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Photos: The world's fastest supercomputers revealed
Bigger, faster, stronger

By Nick Heath

Published: Monday 17 November 2008

The colossi of computing took their places on the supercomputing podium today.

Able to slice through quadrillion tasks every second, the searing performance of US supercomputers once again monopolised a list of the world's processing powerhouses.

The Roadrunner supercomputer at the Los Alamos National Laboratory took the top spot on the biannual TOP500 supercomputer list - a position it's held since June 2008. Roadrunner is able to carry out more than a quadrillion operations per second at 1.105 petaflops.

Not only is it the most powerful supercomputer but Roadrunner, seen here, is also one of the most energy efficient systems on the TOP500.

Roadrunner is based on the IBM QS22 blades, which are built with advanced versions of the processor used in the Sony PlayStation 3.

Photo credit: Courtesy of Los Alamos National Laboratory