Cray Supercomputers to Feature New Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors

SEATTLE, April 02, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global supercomputer leader Cray Inc. (Nasdaq:CRAY) today announced updates to its product line to support Intel® Xeon® Gold 6200 processors and Intel® Xeon® Platinum 8200 processors in both the Cray® CS500™ and XC50™ supercomputers. Designed for the most demanding high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) workloads, new Intel Xeon Scalable processors will offer Cray customers a new powerful and flexible option in customizing their supercomputing systems.

Cray will feature these processors in their systems to enable the market to accelerate the addition of AI methodologies to their existing HPC simulation and modeling capabilities. Technologies in Intel Cascade Lake processors, like Intel® Deep Learning Boost™, will offer customers significant improvements in inference acceleration in a variety of image analysis and feature detection use cases. Cray customers will benefit from XC50 and CS500 systems with large system memory to analyze highly complex images. The use cases that these types of images are typically found include cryo-electron microscopy (Cryo-EM). For Cryo-EM, researchers are taking advantage of new techniques to capture detailed images of the architecture of cells, proteins and viruses for medical research. In Cryo-EM research, performing image inference for feature detection on full fidelity images is a key requirement for successful analysis. This type of analysis is ideally aligned with the capabilities of Cray supercomputers powered by 2nd gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors.

“The market is entering a new era of exascale-class computing where customers will increasingly use a combination of HPC and AI methodologies to aid in their work and research. To power this new era, customers will have an ever-increasing need for the latest in processing capabilities optimized for this convergence,” said Fred Kohout, senior vice president and CMO at Cray. “The added support for the new 2^nd gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors in our XC50 and CS500 supercomputers provides customers with the performance, scalability and flexibility to address their rapidly evolving analytics needs to achieve the fastest time to insight.”

“Our 2nd gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors are designed to deliver leadership performance for the broadest range of workloads – including the convergence of traditional HPC and AI,” said Trish Damkroger, vice president and general manager in Intel’s Datacenter Group. “With Intel technology and innovators like Cray, we will enable scientists to explore and address the world’s biggest computing challenges.”

Cray XC50 systems are optimized for sustained performance, scaling and reliability – essential capabilities in the most demanding supercomputing environments. High-performance communication libraries layered on the Cray-designed Aries network enable the compute nodes to work together efficiently, yielding faster and better simulation and analytics results at scale. The Cray CS500 cluster supercomputers are highly customizable and expressly designed to handle a range of simulation, research, analytics, machine learning, and deep learning problems. They provide flexible node configurations featuring the latest processor and interconnect technologies, giving customers the ability to tailor a system to specific needs. The systems’ liquid-cooled design offers more energy savings and is built to efficiently house highly dense and higher-wattage solutions.

For more information on Cray CS500 cluster supercomputers, XC50 systems and the new, exascale-class Shasta supercomputer, visit www.cray.com.

About Cray Inc.
Cray Inc. (Nasdaq:CRAY) combines computation and creativity so visionaries can keep asking questions that challenge the limits of possibility. Drawing on more than 45 years of experience, Cray develops the world’s most advanced supercomputers, pushing the boundaries of performance, efficiency and scalability. Cray continues to innovate today at the convergence of data and discovery, offering a comprehensive portfolio of supercomputers, high-performance storage, data analytics and artificial intelligence solutions. Go to www.cray.com for more information.

Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, including, but not limited to, statements related to the availability of Cray systems with future processors. These statements involve current expectations, forecasts of future events and other statements that are not historical facts. Inaccurate assumptions and known and unknown risks and uncertainties can affect the accuracy of forward-looking statements and cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements. Factors that could affect actual future events or results include, but are not limited to, the risk that Cray is not able to successfully complete its planned product development efforts in a timely fashion or at all, the risk that the new Intel Xeon Gold 6200 and Intel Xeon Platinum 8200 processors planned for the Cray systems are not available with the performance expected or when expected or are not incorporated into the Cray systems when expected or at all and such other risks as identified in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, and from time to time in other reports filed by Cray with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not rely unduly on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this release. Cray undertakes no duty to publicly announce or report revisions to these statements as new information becomes available that may change the Company’s expectations.

CRAY, XC50, CS500 and Shasta are registered trademarks of Cray Inc. in the United States and other countries. Other product and service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.