NEC Corporation of Japan said it has launched the world's fastest vector-type supercomputer.

The new SX-9 model is equipped with a central processing unit core that can process information at a maximum speed of 102.4 gigaflops. One gigaflop is equivalent to one billion floating point operations per second.

When connected with up to 512 units, one unit of the SX-9, which can be equipped with up to 16 CPUs, can perform information processing at 839 teraflops. One teraflop represents one trillion floating point operations per second.

The vector-type supercomputer can conduct scientific and technical computations at high speed, which would be useful for work on climate, aeronautics or space, environmental simulations and fluid dynamics.

NEC plans to start shipments in March and make the new product available for rent at 2.98 million yen ($26,043) per month.

The company expects to sell 700 units in three years.

IANS