I would argue that the ATLAS HLT group was bloated enough to be incapable to be performance focused, along with all the other computing groups at CERN. Both tec

I would argue that the ATLAS HLT group was bloated enough to be incapable to be performance focused, along with all the other computing groups at CERN. Both technically and organizationally. Not to mention the failed world of the grid: LCG, EGEE and company, which serve as a testament to my previous statement. It has been largely taken over by the AWS/GOOG model (about the same era) in its OpenStack clone incarnation. Obviously there were/are attempts, but with none of the dedication, competence and seriousness as for example the key gaming industry people were of the same era, ie. iD Games (FPS, GPU, etc) or Naughty Dog (GOOL, PS1 register allocation optimization). Actually, most HPC "novelty" GPU-s, CUDA, Open[C|G]L are coming from the gaming industry end, and most of HPC is now assembled from stock COTS (or almost, just top bin) parts, instead of driving industry as it used to be a few decades ago. It resembles to the it purchasing department and operation of a large company, more than ever. It is just plain boring consulting enterprise work, and even that for as cheap as possible.