GOVERNMENT

Cray today said that, based on customer demand and as part of its previously announced long-term agreement with AMD, the company will support the new standard and low-power AMD Opteron processors. Cray will offer AMD Opteron processor Models 1220 (2.8 GHz, 103 watts) and 1218 HE (2.6 GHz, 68 watts) in future versions of the company's Cray XT4 supercomputer series. "The increased performance-per-watt of the new low-power processors helps reduce total cost of ownership while preserving the other proven advantages of AMD Opteron processors," said Cray Chief Technology Officer Steve Scott. "The AMD Opteron processor with Direct Connect Architecture, in combination with the Cray XT(TM) series' purpose-built HPC interconnect, supports unrivaled reliability, scalability and performance in large systems." The Cray XT4 supercomputer utilizes socket AM2, which supports AMD Opteron processor Model 1220 as well as the new 1218 HE. System upgrades to native Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors are expected to be available later this year.