Tyan Typhoon 600

The official launch today of Intel's first quad-core desktop CPUs has seen multiple announcements of multi-core desktops. However, Tyan today revealed what it characterizes as a personal supercomputer. The Typhoon 600 series uses as many as ten of Intel's quad-core Xeon 5300 processors, producing a forty-core system that can achieve an unprecedented 256 gigaflops in peak performance. Unlike most systems at this performance level, however, the Typhoon doesn't require a rackmount or special power needs. The entire system fits in a wide tower case that can plug into an ordinary wall socket, Tyan boasts. This allows professionals to use the system as a personal CPU cluster, rendering 3D images or science data in a fraction of the time that a conventional desktop would take. To this end, the system has DVI and VGA video output and multiple front-mounted USB ports to serve as a true desktop rather than a backroom server. Tyan expects the system to sell for under £10,000 ($18,959) when it arrives in January -- a low price for the available power, the company says.

By Electronista Staff