Linus Tech Tips Breaks $1 Million Record to Calculate Trillions of Digits of Pi

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Linus Tech Tips, a popular YouTube personality, splurged an extraordinary sum of money to compute and set a new Guinness World Record for the highest number of digits of Pi calculated by a computer. Not only did he surpass the previous record, but he smashed it beyond recognition.

Previously, Linus had set a record for calculating 32 million digits of Pi within half an hour. However, the current record stands at approximately 200 trillion digits.

To break this record, he would require significant enhancements, yet not where one might initially expect. It wasn’t just about raw processing power; that aspect was only partially an issue.

It seems that the reason he required $1 million worth of components to accomplish this task and set a new world record was due to his need for substantial storage solutions.

Linus Tech Tips shatters Pi calculation world record

It might seem straightforward to save simple mathematical operations in a document, but it’s actually quite simple! After all, numbers on paper occupy minimal storage space on a digital drive. However, when dealing with astronomical figures like trillions, the situation becomes more complex.

To perform the extensive Pi calculation that Linus intended, it would require approximately 11.7 billion pages of numerical data storage. Given this need, Linus constructed a vast server network equipped with sufficient data storage capacity to manage the computation.

Achieving the record was made possible by having 2.2 petabytes of swift storage, equivalent to approximately 2,200 terabytes. However, it’s important to note that this came with a significant cost, including server setup and the raw computational power needed to tackle the enormous number of calculations required.

There’s much more complexity involved in this, as they not only transformed a single server rack into a high-performance dual-CPU system, but also engineered it to transmit over 100 gigabytes of data per second. This level of performance surpasses even the capabilities of Google’s top-tier cloud servers.

After 190 days of continuous operation, despite several power outages and a breakdown in the cooling system for our server room, the previous record was finally surpassed. This lengthy process took approximately $6300 in electricity costs.

Linus and co-host Jake don’t think the record will stand for very long, but, for now, it’s theirs.

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2025-05-17 21:51