Compaq to build Alpha supercomputer

Compaq is preparing to produce one of the most powerful single computers ever built, based on its Alpha microprocessor.

The supercomputer will use about 2,000 Alpha chips running in the 1.25 GHz range, or about 2,500 chips at the 1 GHz level, and must be able to perform five trillion operations per second.

The French Atomic Energy Commission has already placed an order for the supercomputer to simulate and analyze nuclear explosions.

Compaq plans to have the system ready by the end of 2001.

More details can be found at www.techweb.com.