Mini Museum - CRAY-1 Supercomputer Module Board Fragment & IC Chip (1975)

Mini Museum - CRAY-1 Supercomputer Fragment 

🥇First Commercially-Released Supercomputer 

The Cray-1, unveiled in 1975, was a masterpiece of "functional art" that defined the era of supercomputing. Instantly recognizable by its unique C-shaped chassis—which was curved specifically to minimize the length of internal wiring and boost signal speed—the machine was the first to successfully process massive arrays of data all at once. At a staggering peak performance of 160 megaflops (a fraction of a modern smartphone, but god-like speed in the mid-70s), it was primarily utilized for complex simulations like weather forecasting and nuclear research. Beyond its 60 miles of hand-wired circuitry, the Cray-1 was famous for its "cooling couch"—a ring of vinyl-padded benches at the base that hid the massive Freon refrigeration system required to keep its 200,000 components from melting. Despite a multi-million-dollar price tag, it became the ultimate status symbol for national laboratories worldwide.

Seen here is a small section of an original CRAY-1 Module board and IC Chip. It was part of the Cray-1 Supercomputer that was installed at the Lawrenece Livermore National Laboratory. 

Source: Minimuseum.com