Japan's ARM-Based 'Fugaku' System Now the World's Fastest Supercomputer
Fujitsu and the Riken research institute ended up packing 152,064 A64FX chips into what would become the Fugaku system, which is now the world's fastest supercomputer. For the first time, a machine built with ARM chips has achieved the top ranking as the world’s fastest supercomputer. On Tuesday, the Top500 supercomputing organization crowned a new champion: Japan’s “Fugaku” system. Based in Kobe, Japan, the machine is able to achieve 2.8 times the processing power of the previous record holder, the US’ Summit supercomputer. The Fugaku system stands out due to its use of ARM processors, which are typically found in smartphones and known for their low power consumption. Past top-performing supercomputers have generally avoided their use, and instead relied on server chips from Intel, AMD, and IBM. However, the makers of Fugaku—Fujitsu and Japan’s Riken research institute—opted for ARM-based processors at a time when the chip architecture is trying to gain gr...