Ye Macce Threade

[ironbut]

Not that it's directly applicable but it's funny that this was announced on 6/22,..

Sorry Dan.

Japan Captures Top500 Crown

FRANKFURT, Germany; BERKELEY, Calif.; and KNOXVILLE, Tenn.—The 55th edition of the TOP500 saw some significant additions to the list, spearheaded by a new number one system from Japan. The latest rankings also reflect a steady growth in aggregate performance and power efficiency.

The new top system, Fugaku, turned in a High Performance Linpack (HPL) result of 415.5 petaflops, besting the now second-place Summit system by a factor of 2.8x.  Fugaku, is powered by Fujitsu’s 48-core A64FX SoC, becoming the first number one system on the list to be powered by ARM processors. In single or further reduced precision, which are often used in machine learning and AI applications, Fugaku’s peak performance is over 1,000 petaflops (1 exaflops). The new system is installed at RIKEN Center for Computational Science (R-CCS) in Kobe, Japan.

Number two on the list is Summit, an IBM-built supercomputer that delivers 148.8 petaflops on HPL. The system has 4,356 nodes, each equipped with two 22-core Power9 CPUs, and six NVIDIA Tesla V100 GPUs. The nodes are connected with a Mellanox dual-rail EDR InfiniBand network. Summit is running at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee and remains the fastest supercomputer in the US.

 

https://www.top500.org/news/japan-captures-top500-crown-arm-powered-supercomputer/

[Dusty Chalk]

Hey, if they help find a vaccine, I don’t care who has the crown.

[grawk]

1 hour ago, ironbut said:

Not that it's directly applicable but it's funny that this was announced on 6/22,..

Sorry Dan.

Japan Captures Top500 Crown

FRANKFURT, Germany; BERKELEY, Calif.; and KNOXVILLE, Tenn.—The 55th edition of the TOP500 saw some significant additions to the list, spearheaded by a new number one system from Japan. The latest rankings also reflect a steady growth in aggregate performance and power efficiency.

The new top system, Fugaku, turned in a High Performance Linpack (HPL) result of 415.5 petaflops, besting the now second-place Summit system by a factor of 2.8x.  Fugaku, is powered by Fujitsu’s 48-core A64FX SoC, becoming the first number one system on the list to be powered by ARM processors. In single or further reduced precision, which are often used in machine learning and AI applications, Fugaku’s peak performance is over 1,000 petaflops (1 exaflops). The new system is installed at RIKEN Center for Computational Science (R-CCS) in Kobe, Japan.

Number two on the list is Summit, an IBM-built supercomputer that delivers 148.8 petaflops on HPL. The system has 4,356 nodes, each equipped with two 22-core Power9 CPUs, and six NVIDIA Tesla V100 GPUs. The nodes are connected with a Mellanox dual-rail EDR InfiniBand network. Summit is running at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee and remains the fastest supercomputer in the US.

 

https://www.top500.org/news/japan-captures-top500-crown-arm-powered-supercomputer/

That ARM system is a beast, and it’s good someone other than Cray or IBM is at the top, honestly.  Keeps them on their toes.  I’m hopeful that I can continue to be employed working on summit for a few more years at least, and maybe stick around long enough for whatever the next wave of HPC will be.

[ironbut]

Hey,..

It's not like Summit has slipped to the bottom of the charts!

You're still working on the peak of the Mt. Geekdom as far as I'm concerned.

All hail Grawk!

[grawk]

we actually got a longer run than most.  It was pretty cool.  And I really dig the ARM system.  They're doing cool shit.

 

[ironbut]

Here's a couple of great Terminal commands.

Never used renice, but Caffeinate is fantastic for long recording sessions. 

https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/production-expert-1/2020/6/24/macos-terminal-tricks-for-audio-professionals?mc_cid=8931027566&mc_eid=127e3a2a73

Edited July 9, 2020 by ironbut

[Dusty Chalk]

Too fucking hip.

 

[HiWire]

Apple just announced the new 27-inch iMac: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/08/apples-27-inch-imac-gets-comet-lake-t2-chip-a-better-camera-and-more/

The middle configuration looks like the best value (the 256GB SSD in the base config seems too little for a boot drive). The nano-texture (matte) glass display seems too expensive for what it is. The upgraded 1080p FaceTime camera and 3-microphone array are a small bonus.

Edited August 4, 2020 by HiWire

[Torpedo]

Great! The 27" is already available at Apple Online shop. The glass is very expensive, I think it's better getting larger SSD and the 2nd tier GPU. Any idea if RAM will be user upgradeable? I couldn't read the news in the link you provided, some disagreement with their cookies policy.

[HiWire]

Apple's Technical Specifications page says that the four SO-DIMM slots are user accessible.

MacWorld: https://www.macworld.com/article/3199629/imacs-release-features-specs-pricing-faq.html

MacRumors coverage: https://www.macrumors.com/2020/08/04/new-27-inch-imac-10th-gen-intel/

😀

Edited August 4, 2020 by HiWire

[Torpedo]

I'll give them some time to sort out any first units shortcomings that tend to happen when new models come out, and probably will get a new one after the summer holidays. If they let me enjoying them.

