Vendor Spotlight:

NEC SEES 30% PRICE PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT TO SX-6

NEC Corporation announced up to a 30% price performance improvement to its vector type supercomputer SX-6. NEC has made significant improvements in CPU processing performance and has undertaken developments to maximize memory capacity. The SX-6 is mainly used worldwide in HPC (High Performance Computing) within the scientific computing field. Shipment will commence in October, 2003.

Main improvements:

CPU Performance: By enhancing its CPU overall performance of the SX-6 improved by 13%. A single node achieves a peak vector performance of 72GFLOPS (a theoretical peak performance of 93.3GFLOPS), and a 128-node configuration achieves high-speed processing of a peak vector performance of 9.2TFLOPS (theoretical peak performance of 11.9TFLOPS).

Maximum Memory Capacity: Maximum memory capacity has been doubled as compared with previous SX-6 capacity. A single-node SX-6 system delivers up to 128GB of shared memory and is acknowledged for its high performance and user- friendliness. In a 128-node multi-node system, large capacity memory of up to 16Terabytes (TB) can be configured, achieving a maximum total data transfer speed of 36.8TB/s between the CPUs and memory.

NEC's vector supercomputers enjoy a reputation for high processing performance in a wide spectrum of large-scale simulations due to the efficient data transfer between memory units and CPUs, as well as the high performance of a single CPU. Since the release of the SX-6 in October 2001, NEC has received over 230 orders across high-end users in the fields of meteorology/climate, aerospace and automotive industries. Increasing demands for a faster supercomputer with larger memory capacity, easier operation, and computing power sufficient to run large-scale simulation, led NEC to make major enhancements to the SX-6. The maximum memory capacity of the Desk-side single CPU "SX-6i" has also been increased from 8GB to 16GB.

About NEC

Corporation NEC Corporation is one of the world's leading providers of Internet, broadband network and enterprise business solutions dedicated to meeting the specialized needs of its diverse and global base of customers. Ranked as one of the world's top patent- producing companies, NEC delivers tailored solutions in the key fields of computer, networking and electron devices, by integrating its technical strengths in IT and Networks, and by providing advanced semiconductor solutions through NEC Electronics Corporation. The NEC Group employs more than 140,000 people worldwide and had net sales of approximately $40 billion in the fiscal year ended March 2003. For additional information, please visit the NEC home page at: http://www.nec.com.