Chinese supercomputer takes No. 1 spot in global ranking
LineShine in Shenzhen displaced the U.S. system El Capitan in the latest TOP500 ranking, the Associated Press reported.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
2 min read
A supercomputer in China has moved into first place on the global TOP500 ranking, ending a U.S. hold on the top position, the Associated Press reported. The result matters because the list is sometimes treated as a public marker of national computing strength, according to the AP.
The LineShine system in Shenzhen, China, took the No. 1 spot in the latest ranking announced Tuesday by the TOP500 project, according to the AP. It replaced El Capitan, a U.S. system at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, which fell to second place.
The AP reported that this is the first time since 2017 that a Chinese machine has led the ranking. TOP500 said LineShine made its first appearance on the list in this release.
LineShine posts exascale result
Scientists involved with TOP500 said LineShine, housed at China’s National Supercomputing Center, reached 2.198 exaflops. TOP500 described that level as more than 2 quintillion calculations per second.
El Capitan now ranks second, according to the AP. Two other U.S. supercomputers at national laboratories in Tennessee and Illinois are ranked behind it, while Germany’s Jupiter system dropped to fifth place.
TOP500 and the AP reported that those five systems are the only publicly verified exascale computers in the world. Exascale systems are high-performance machines capable of calculation rates at or above the exaflop range.
A different chip approach
TOP500 said LineShine stands apart from other high-performance systems because it runs entirely on conventional computer processors, known as CPUs. The AP reported that many other powerful computers use graphics processors, or GPUs, which are widely used for artificial intelligence workloads.
According to TOP500, LineShine uses about 42.2 megawatts of electricity while operating. The ranking did not describe it as a GPU-based system.
The TOP500 list ranks supercomputers by verified performance results. The latest update puts China back at the top of a closely watched table after several years in which U.S. systems held the leading position, according to the AP.
LineShine’s debut also reshuffles the upper tier of publicly listed exascale machines, with U.S. systems still occupying several of the top positions. TOP500’s figures place the Chinese system ahead of El Capitan on measured performance in the newly released ranking.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.