Lawrence Livermore National Lab started building a new supercomputer named El Capitan, a 2-exaflop system featuring HPE Cray hardware and the latest generation AMD processors, which can become the most powerful supercomputer when finished in 2024.

The new supercomputer that will reach the speed of over 2 exaflops/sec will be the third computer of this scale in the US.

Some pictures of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory collecting and assembling components for the new computing machine have already been posted on social media.

El Capitan's primary purpose is to support the DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in ensuring the safety, security, and reliability of the nation's nuclear stockpile through predictive modeling and simulations. It will also contribute to secondary missions such as nuclear nonproliferation and counterterrorism.

The new AMD processors, known as APU accelerators, will significantly enhance performance, allowing for faster simulations and higher-resolution 3D models. El Capitan is expected to be at least 10 times faster than the current fastest supercomputer at LLNL, Sierra. Simulations that used to take a week will be completed in a day.

LLNL will also construct a smaller companion supercomputer, about 10% the size of El Capitan, to facilitate unclassified research in various areas of public interest, including energy security, climate change, and drug discovery.

To prepare for El Capitan, LLNL has built three testbed supercomputers that ranked in the top 200 worldwide. These systems helped familiarize administrators with the hardware and ensured the readiness of the system software and applications for the new infrastructure.