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Cray Cray Supercomputer on Ebay — Parallax Forums

Cray Cray Supercomputer on Ebay

ercoerco Posts: 20,256
in General Discussion
Somebody here needs this piece of computer history!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cray-J932SE-Supercomputer/121947360391

Comments

  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    Drat. Won't ship to Finland. Ah well.
  • Buck RogersBuck Rogers Posts: 2,185
    And I've just passed on the better news regarding the thing to a collector I know.
  • KeithEKeithE Posts: 957
    I remember seeing a Cray at WeirdStuff Warehouse in Sunnyvale a while back. It looked more interesting than the one up on eBay too. Back in the day WeirdStuff used to look somewhat like Hanger 51 in Raiders of the Lost Ark. I think that there's a Cray 1 over at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. I missed the Difference Engine - I think that Nathan Myhrvold finally wanted it back. One of those things that I took for granted...
  • Jeff HaasJeff Haas Posts: 421
    edited 2016-04-14 03:38
    You missed seeing the Difference Engine demonstrated?! That was really something.

    And yes, they have a Cray 1, with the seating, in the museum as well. Funny, I just drove past there after a meeting at Google today.
  • TonyDTonyD Posts: 210
    A little bit too big for my spare room :-)

    But I recently got a chance to see and use an German Enigma Machine from the Bletchley Park collection
  • TorTor Posts: 2,010
    The problem with Cray hardware is that basically *no* software of any kind has survived.
  • User NameUser Name Posts: 1,451
    Seriously, you'd be far better off buying a nice Intel Core i7 desktop computer.

    Only use I can think of for this Cray is to mount the boards in frames and sell them for display.
  • DavidZemonDavidZemon Posts: 2,973
    User Name wrote: »
    Seriously, you'd be far better off buying a nice Intel Core i7 desktop computer.

    Only use I can think of for this Cray is to mount the boards in frames and sell them for display.

    The ebay list explicitly mentions this.
    The system is not a supercomputer by today's standards, and yes small battery powered devices can equal the performance. This is a part of history, and a rare chance to own a real system that can run Unicos.

    That being said... how many Propellers to equal the power of this thing? Could Big Brain compete?
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    Obviously nobody thought the $14,000 starting bid was a good deal. :tongue:
  • Buck RogersBuck Rogers Posts: 2,185
    Chris, my collector friend tells me that the seller has been trying to sell that insult to the elephants for a while now.


    Of course there are other issues involved, like software......


    ----
    Of course erco all of your robots are again in the UK watching Cricket.....
  • MicksterMickster Posts: 2,693
    TonyD wrote: »
    A little bit too big for my spare room :-)

    But I recently got a chance to see and use an German Enigma Machine from the Bletchley Park collection

    Very cool, need to get down there. Did you watch The Imitation Game? I am not much of a TV/Movie watcher but I actually purchased this one as I enjoyed it so much.
  • tomcrawfordtomcrawford Posts: 1,126
    edited 2016-04-14 21:32
    Jeff Haas wrote: »
    You missed seeing the Difference Engine demonstrated?! That was really something.

    And yes, they have a Cray 1, with the seating, in the museum as well. Funny, I just drove past there after a meeting at Google today.

    I saw the demo a year ago February. It is very cool. The mechanization of the carries is just incredible. I went again this year in about March and there was a big empty space where it used to be. Nathan Myhrvold is entitled to take it to Seattle, of course, but I sure missed it.

    They also have a SDS910 or 920. With a do not touch sign. My right idea index finger itched because I could not touch the Run Idle Step switch.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    tomcrawford wrote: »
    The mechanization of the carries is just incredible.

    Sounds like there's an open space for my Friden calculator.


  • RS_JimRS_Jim Posts: 1,764
    erco wrote: »
    tomcrawford wrote: »
    The mechanization of the carries is just incredible.

    Sounds like there's an open space for my Friden calculator.

    OMG I had to use one of those beasts in a statistics course in college! 15 years latter a TI programmable pocket calculator would do a better job WAY easier.
    Jim

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