Photos: Supercomputers at SC05

Silicon Graphics plans to show its new Altix 4000 system, which can accommodate as many as 512 Itanium 2 processors, at the SC05 show, which kicks off Nov. 14 in Seattle.

Silicon Graphics plans to begin selling the Altix 4000 system in the first quarter of 2006.

The Blue Gene/L supercomputer, located in Livermore, Calif., heads the Top 500 list of supercomputers formally released at SC05 on Monday. Last month, the machine broke its own record as the fastest in the world.

Linux Networx plans to announce its LS-1 technical computing cluster at SC2005. One rack can accommodate as many as 40 dual-processor machines.

The new high-end LS-X technical computing cluster from Linux Networx is set to go on display at SC2005. One rack can accommodate as many as 24 four-processor machines connected by a high-speed network. The gray ductwork on the sides channel cool air through the machine.

The new model uses IBM's Power5+ processor, with either eight processor cores running at 2.2GHz or 16 cores running at 1.9GHz. The new systems use a faster memory subsystem and copper cooling fins, compared to current aluminum-fin modles.