Rackable Systems Chosen to Power ATI/AMD Cyber X Games

Rackable Systems today announced its participation in the ATI/AMD Cyber X Games: Windows XP Championships, the world's largest live computer gaming competition. Rackable Systems is providing the most powerful server cluster ever created for a tournament of this kind, configured with dual AMD 246 Opteron(TM) processors and running Super Computer International, Inc.'s (SCI) Andromeda(TM) gaming software. Top video and computer gamers from around the world will compete for more than $600,000 in cash and prizes at this year's four-day tournament, testing their skills on six of the world's most popular online games. "The Rackable Systems cluster of servers brings high-performance computing power to the online tournament, enabling us to support the anticipated high network traffic as top gamers compete worldwide for the largest prize to date," said Joe Hill, CEO, Cyber X Games. "Rackable Systems and SCI are ensuring the optimal virtual gaming experience is faster, less costly and more reliable." In addition to powering the 2004 ATI/AMD Cyber X Games, Rackable Systems is deploying a 76 node Opteron-based cluster at SCI's data center in conjunction with AMD, featuring Rackable Systems' new Distributed DC Power technology. The servers will be used to power back-end services for five of the top game publishers in the world. Rackable Systems servers, featuring Distributed DC Power technology, meet the needs of today's complex game hosting environments by utilizing a DC power supply that generates 20 to 40 percent less heat than competitors' servers using traditional AC power, enabling SCI and other online game hosts to utilize faster, and consequently, hotter processors at the highest density levels. Rackable Systems servers provide immediate improvements in reliability, availability, power efficiency and ease of installation. "SCI's selection of Rackable Systems servers validates the need for a reliable data center that can take full advantage of today's faster microprocessing speeds," said Tom Barton, president and CEO, Rackable Systems. "Our collaboration with SCI will benefit the gaming industry by speeding market adoption of high density server clusters to power online games, delivering better performance and end-user experience."