Cray-1

Seymour Cray's 1976 vector supercomputer, the C-shaped machine that defined the top of computing for a decade.

Core Principles & Analysis

• 160 megaflops — the fastest machine on Earth at its 1976 debut.
• Its horseshoe shape minimised wire length; the benches around it hid the power supplies.
• Often called the only computer ever purchased as much for its beauty as its speed.