A computational system for lattice QCD with overlap Dirac quarks

TL;DR

This paper describes the development and optimization of a Linux PC cluster designed specifically for lattice QCD simulations using overlap Dirac quarks, achieving high computational performance and cost efficiency.

Contribution

It introduces a specialized Linux PC cluster optimized for lattice QCD with overlap Dirac quarks, detailing hardware/software configurations and performance metrics.

Findings

System speed estimated at 30 Gflops

Cost/performance ratio better than $1.0/Mflops

Effective for quenched lattice QCD with overlap Dirac quarks

Abstract

We outline the essential features of a Linux PC cluster which is now being developed at National Taiwan University, and discuss how to optimize its hardware and software for lattice QCD with overlap Dirac quarks. At present, the cluster constitutes of 30 nodes, with each node consisting of one Pentium 4 processor (1.6/2.0 GHz), one Gbyte of PC800 RDRAM, one 40/80 Gbyte hard disk, and a network card. The speed of this system is estimated to be 30 Gflops, and its price/performance ratio is better than $1.0/Mflops for 64-bit (double precision) computations in quenched lattice QCD with overlap Dirac quarks.