Cadence Design Systems, the company known for its software used by AMD and Nvidia to design CPUs and GPUs, has entered the supercomputer market with the introduction of its own supercomputer, the M1. In a move reminiscent of Apple’s strategy of aligning hardware and software, Cadence aims to bring hardware and software closer together with its new Millennium Enterprise Multiphysics Platform.
The M1 supercomputer is specifically designed for running large-scale and high-speed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. Cadence’s M1 software, a GPU-resident version of the large eddy CFD simulator from its Fidelity CFD suite, is part of the Millennium platform. The company claims that this combination will significantly enhance the accuracy, speed, and scale of CFD simulations across various industries, including aerospace, defense, automotive, electronics, and industrial design.
What sets Cadence’s supercomputer apart is its unique design, featuring CPU hosts with GPU accelerators and high-speed interconnects, similar to other AI and high-performance computing (HPC) supercomputers. While Cadence has not disclosed the specific compute engines or interconnects it has chosen, industry speculation suggests that Intel Xeon SP and AMD Epyc server processors will be used for hosts, while Nvidia A100 and H100, as well as AMD Instinct MI250X and MI300X accelerators, will serve as the main compute power in the Millennium system.
The key differentiator of Cadence’s supercomputer is that the solvers at the heart of the Fidelity M1 large eddy simulator are resident in the GPUs themselves. This means that the M1 code runs natively on the GPUs, providing a seamless and efficient computing experience. According to Alex Gatzemeier, product management director for CFD at Cadence, GPU computing in CFD is still relatively new, with many customers and industry players heavily relying on CPU-based HPC systems. However, Cadence’s Millennium offers a turnkey solution that eliminates overhead and provides effortless scalability in both cloud and on-premises environments.
While the pricing details for Cadence’s M1 supercomputer have not been disclosed, interested parties can find more information about the product on Cadence’s website. With this foray into the supercomputer market, Cadence seeks to offer a comprehensive solution that combines its industry-leading software capabilities with cutting-edge hardware, enabling users to achieve breakthroughs in computational fluid dynamics simulations.
