Home Computer Triumphs Over Supercomputer

Your computer might be more impressive than you think. In a recent test, Russian physicists have discovered that a home computer has what it takes to go against a supercomputer. In fact, it is more effective at certain tasks than a supercomputer. Find out how your machine can outperform a high-level computer in complex calculations.

Home Computer Performance

The test was performed by physicists at the Lomonosov Moscow State University. They wanted to see how well a consumer-level machine holds against a supercomputer. A supercomputer is a computer that has high-level computational capacity. This gives it the ability to perform weather forecasting, code breaking, simulations, and many other complex equations.

Researchers used a Nvidia GPU in order to perform the equations. These equations calculated how multiple quantum particles interact with each other. The researchers used multiple programs, along with the GPU, to calculate a numerous amount of data.

The Nvidia GPU excelled at the task. It even outperformed the supercomputer. Researcher begin to think differently about how they process data.

According to the team leader Vladimir Kukulin, “The program computes 260 million complex double integrals on a desktop computer within three seconds. No comparison with supercomputers! My colleague from the University of Bochum in Germany carried out the calculations using one of the largest supercomputers in Germany with the famous blue gene architecture, which is actually very expensive. And what took his group two or three days we do in 15 minutes without spending a dime.”

This test proves that a home computer is cheaper and more effective. It also changes who has access to this technology. Many groups do not have the resources to use one. Now, they can perform complex task, such as quantum mechanics and nuclear physics, on their own. Now that more people have access, eventually these test will lead to new discoveries.