Parts/CPUs/DEC Alpha 21264 (EV68)
CPUs · Alpha · 1998
DEC Alpha 21264 (EV68)
1.25 GHz Alpha, the fastest general-purpose processor of its generation. The architecture was discontinued after the Compaq and HP transitions rather than losing on merit.
Why this part
The fastest processor in the world for most of its life, and a case study in how little that guarantees. ASCI Q was built on the EV68 at a time when the Alpha line had already been sold twice over: DEC to Compaq in 1998, Compaq to HP in 2002, mid-deployment. The machine was delivered on an architecture whose owner had committed to killing it, and the supplier lineage on this site runs DEC to Compaq to HPE across three hops because of it. Alpha's technical lead was real and irrelevant.
Systems using this part
- Systems
- 3
- Rmax underneath
- 22.32 TFlop/s
- Units recorded
- 2,560
| System | Role | Country | Units | System Rmax | Supplied by | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ASCI Q 2002-11 | CPU | USA | - | 13.88 TFlop/s | Digital Equipment Corporation now Hewlett Packard Enterprise | #2 → |
| TERA-1 2001-12 | CPU | France | 2,560 | 3.98 TFlop/s | Digital Equipment Corporation now Hewlett Packard Enterprise | #7 → |
| Lemieux 2001 | CPU | USA | - | 4.46 TFlop/s | Digital Equipment Corporation now Hewlett Packard Enterprise | #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.