The University of Iowa Argon HPC system allows users to purchase or rent dedicated compute node capacity for their groups. For questions or to purchase/rent nodes, please contact research-computing@uiowa.edu.

Configurations Available for Purchase

We are currently in the process of updating pricing for our compute hardware. Prices listed on our website are for budgetary purposes only and may not include all available discounts. 

Please contact us for a quote on your configuration to ensure accurate pricing.

Non-GPU Capable Nodes

Specifications

  • 128 Compute Slots
  • Intel Xeon 6430 @2.1ghz (Turbo up to 2.6ghz)
  • DDR5-4400
  • 3.9TB SSD
  • 100Gbs Infiniband HDR
  • 10Gbs Ethernet
System Configurations Available for Non-GPU Capable Nodes
Option NameMemoryPrice
Standard Memory256GBTBD
Mid Memory512GBTBD
High Memory1TBTBD
Prices listed are for budgetary purposes only and may not include all available discounts.
Please contact research-computing@uiowa.edu for a quote on your configuration to ensure accurate pricing.

GPU-Capable Compute Nodes

Specifications

  • 128 Compute Slots
  • Intel Xeon 6438Y @2.0Gghz (Turbo up to 2.6Ghz)
  • DDR5-4400
  • 3.9TB SSD
  • 100Gbs Infiniband HDR
  • 10Gbs Ethernet
  • up to 4 double-slot Gen5 GPUs per node
Memory Options for GPU-Capable Compute Nodes
Option NameMemoryPrice
Standard Memory256GBTBD
Mid Memory512GBTBD
High Memory1TBTBD
These configurations do not include GPU cards. Please refer to the GPU Cards section below for card options and pricing.
Prices listed are for budgetary purposes only and may not include all available discounts.
Please contact research-computing@uiowa.edu for a quote on your configuration to ensure accurate pricing.

GPU Cards

The GPU-capable compute node configurations above do not include GPU cards.  Listed below is the cost per GPU card. 

We are able to offer several NVIDIA GPUs to meet your needs; consumer GPUs are no longer possible in the HPC environment. 

GPU Warranty GPUs carry a 3 year warranty.

GPU Card Options
Card NameMemoryPriceMaximum per Chassis
NVIDIA L40S48GBTBD4
NVIDIA A800 Ampere40GBTBD4
NVIDIA H100 Hopper80GBTBD4
NIVIDA RTX 2000 Ada16GBTBD4
NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada20GBTBD4
NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada24GBTBD4
NVIDIA RTX 5000 Ada32GBTBD4
NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada48GBTBD4
Prices listed are for budgetary purposes only and may not include all available discounts.
Please contact research-computing@uiowa.edu for a quote on your configuration to ensure accurate pricing.

How long will my compute node be available?

All HPC compute nodes are purchased with a five year warranty. Compute nodes will be allowed to run for up to 7 years within the following parameters:

  1. The final two years of the compute node life are outside warranty and are on a best effort basis.
  2. If software/OS can no longer support compute equipment prior to the end of its 7 year life the HPC team may, in consultation with the HPC Policy Committee, determine that the life of compute equipment is shorter than 7 years. Should this occur the HPC team will strive to provide at least six months of notice to the HPC community before equipment is decommissioned.
  3. In the event that compute nodes fail outside of warranty they will not be repaired. The HPC team will attempt to keep investor queues at the purchased capacity, to the extent possible, based on the following process and guidelines.
    1. Investor compute nodes that fail out of warranty will be replaced with compute nodes from the UI queue within the same generation of hardware.
    2. When possible compute nodes will be replaced with same or higher specification hardware. This will not be possible in all cases. In cases where this is not possible the investor will be contacted by the HPC team with available options.
    3. Transfer of compute nodes from the UI queue to investor queues will occur in the order in which failures occur.
    4. UI queue compute node availability is finite and is unlikely to be able to sustain all investor queues at full capacity for a 7 year life. As such investors should not assume that their queue will remain at full capacity for the duration of the two year life outside of warranty.

For a full explanation,  please refer to our HPC model and warranty policy.

Previous configurations

Renting Compute Nodes

HPC node rentals are available on a limited basis and subject to specific node type availability. The minimum rental period is for one month. We prefer to know in advance the number of months you wish to reserve the nodes for. For questions or to request a node rental please contact us.