News Article: Microsoft & Cray Release $25,000 Supercomputer

[Ehtyar]

Microsoft and Cray have teamed up to release the worlds most affordable supercomputer.

Impulse buyers, lock your credit cards in a drawer when you're browsing Amazon.com: You might end up purchasing a $25,000 compact supercomputer on a whim.

In an effort to make supercomputers mainstream, Microsoft and Cray teamed up to produce the Cray CX1, the "most affordable super computer Cray has ever offered." Unveiled Tuesday morning, the CX1 will run a new version of Microsoft Windows on either 32 or 64 Intel cores, and the desktop will carry 4 terabytes of storage, according to a GigaOM story. 

Full Story

Ehtyar.

[Edvard]

Ballmer & friends just couldn't leave well enough alone, could they?
Admit it, you knew it was going to happen...

[Deozaan]

Why would the "mainstream" even want a $25k supercomputer at home?

[Edvard]

*edvard sheepishly raises hand*
Now about the 25 grand...

Actually I can see how financial institutions or research laboratories might want an in-house data crunching monster in the basement. And if private sector space exploration ever takes off (pun intended), something like this might make for a nice mini-Houston.

[Darwin]

Edvard - I wonder if we can get a bulk discount?

Seriously, though - isn't it amazing that 4 terabytes of storage seems downright pedestrian, and yet 5 years ago it was still a dream...

[Edvard]

Yeah...

Sometimes I look through the Best Buy ads or whatnot and see hardrives bigger than I can imagine and think "What the hell would I store on that thing that would justify a hard drive that large?"
Answer (sadly): Whatever the hell you want...

[40hz]

Yeah...

Sometimes I look through the Best Buy ads or whatnot and see hardrives bigger than I can imagine and think "What the hell would I store on that thing that would justify a hard drive that large?"
Answer (sadly): Whatever the hell you want...

Yeah. I remember getting a Comodore-64 to replace my Vic-20 and wondering what I was gonna do with all that RAM. Same thing when I got my first HD. It had a whopping 20 megabytes of storage.

Why would the "mainstream" even want a $25k supercomputer at home?

Just because. Don't ask me what I need it for. 

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[f0dder]

"We wants it Deagol my love. Gives it to usss...It's my Preciousss..."

Shouldn't that be Smeagol?

I wouldn't mind owning one of those monsters. I wouldn't really know what to do with all the computing power, and I couldn't afford leaving it running with that power consumption (heck, I dunno if if my fusebox could even handle the load!). But it looks cool, and the thought of having a 64kg heavy elite-looking supercomputer to heat up my flat during winter? Priceless.

[40hz]

"We wants it Deagol my love. Gives it to usss...It's my Preciousss..."

Shouldn't that be Smeagol?

I don't think so. If memory serves Smeagol (who later came to be called Gollum) murdered Deagol to get The Ring. His argument with Deagol, where he demanded he be given the ring as his "birthday present," was the first time we hear it referred to as "Precious."

and the thought of having a 64kg heavy elite-looking supercomputer to heat up my flat during winter? Priceless.

Absolutely! (Nice idea! Sorta semi-green too! )

Also great for keeping that pizza warm during late night coding sessions! Put the beer on top of that homebrew liquid nitrogen cooling tower that's attached to our prototype superconducter chip and we're set to go.

Can the dream of World Domination be far off?   

[cranioscopical]

Can the dream of World Domination be far off?

Hey! Can the dream of World Domination!

[Edvard]

Hey! Can the dream of World Domination!

OK, I'm game... Here's a label to get started:



from MultiCherry.com

[alivingspirit]

I want one. .... Affordable my $%*.

[Shades]

"No, not tonight Brain. I have other engagements tonight!"

(It's Pinky....Pinky and the Brain...Brain...Brain...Brain...)
Ah thanks, now that stupid intro music is playing again in my head

EDIT:
Then again...with that super thingy it should not be so hard to store each episode from that cartoon.

More EDIT:
At least we now know the (minimal?) requirements for Microsoft's Windows Home Server product.....

[40hz]

Rumor has it that it was designed as a "proof of concept" machine.

One that could run Vista with ALL the bells and whistles enabled.

[Ehtyar]

LOL!

Ehtyar.

[Edvard]

Ooh, what if Cray made a video card...

[f0dder]

It would be more like a graphics tower box requiring an insane cooling system than a graphics card, methinks

[40hz]

Ooh, what if Cray made a video card...

It would be more like a graphics tower box requiring an insane cooling system than a graphics card, methinks

It would be too late. The University of Antwerp has already used the GPUs in four MSI N9800GX2-M2D1G GeForce 9800 GX2 cards to create a supercomputer.

Your next Cray could cost 4000 euros, and look something like this: http://fastra.ua.ac.be/en/index.html

Belgian researchers develop desktop supercomputer.

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