Parts/CPUs/Thinking Machines CM-5 vector node
CPUs · Connection Machine · 1993
Thinking Machines CM-5 vector node
SPARC control processor with four custom vector units per node. The architecture at the top of the first published list.
Why this part
A commodity SPARC chip doing control while four custom vector units did the arithmetic, which is the same division of labour a CPU and a GPU perform today. Thinking Machines could not make the economics work: the company filed for bankruptcy in 1994, a year after this configuration topped the first published list. The idea outlived the company by thirty years.
Systems using this part
- Systems
- 4
- Rmax underneath
- 120.5 GFlop/s
- Units recorded
- 2,080
4 of 4 edges disclose a quantity
| System | Role | Country | Units | System Rmax | Supplied by | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CM-5/1024 1993-06 | CPU | USA | 1,024 | 59.7 GFlop/s | Thinking Machines | #1 → |
| Littlebear (NCAR CM-5) 1993-04 | CPU | USA | 32 | - | Thinking Machines | - |
| FROSTBURG 1993 | CPU | USA | 512 | 30.4 GFlop/s | Thinking Machines | #4 → |
| NCSA CM-5/512 1993 | CPU | USA | 512 | 30.4 GFlop/s | Thinking Machines | #3 → |
“Units recorded” sums only the edges where a public source states a quantity. It is a floor, not a total, and should never be read as installed base.