[HiWire]

Good idea. Benchmark tests, etc. should be available soon, as there haven't been too many other new Macs released lately.

The super-annoying thing: in North America, at least, you can only choose the higher GPUs with the top system: Radeon Pro 5500 XT, 5700, and 5700 XT. The two lower configurations get the Radeon Pro 5300 with 4GB GDDR6.

Edited August 4, 2020 by HiWire

[Torpedo]

I lost track on GPUs when I quit PC gaming like 18 years ago. Is the difference between 5300 and the 5700 that relevant? Would the standard 5500 in the i7 machine be enough for someone not editing videos nor playing video games? I would apply the savings on upgrading the RAM to 32. 1TB of SSD is more than enough for me, most of my stuff is on external big drives.

[HiWire]

It really depends on how hard you'll need to push graphics... even the 5300 is probably a big improvement from the GPUs in the previous iMac.

The 5500 XT should be decent, but we'll have to wait until the performance tests are published.

Edited August 4, 2020 by HiWire

[Torpedo]

4 minutes ago, HiWire said:

It really depends on how hard you'll need to push graphics... even the 5300 is probably a big improvement from the GPUs in the previous iMac.

The 5500 XT should be decent, but we'll have to wait until the performance tests are published.

I get it, it's probably not the same the GPU raw performance than the GPU on a certain hardware configuration. TBH I have no idea for how long have those Radeon models been out. I should do some homework  

[HiWire]

The basic architecture (Navi) has been around since last July: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radeon_RX_5000_series#Desktop

Lots of reviews of the PC GPU cards since then. Apple has a custom clock and cooling solution, but the PC gaming benchmarks out there should give you a reasonable comparison, especially if you plan to run the iMac with Windows 10 in Boot Camp.

PC Gamer on the 5500 XT: https://www.pcgamer.com/amd-radeon-rx-5500-xt-8gb-review/

Edited August 4, 2020 by HiWire

[ironbut]

Great that the release came sooner than expected.

The added 10 core is a welcome addition. Since my iMac doesn't have the T2 chip, I should be able to upgrade my 8 core to it if the improvement is significant (not that I really need it but,..).

I'm sure that the audio OCD crowd will have benchmarks on Logic Pro X soon enough.

I am surprised that the bezel-less display and the iMac chin is still around but it doesn't bug me at all (I thought it might).

The price on the ram has been dropping steadily for the past year. 

Be aware that the T2 chip will only allow Apple to exchange the main storage. So it's worth getting an ssd on size larger than you can get away with (I don't know where any work would be done to your machine in Spain but mine would probably have to be shipped out of state for any factory work).

No matter how you configure a new iMac Antonio, you will be in heaven considering your 2011(?) MBP.

Enjoy!

[Torpedo]

Mid 2010 and going strong hahaha. Thanks for the input guys. That's how I see it, just the much larger screen and the faster USB (this MBP is still USB 2) will be very noticeable to me. What pisses me most of Apple is their RAM prices policy and the low amount that get their basic offers. 8GB is too low and they'll give me a chip that won't be of use if I plan to upgrade to 64 in the future.

[ironbut]

I'm not sure how the pricing comes out for you but,

OWC memory that I have comes in 32G sticks. I bought 2 a year ago (for almost twice what it is today).

Each stick is $159 us. 

If I go crazy, I could expand mine to 128G for about $320us.

They also buy Apple memory if you you buy some of theirs.

You DO have to remember to send it!!!! (my 8G stick is in a drawer somewhere because,.. well, I done forgot!).

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/2666DR4S128S/

[Torpedo]

Thanks, that seems a good price, better than I can find over here. At Amazon.es they have 32GB modules starting at 152€, however I wouldn't have any shipping nor customs or other fees. Is this good? Can this iMac work with just a single RAM module or must they be arranged in same memory size pairs?

[ironbut]

Just checked and they do still recommend installing ram in equal sized pairs (optimized).

Still, the Corsair Vengeance 16Gx2 should be fine.

 

Just be sure it's compatible with your machine.

Edited August 4, 2020 by ironbut

[Hopstretch]

I'm on a late-2014 iMac and seriously tempted to get this last Intel version to tide me over for a few years until Apple Silicon matures. 

[TMoney]

I'm sure it would be a fine computer but I would advise anyone who asks for advice to wait to buy a mac this year until they start showing the ARM stuff. They've told people they are switching the entire lineup, so why buy something that won't get the A-Grade Dev Team supporting it in a few years?

Edited August 5, 2020 by TMoney

[Hopstretch]

I just don't think Apple/ARM are going to have anything in the class of a 10-core i9 Intel chip for a while yet. Which is why they are doing this last iMac in the old form factor as a 2 - 3  year stopgap, in my uninformed opinion. I wouldn't buy an Intel laptop now, because that is where the focus will be, but think desktop performance with the new silicon is still a way off?

Edited August 5, 2020 by Hopstretch

[ironbut]

I forgot to mention that it seems like Apple's price to upgrade SSD size on the new iMac are much more reasonable than it was when I bought mine a year ago.

Not that it's as cheap as buying it and installing it yourself, but like I said, that has to be done by Apple so $600 for an upgrade from 512 to 2T seems pretty reasonable to me.

Edited August 5, 2020 by ironbut