Sciences
Today the “Vienna Science Group 5” will be presented at the Vienna University of Technology. The new VSC-5 is one of the 500 fastest computers worldwide. The device achieves 2.31 petaflops, one petaflop means quadrillion calculations per second.
The new computer, which cost about ten million euros, came in 301st place in the world rankings. The function of supercomputers is scientific computation. The predecessor of the new computer is the VSC-4, which was released in 2019. The costs of this amounted to eight million euros.
Better practical application
At the end of 2019, “Vienna Scientific Group 4” (VSC-4) began operations. Its computing power was 2.7 petaflops and reached 218th place in the ranking. As expected, the new VSC-5 was not able to exceed the measured computing power of the VSC-4. But TU’s Herbert Storey said it didn’t matter. Most importantly, the new computer is much more powerful than its predecessor in practical use.
late finish
The device was supposed to be ready last fall, but that plan was delayed due to supply chain issues. Specifically, one particular chip was missing. Likewise, the wood panels needed for the computer room were not available.
The new VSC-5 is a joint project of six universities. In addition to the three Vienna universities – the University of Vienna, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences and the Technical University – the universities of Graz, Innsbruck and Linz are part of the project. It was funded by the Ministry of Education through a performance agreement with universities.
