Scientific Computing

Scientific Computing

Workstations In science, there is a great diversity of software programs; a standard Scientific Computing Workstation does not exist. Ikbenstil Computers creates a suitable custom solution based on the specific software maker’s recommendation, the available high-end hardware and the many years of experience of our engineers.

Scientific Computing hardware:

Processor (CPU): Intel with the Xeon and AMD with the Threadripper Pro and EPYC lines are the applied processors in the Scientific Computing Workstations. The clock speeds and the large number of cores, Intel up to 64 cores and AMD up to 128 cores, up to 12-channel memory, up to 3TB DDR5 ECC Registered memory, the large number of PCIe lanes, AVX512 instruction set, the bus speeds and many more features make the professional systems the most powerful processors, and are therefore often preferable to the regular Core and Ryzen types. Which CPU is the best choice for your application depends on the software maker; our specialists can advise you on this.

The graphics card (GPU) The graphics card can be an important component in Scientific Computing Workstations; here too it applies that this is specific to the software being used. Commonly used GPUs are the professional graphics cards from Nvidia, because of the Nvidia open-source Rapids software widely used in science. These Pro cards come in sizes from small to large, NVidia RTX 2000 Ada to the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 96GB Blackwell Max-Q Workstation Edition. Due to the compact form factor of the large cards, it is possible to position them directly next to each other, allowing up to four GPUs to be used per workstation for AI/ML applications, for example. This is much more difficult with the regular RTX 5080 or 5090 because the format of these cards does not allow it and it therefore remains limited to a maximum of two GPUs. AMD also makes professional GPUs with the Radeon PRO and FirePro, which is supported by the AMD ROCm software stack. This software is suitable for AI, Large Language Models, image recognition science, etc. This software is promising, but not yet widespread in science. Also, the fastest AMD Pro GPUs are not as fast as those from Nvidia. We are closely following AMD and expect that much will happen here in the near future in the scientific field.

Memory (RAM) The application of these Xeon and AMD Threadripper PRO and EPYC processors has a great advantage in the memory area; a very large amount of memory can be placed on some mainboards up to 3TB; configurations with 256GB and 512GB are common. For Intel, the memory bus is a maximum of 8 channels and AMD EPYC a 12-channel memory bus. Stable working memory can also be used (Registered, RDIMM) and with the ECC function, which acts as memory error correction; the modules are often indicated as ECC Registered. These modules are produced up to a maximum of 256GB DDR5 each.

Storage For the operating system and programs, we choose a fast primary SSD. These come in different types, sizes and interfaces. For Scientific Computing Workstations, it is decisive which application is required, and the associated hardware platform may have specific overviews of which SSDs, brand and type, are supported. Of course, storage for content is also needed, this can be on an SSD or optionally large volume HDDs, file server or a NAS.

Custom build Ikbenstil Computers has made workstations that align with standard workflows and the associated software. If your choice is not included here, you can contact one of our specialists, who can offer you a custom solution.