Top 10 Supercomputers in the World That You Should Know

In today’s modern world, computers have assumed a pivotal role across virtually all aspects of our daily lives. Their significance spans from facilitating seamless communication and providing entertainment to enabling groundbreaking research endeavors. In tandem with technological advancements, supercomputers have evolved to exhibit unprecedented levels of power and efficiency, thereby unlocking the ability to tackle complex problems that were once deemed insurmountable.

Supercomputers, characterized by their specialized architecture and ability to execute calculations at an extraordinarily accelerated rate compared to standard computers, find applications across a spectrum of domains. Their utility extends to scientific research, precise weather forecasting, and intricate financial analysis, among others. In the following discussion, we will delve into the realm of the 10 top supercomputers globally, each a testament to the pinnacle of computational prowess. The nations who developed these computers are indeed technologically advanced countries in the world.

The Most Powerful and 10 Top Supercomputers

1. Fugaku, Japan: Our journey begins with Fugaku, residing at the RIKEN Center for Computational Science in Kobe, Japan. Fugaku, a creation of Fujitsu, has set a new world record with an astonishing 442 petaflops result on the HPL benchmark, leaving all competitors in the dust. Satoshi Matsuoka, RIKEN’s director, notes that this achievement came from harnessing the full potential of the machine and fine-tuning it to perfection.
2. Summit, U.S.: Our next stop is Summit, situated at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee, USA. Built by IBM, Summit is the fastest supercomputer in the United States, boasting an impressive performance of 148.8 petaflops. It’s powered by 4,356 nodes, each housing two 22-core Power9 CPUs and six NVIDIA Tesla V100 GPUs. Summit recently garnered acclaim by winning the prestigious Gordon Bell Prize for outstanding achievement in high-performance computing.
3. Sierra, U.S.: Sierra, located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California, USA, is our third contender. With an HPL benchmark score of 94.6 petaflops, Sierra shares an architectural resemblance with Summit. Notably, Sierra secures the 15th position on the Green500 List of the world’s most energy-efficient supercomputers.
4. Sunway TaihuLight, China: In Wuxi, China, you’ll find the Sunway TaihuLight, which once held the top spot globally for two consecutive years (2016-2017). Though it now stands at fourth place, its might remains undeniable. Developed by China’s National Research Center of Parallel Computer Engineering & Technology (NRCPC), it achieves 93 petaflops on the HPL benchmark, exclusively powered by Sunway SW26010 processors.
5. Selene, U.S.: Making a remarkable leap from seventh to fifth place in the rankings is Selene, nestled within NVIDIA Corp’s premises in the USA. Selene, an AI supercomputer, achieved 63.4 petaflops on the HPL benchmark after a recent upgrade, nearly doubling its previous score. Its applications span system development, in-house AI workloads, and chip design work.
6. Tianhe-2A, China: Claiming the sixth spot with 61.4 petaflops is Tianhe-2A, also known as MilkyWay-2A. Developed by China’s National University of Defense Technology (NUDT), it resides at the National Supercomputer Center in Guangzhou. Tianhe-2A is equipped with Intel Xeon CPUs and NUDT’s Matrix-2000 DSP accelerators, serving purposes such as simulation, analysis, and government security applications.
7. JUWELS Booster Module, Germany: Germany’s Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ) proudly houses the Atos-built JUWELS Booster Module, Europe’s mightiest supercomputer. Boasting 44.1 HPL petaflops, JUWELS operates on a modular system architecture, harnessing the power of AMD processors and NVIDIA GPUs, mirroring the Selene system’s setup.
8. HPC5, Italy: Eni S.p.A., an Italian company, has installed HPC5 within its Green Data Center in Italy. Among the most powerful and sustainable computing systems globally, HPC5 is a powerhouse for researching new energy sources, delivering a performance of 35.5 petaflops. It relies on Intel Xeon Gold CPUs and NVIDIA Tesla V100 GPUs.
9. Frontera, U.S.: Nestled at the Advanced Computing Center at the University of Texas at Austin, Frontera is a Dell C6420 system featuring Intel components. With a staggering 23.5 petaflops achieved using 448,448 Intel Platinum Xeon cores, Frontera supports research across diverse scientific fields, from quantum mechanics to drug design.
10. Dammam-7, Saudi Arabia: Our final destination, Dammam-7, calls Saudi Aramco in Saudi Arabia its home. This HPE Cray CS-Storm system combines Intel Gold Xeon CPUs and NVIDIA Tesla V100 GPUs to achieve 22.4 petaflops. It proudly stands as the second commercial supercomputer in the top 10 rankings.

These supercomputers are not just machines; they represent the zenith of human innovation, propelling us into a future where the boundaries of computation are constantly pushed. Their contributions to science, industry, and society are immeasurable, and they stand as exemplars of what can be achieved when technology and human ingenuity unite in pursuit of progress.

From Fugaku’s record-breaking speed to Selene’s remarkable ascent, these supercomputers remind us that the sky’s not the limit, but merely a starting point – so, what’s your next big leap?