The computer market hosts one of the fastest supercomputers, launched by NEC Corporation. The supercomputer is called “SX-9.” It calculates 893 teraflops (839 trillion point operations per second), vector performance peak exceeds 100 GFLOPS*2, shared memory is up to 1 TB, speed is 128GB/second.

The SX-9 is less space and power consuming. These features increase the value of the new product. But the most distinguishable features of SX-9 are the features that might be used productively in fluid dynamics, environmental simulation, nanotechnology, and weather forecasting.

NEC Corporation describes the features of the new product as follows:

Enhanced groundbreaking performance from ultra high-speed CPU

Inheriting existing vector architecture, the new product improves on this with the addition of an arithmetic unit and an increased number of vector pipelines. This has resulted in the development of the world's fastest single-chip vector processor with a computing performance of 102.4 GFLOPS per single core, and a wide memory bandwidth of 256GB/s. With a single node incorporating up to 16 CPUs, computing performance in excess of 1.6TFLOPS is achieved. The product also realizes a large-scale shared memory consisting of a memory capacity of 1TB.

Reduced TCO via high-density packaging and energy-saving technology

The vector processor has been integrated into a single chip by applying leading-edge CMOS technology with 65-nanometer Cu (copper interconnects) and the most advanced LSI design technology. The use of high-density packaging technology in which processor(s) and memory are implemented on a single module, and an effective design that provides optimum cooling functions, has resulted in a reduction in both space and power consumption of the SX-9. The new product is approximately one quarter the size of conventional models and uses about quarter the power.

User-friendly computing environment

The SX-9 is loaded with "SUPER-UX," basic software compliant with the UNIX System V operating system that can extract maximum performance from the SX series. SUPER-UX is equipped with flexible functions that can deliver more effective operational management compatible with large-scale multiple node systems.

The use of powerful compiler library groups and program development support functions to maximize SX performance makes the SX-9 a developer-friendly system. Application assets developed by users can also be integrated without modification, enabling full leverage of the ultra high-speed computing performance of the SX-9.

NEC Corporation asks the readers address the following attachment for more detailed description of the product.

On November 10 – 16 the SX-9 will be showcased at SC07 (Supercomputing 2007) in Reno, Nevada.

On December 5 – 7 the product will be on display at iExpo2007 (NEC's own personal exhibition), at Tokyo's Big Site.