Supercomputer?

Well you can have a "Super Computer"  for many reasons for example i use my computer for gaming but you could also use it for work reasons

well the best way to go about making a "Super Computer" would be to find components that are compatible together and build your own custom computer but it depends on what your using it for i mean if you need it for work you don't need a "Super Computer" but for gaming I would suggest trying the website www.dabs.com

I think he's thinking of a supercomputer in the traditional terms, which is much different than a high power gaming machine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercomputer

Basically a cluster of computers or cores working in parallel to do large tasks like large calculations, sequencing dna, processing data, etc.  I don't think most people would have a use for a super computer as it is a highly specialized device that is meant for very specific tasks.  You could build one or rent one if you wanted to though

http://mashable.com/2011/12/30/amazon-cloud-supercomputer/

http://www.zdnet.com/build-your-own-supercomputer-out-of-raspberry-pi-boards-7000015831/

Well, for personal use having a super computer I feel would be for bragging rights (I know as I have one). They can be an expensive toy or be used for a purpose. My personal computer (the one I am using now for surfing the Internet) is a 2 processor, with quad core 3.4 xeon's. A huge over kill, but I built it myself for under $400. I am currently building a computer with 3 - hexacore processors (18 cores total). (Notice the bragging)..... For myself it is the challenge as well as I teach my kids how to do this as well. I built a 4 node Raspberry Pi Beowulf cluster, why?, to see if I could. Learned a lot doing so. But when it comes down to it, I don't have much use for anything that powerful (yet) but it is cool when the friends come over and ask how it runs (There again, the bragging starts). The purpose of the super computer is either servers or running heavy graphics with several users (Game design programs, etc.) I just enjoy building them and setting up my friends to have one as well.

Dale W.

Could you explain for me how could you build a 400$ computer with two Intel Xeons Quad Core processors. I could not find any Xeon 3.4 GHz with 4 cores for less than 210 dollars, and this is just the price for the processor, not including the motherboard etc...

And as @colecao said, that is a HUGE different in a "very good personal computer" or even a "high performance server computer" for a "supercomputer".

What you claim to have it would be merely a server computer.

The pi beowolf cluster would be considered one though

nope...

using a shitty Wikipedia definition "A supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of contemporary processing capacity – particularly speed of calculation."

4 rPI are far far far far far far far away from frontline of contemporary processing capacity.

I'm not saying that is not cool (it is cool) but isn't a supercomputer.

Yeah the wikipedia definition isn't great.  I tend to think of supercomputers of clusters of parallel processing power either by linking several separate computers or by building a machine with a large amount of processors (like a computer made of gpus).  Probably not the best definition, but I'd think of the beowolf pi as a really low end implementation of the supercomputer idea.

Would it be possible to make a 'super computer out of multiple old machines (from around 1995-2005). I have a couple lying around. I know this wouldn't be for any practical use, just for fun and learning.

Hi Anthony,

The power of a "super" computer is determined by its application.

There are a number of applications that require a lot of computations to process raw data into useful information.

In most cases, it is the parallel processing capability that makes some computers attractive for distributed or parallel data systems.

I would question most people (hacker/maker) need for such processing, but I am sure that there are exceptions to that statement.

The biggest problem with such large computing capability is the software support to easily exploit them.  Most computer languages are not meant to be used in a multi-processor environment, so it takes a bit of effort to set up both the data and the application software to really have an effect.

I hope this reply is of use.

DAB

In 1997 till 1999 the list of supercomputers where lead by "Intels ASCI Red" which had about 1.3 TFLOPS in 1997 and about 2.4 TFLOPS in 1999.

If you take your 400$ and buy yourself an xbox one you will get about 1.31 TFLOPS or an PS4 you can get 1.84 TFLOPS. So you will become the proud owner of the equivalent computation power of the 1997/1999 supercomputer.

Regards Stefan