twin board using Intel’s “Nehalem EP” processors and “Tylersburg” chipset since that regular Twin mobo only has one x16 slot for graphics cards or GPU accelerators like the Tesla M1060. When you are a motherboard maker with server aspirations, as Super Micro is, you can crank out a new motherboard pretty much at the snap of the fingers to suit your needs. This particular mobo supports 96 GB of DDR3 main memory and has room for three 3.5-inch disks, an integrated Matrox G200eW graphics card, and two Gigabit Ethernet ports.

The Register also brings up some interesting information such as the fact that two of these new hybrid 1U superservers are almost identical to a combination of their standard 2U Server box and a 2U Tesla.  You can get the full lineup of SuperMicro’s GPU-enabled systems here.

via Super Micro stuffs super node into pizza box • The Register.

Hardware nvidia, rack, server, supermicro

A developer for TapTapTap benchmarked some OpenGL code on the new iPhone 3GS and compared the results to the older iPod Touch 2G with impressive results.  You may wonder why he didn’t compare it against a regular iPhone 3G or original iPhone, but it’s been previously proven that the iPod Touch has a faster processor than the iPhone.

Anyway, his test used a simple OpenGL|ES v1.1 application, so it wasn’t using the new OpenGL|ES 2 features, but the results still showed the 3GS was approximately twice as fast.  Then, to compare the impact of the faster processor alone, he ran the standard Scimark2 benchmark suite.

I ran the test on the Touch and the 3gs with both small and large (cache-blowing) datasets to see how they compared. Here are the results:

iPhone 3Gs:    6.42 Mflops (small dataset)  5.86 Mflops (large dataset)

2g Touch:      5.21 Mflops (small dataset)  4.86 Mflops (large dataset)

In these tests the 3G S comes out about 20% faster than the 2g Touch. Given that the clock speed of the 3G S is only about 12% faster, there is definitely some extra oomph coming from the upgraded processor architecture, but I think it’s pretty clear that the PowerVR SGX’s contribution to our performance increase is substantial.

via Black Pixel » Early iPhone 3G S OpenGL Test Results.

Hardware apple, benchmark, iphone, opengl

Yes, it’s a mysterious title for a mysterious event.  GridIron Software, makers of several plugins for Adobe CS4 products, is having a special web event next Monday, June 29th 12pm EST.  Space is limited and registration required, hit their website to register.

GridIron Software.

Graphics adobe, gridiron, plugin, software

Found this neat chart of the DUSEL, Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory, at Homestake showing the 8000-feet below sea level construction they are proposing.  Divided into three sections, the Shallow Labs, Mid-level labs, and Deep Campus labs, they aim to conduct experiments at the lowest levels that are highly susceptible to cosmic radiation.  8000 feet of dirt should provide enough insulation.

It’s a pretty and effective infographic showing the proposed construction, which they hope to complete in 2016.

Homestake DUSEL via io9.

Science infographic, map, research, Science

A new video takes a look at George Lucas’s seminal SciFi Masterpiece “THX-1138″ and analyzes how he was able to achieve such suspense and intrigue without any CG effects and a substantially smaller budget that most modern movies.  It emphasizes the need for a return to classic filmmaking strategies without all the pizzazz and flash of modern CG and VFX work.

Not to say that VFX and CG isn’t fun to look at, I like an explosion just like any other guy, but the video’s creator has a point that THX-1138 and American Graffiti had a far better story and use of film than any of the new Star Wars Prequels.

LOW-BUDGET EYE CANDY Movies Video on IMEEM Video.

Graphics editorial, movie, vfx

Lenovo has just recently released their new ThinkPad T400s, breaking their previous record for a slim-laptop.  The T400s is a mere 0.83 inches thick and weights just 3.9lbs, putting it between the aluminum unibody MacBook and MacBook Air.  All this is nice and good, but in a recent interview with ComputerWorld, David Critchley drops this little bombshell:

Lenovo is also thinking about adding a multitouch screen to future ThinkPads and it will consider releasing a slim model of its T500 with 15-in. OLED screen “if demand is there ” Carias said.

More important than demand is price, I suspect.  OLED isn’t cheap, but the contract and resolution alone would have people clamoring for it.

via Lenovo slims down new ThinkPad T400s.

Hardware laptop, lenovo, oled

ArtVPS’s Shaderlight rendering plugin for 3ds Max has a respectible 800 downloads after its first two weeks of availability.  Still in pre-release, the goal was to make the product available to users for additional critique and reviews.  Shaderlight allows users to change key elements of full-resolution rendered images at any stage of the rendering pipeline, without having to repeat the entire render.  Not only can you adjust the camera angles and object locations, but you can adjust materials and lighting effects as well.

It’s still available as a Free Download from their website.  See the full press release of the accomplishment after the break.

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Graphics 3dsmax, artvps, plugin, shaderlight

At the upcoming 17th Industrial Virtual Reality Expo at Tokyo Big-Sight (June 24-26), ELSA will be demonstrating a new External PCI-Express Remote 3D Graphic Solution.  The demo uses the ELSA Vridge X100 Quad 8 PCI-Express extension system powered by Lucid’s Hydra 100 to enable high-quality 3D graphics and HD video to be streamed remotely through an IP network using Teradici’s PC-over-IP technology.  In a single Vridge system you can install two NVidia Quadro fX5800′s and 2 ELSA VIXEL H200 remote host cards.  Ironically, the demo will be in the SGI Japan Booth (23-14).

The goal is to create super-powered workstations that can be centrally located in  single datacenter, with displays remotely provided over LAN or high-latency WAN links to users.

Read the full press release after the break.

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Hardware conference, elsa, lucidlogic, nvidia, pcoip, remotedisplay, teradici

While not really Visualization based, I can’t resist covering anything that has to do with CUDA, and NVidia has partnered with PGI to bring the dreams of hundreds of supercomputing programmers to reality.  PGI owns the popular Portland Group compilers and will be releasing, with help from NVidia, a new Fortran CUDA compiler soon.  Many HPC codes use fortran already and Fortran has a nice vector operator syntax that fits nicely with CUDA’s usage mechanics.

The new CUDA-enabled Fortran compilers are expected to be available November 2009. See the full press release after the break.

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Science cuda, gpgpu, hpc, nvidia, pgi, simulation

InformationAesthetics brings us news of a Real-Time 3D Airtraffic Network Simulation.  A 14-meter, 180-degree field-of view presents the real-time status of 16,000 Lufthansa and Star Alliance flights with an interactive 6-DOF interface and spatial sounds.

The navigation interface provides 6 degrees of freedom, while time and content filters can be activated with buttons and sliders. The user can swiftly move from a macro view of a local hub to a global overview of the worldwide air traffic routes. All flight patterns are linked to spatial sounds that follow the visual representations through virtual space.

Very impressive indeed.  See video of the installation after the break.

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Science flights, realtime, simulation