China Takes the Lead in Supercomputer Race: LineShine is Unrivaled Globally

A major event has caused a stir in the international technology world: China's new LineShine supercomputer has taken first place in the prestigious Top500 ranking, overtaking the US El Capitan system. This is seen not only as a record in computing power but also as a demonstration of China's technological independence despite Western sanctions. This is reported by Ixbt.com news reports.

Installed at the National Supercomputing Center in Shenzhen, the LineShine system recorded a performance of 2.198 exaflops in the Linpack test. With this figure, it became the first supercomputer in human history to break the 2 exaflops barrier in FP64 computations. Significantly, this result was achieved without any GPU accelerators, using only CPUs.

A Victory for National Technologies

The core of the LineShine system consists of LX2 processors based on the Armv9 architecture developed in China. Each processor has 304 computing cores and operates at a frequency of 1.55 GHz. In total, the system contains approximately 13.8 million cores. According to ixbt.com, the complex is equipped with a high-speed internal network called LingQi and HBM memory with a bandwidth of 4 TB/s for each processor.

Additionally, each computing node is provided with 256 GB of DDR5 RAM. To maintain such immense power, the system consumes 42.2 MW of energy. LineShine has taken the lead not only in the traditional Top500 but also in the HPCG ranking, which is considered more critical for scientific and engineering tasks.

Artificial Intelligence and Scientific Approach

It is worth noting that LineShine lags slightly behind US rivals such as El Capitan, Frontier, and Aurora in tasks related to artificial intelligence (AI). In the HPL-MxP test, the Chinese system showed a result of 7.92 exaflops. The reason lies in the system's architecture — it relies on classic CPU computing rather than specialized AI accelerators like AMD Instinct or Intel Ponte Vecchio.

The manufacturers focused their primary attention on scientific modeling, complex engineering calculations, and high-performance fundamental research. This approach makes the LineShine system the most perfect tool for pure scientific purposes.

The success of the LineShine system proves that China can independently develop its technological base under the export restrictions imposed by the US. According to experts, this achievement will shift the balance of power in the global supercomputer market and spur the creation of even more powerful and energy-efficient systems in the future.