Cray Launches Deskside Wintel Supercomputer

Cray launched the “most affordable supercomputer” to hit the market. The CX1 Supercomputer is an Intel-Microsoft based super PC that runs on standard office power.

Both Cray and Microsoft boast that their new supercomputer caters the mainstream market. The two giants combined the old CX1 supercomputer system and Windows HPC Server 2008 to come up with a cheap and affordable supercomputer.

The CX1 can accommodate up too 8 nodes and 16 Xeon DP 5200/5400-series processors (LGA771). Both these are available in dual-core and quad-core types, 1.86 to 3.40 GHz and TDP power consumption levels of 40 to 150 watts. A high-end CX1 would include 64 Xeon cores, 4 TB of internal storage and 512 GB of memory (64 GB per node).

CX1 is structured as a deskside computer which means that it can be stacked up to three cases high. The system can have up to 192 Xeon cores and still save some valuable office space.

The CX1 basic configuration requires 1600 watt power supply. It has 10/100/1000 Mb/s UTP ports as well as a 12- or 24-port Infiniband switch. The configuration can also include storage and visualization blades, mimicking Intel’s very own Larrabee system.

CX1 is the first serious involvement of the HPC Server 2008 in supercomputing.

The new system has a price range of $25,000 to $60,000.

Source: TGDaily