Microprocessors from Intel Corp. run more of the world's fastest computers than ever, according to a report released Wednesday that tracks progress in the computing industry.
The latest list of the world's 500 most powerful computers, published twice a year by academic researchers, shows that 75 percent of the machines are powered by Intel chips, up from 71 percent in November. Chips from Intel's main rival, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., showed up in 11 percent of the top 500, down from 16 percent on the last list.
The fastest computer on the list is the $100 million "Roadrunner" machine built by IBM Corp. for the Department of Energy's nuclear lab in Los Alamos, N.M. Roadrunner is the first computer in the world to surpass a petaflop — 1,000 trillion calculations per second. It's more than twice as fast as the IBM machine that ranks No. 2 on the list.
IBM made an industry-leading 42 percent of the supercomputers on the list, but its overall count diminished slightly. Hewlett-Packard Co. gained ground, with 37 percent of the fastest machines in the latest report.