Supercomputers/Systems/Isambard-AI
United Kingdom · operational · ai training
Isambard-AI
Operated by University of Bristol at National Composites Centre, Bristol .
Phase 1 seed dataset, compiled by hand. These rows were built from public operator, laboratory and vendor sources. A mechanical second-reader pass has since fetched every cited source: 32 of 52 systems have a readable citation that names them, and 4 are genuinely weakly sourced. Every claim carries its source and a confidence tier. Treat anything below verified as a lead, not a citation.
Measured performance
- Rmax
- -
- Rpeak
- -
- Rmax ÷ Rpeak
- -
- Cores
- -
- Power
- -
- Per watt
- - GF/W
Figures are as last publicly reported for the configuration described below, not a live measurement. Where a system was upgraded in place, the post-upgrade configuration is shown and the earlier one appears in the timeline.
What this machine is made of
One row per supplier relationship. “Supplier at build” is the company that shipped the part at the time; where that company has since been acquired, the parent it rolls up to today is shown beside it. That distinction is what makes ticker-level aggregation possible across a thirty-year dataset.
| Role | Part | Supplier at build | Quantity | Confidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Integrator | - HPE Cray EX4000 | Hewlett Packard Enterprise | - | Reported | docs.isambard.ac.ukhpe.com |
| Accelerator | NVIDIA GH200 Grace Hopper Superchip Accelerators NVIDIA GH200 Superchip | NVIDIA | - | Reported | docs.isambard.ac.ukhpe.com |
| CPU | NVIDIA Grace CPUs NVIDIA GH200 Superchip | NVIDIA | - | Reported | docs.isambard.ac.ukhpe.com |
| Interconnect | HPE Slingshot-11 Interconnect Slingshot-11 | Hewlett Packard Enterprise | - | Reported | docs.isambard.ac.ukhpe.com |
| Cooling | Direct liquid cooling, warm water Cooling HPE Cray EX cabinet: 100% direct liquid cooled | Hewlett Packard Enterprise | - | Reported | docs.isambard.ac.ukhpe.com |
| Operating system | HPE Cray Operating System Operating systems HPE Cray Operating System | Hewlett Packard Enterprise | - | Reported | docs.isambard.ac.ukhpe.com |
The read
The UK's national AI research resource, built on HPE Cray EX4000 with NVIDIA Grace Hopper, and notable for how fast it was delivered relative to the national-laboratory procurements elsewhere in this dataset. No performance figure is recorded here pending verification.
Site & facility
National Composites Centre, Bristol
- Location
- Bristol, United Kingdom
- Cooling
- Direct liquid cooling
- Commissioned
- 2024
Source check
We fetched this system's own citations and recorded whether each page actually mentions it. This is a corroboration signal, not a fact check, and it is published so you can see how well the sourcing holds up rather than take it on trust.
| Cited source | Result | Found on the page |
|---|---|---|
| docs.isambard.ac.uk | names system only | - |
| hpe.com | does not name this system | Direct liquid cooling, warm water, HPE Cray Operating System |
Checked 2026-09-08 by pnpm verify. Re-run it and the table changes with the web.
Further reading
Inside a node
Why accelerators exist, what the memory hierarchy costs, and how the CPU and accelerator merged onto one package.
Power and cooling
Why air ran out at 20 kW a rack, how warm-water cooling removes the chillers, and what PUE conceals.
Operating a supercomputer
Acceptance testing, why "installed" and "in production" are six months apart, and the machine lifecycle.