A scalable PC-based parallel computer for lattice QCD

Abstract

A PC-based parallel computer for medium/large scale lattice QCD simulations is suggested. The Eotvos Univ., Inst. Theor. Phys. cluster consists of 137 Intel P4-1.7GHz nodes. Gigabit Ethernet cards are used for nearest neighbor communication in a two-dimensional mesh. The sustained performance for dynamical staggered(wilson) quarks on large lattices is around 70(110) GFlops. The exceptional price/performance ratio is below $1/Mflop.

Comments: 3 pages, 2 figures, Lattice2002(machines)