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Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/24/cray_1_gate_module_ebay/

Cray-1 resurfaces in pieces on eBay

The stories it could tell. But then it would have to kill you

By Timothy Prickett Morgan

Posted in HPC, 24th May 2010 23:49 GMT

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What are the odds that two different sellers on both sides of the Pond would find themselves peddling some of the processing modules of the original Cray-1 vector supercomputer?

The probability would be 1.

A chap in the United Kingdom put up one of the original Cray-1 gate array modules on the UK eBay site for £550 on May 17, and no one bid on it. This seller claims [1] that the Cray 1 module came from the very first Cray-1 super, which was installed at Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1976 after a bidding war with Lawrence Livermore National Lab. This original Cray-1 was shipped off to the European Weather Centre in the UK, and then absorbed into the bowels of a UK government site for heaven only knows what purpose.

Cray 1 Supercomputer

The Cray-1 vector supercomputer: Still the coolest HPC of all time, unless you like Der Blinken Lights.

Over at FutureBots in the States, Dan Mathais — who sells electronic components and has a huge collection [2] of vintage PCs, minis, and supercomputers as well as toy robots — also has a Cray-1 module for sale here [3] on eBay for $1,000.

That's a pretty expensive paperweight. But, then again, exercise equipment is an expensive clothes line, as well. ®