If you’ve been thinking about getting a new supercomputer but have been waiting for a good price, now might be a good time to make your offer. The US government, through GSA Auctions, is currently auctioning Cheyenne Supercomputer to the highest bidder with three days remaining. While we haven’t tested this one ourselves, we’re guessing its 145,152 CPU cores will easily beat the performance of our current top laptop pick. You also won’t need to upgrade the memory anytime soon, as there’s a whopping 313,344GB of RAM currently installed, and the storage capacity tops out at around 36 petabytes. No need to delete files to make room for new games or other media downloads.
GSA Trades
Grab one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers for well below list price during the US government auction.
The deal was spotted by Ars Technica, which also state that fiber and CAT5/6 cabling are not included in the sale. Although the price the government paid for the supercomputer has not been disclosed, it is safe to assume that the cost is in the millions, considering the prices of something else supercomputers. At the time of writing, bidding has reached $28,085, although the reserve has not yet been met. There are still three days left and no deposit is required to bid at this time.
The reason for such a steep discount (besides the fact that the Cheyenne is decommissioned) may be faulty fast breaks causing water splashes and the fact that approximately one percent of the nodes “suffered failure” and “will remain unrepaired”. Another caveat to note before you start making room in your arena-sized, air-conditioned garage is that shipping isn’t included. As GSA Auctions notes on the details page, “moving this system requires the engagement of a professional moving company” and that “buyer assumes responsibility for moving racks from facility onto trucks.”
But where else will you find such great savings on a machine that can work 5.34 quadrillion calculations per second? Cheyenne is also surprisingly power efficient, consuming 25 percent less power per calculation than its predecessor, Yellowstone. The massive supercomputer helped researchers understand the rapid intensification of hurricanes, how wildfires affect air quality, and simulated years of climate functions to predict outcomes decades into the future. It should definitely provide you with enough processing power for extreme multitasking at work while handling even the most demanding games after hours.
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