Cray-3
Supercompute𝔉r Module & Component Group, ca. 1990
Lot closes
July 17, 06:27 PM GMT
Estimate
5,000 - 7,000 USD
Starting Bid
2,200 USD
We may charge or debit your saved payment method subject to the teཧrms set out in our Conditions of Business for Buyers.
Lot Details
Description
Cray-3
🍒Supercomputer Module & Component 𝓡Group, ca. 1990.
Two Cray 3 Supercomputer Modules, Colorado Springs, Cray Computer Corporation, ca. 1990, being a memory module consisting of 4 layers of 16 stacks, module D, serial number 3, & module B, serial number 34, each wired with numerous plastic interconnects and 4 metal power connects, approx. 4½ x 4⅜ incﷺhes (115 x 110 mm) excluding wires, in original black plastic case🍸.
WITH: additional Cray 3🔜 Supercomputer Module, module D, number 3; AND WITH: 6 individual stacks, each 33 mm square; AND WITH: 3 groups of individual memory and logic die, gallium arsenide🌃 or silicon, contained in three molded plastic cases; AND WITH: Group of interconnect cables.
Directly from an employee in the Test and Engineering departments of Cray Resea🧸rch and later Cray Computer
Seymour Cray was a rising star in the computer industry by the time he left Control Data Corporation (CDC) with a sizeable investment from that company to form Cray Research. At Cray Research he designed a supercomputer 5 times faster than the CDC 7600, his final completed computer at CDC. The Cray 1 was the first supercomputer to successfully implement a vector processor design and was one of the most successful supercomputers in his🌠tory, selling over 100 units at a cost of about $8 million each.
Seymour Cray's follow-up, the Cray-2, which used a unique Fluorinert cooling system that immersed the modules in the liquid, doubled the speed of his previous design, but wasn’t as successful as the Cray-1. It only sold 27 units at a range of $12 to $17 million ea🍌ch.
Seymour Cray had progressed to design🌃ing the Cray-3 before the Cray-2 was complete. It would again use Flourinert to cool the modules, and use gallium arsenide semiconductors, a material that had not previously been used in this context and which allowed for greatly increased speed. Cray was aiming for a 12x increa♕se over the Cray 2. Cray further developed the novel 3D integrated circuit packaging he had used for the Cray-2 to greatly decrease the pathways. Each module, measuring 121 x 107 x 7 mm, was composed of 9 printed circuit boards containing 69 electrical layers. Unfortunately, the development and manufacturing process was fraught with difficulties and complications – including Cray leaving with the project and starting the spin off Cray Computer Corporation. The setbacks led to the launch order cancellation by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Not a single unit would be sold although one was loaned to the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Cray went on to design further systems before he died in a 1996 automobile accident, but none were brought to market.
The lot also includes a group of individual components that are part of a Cray 3 module. T𒉰hey include logic and memory circuits, bare die - without their protective ceramic packaging and which are bonded to gold posts. The logic die are made of Gallium Arsenide wafers and the memory die are made of silicon wafers. Ex🌞amples of interconnect cables are also included. A fascinating group that provides insight into module construction.
REFERENCES:
Murray, Charles J. The Supermen. New York: ꦺJohn Wiley & Sons, [1997].
You May Also Like
