SEATTLE, WA, May 15, 2006 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX News Network) -- Global supercomputer leader Cray Inc. (NASDAQ: CRAY) today announced that a Cray XT3(TM) supercomputer at RIKEN's Advanced Center for Computing and Communication in Japan has pushed far beyond the existing record for computing performance on the widely used Himeno benchmark test. The 1,920-processor Cray XT3 system posted a score of 2.1 teraflops (2.1 trillion floating-point operations per second), almost seven times faster than the previous top benchmark score of 302 gigaflops set by a Fujitsu system also residing at RIKEN.

The Himeno benchmark test is recognized across the computing industry and by a number of government procurement agencies as an important measure of processing speed and efficiency. The benchmark evaluates how fast the computer works its way through a series of differential equations, such as those used by researchers to solve complex problems in fluid dynamics, heat analysis, electrical field analysis and other compute-intensive fields.

"We congratulate Cray on achieving such an impressive mark on the Himeno performance test," said Ryutaro Himeno, Director of RIKEN's Advanced Center for Computing and Communication. "Since 1917 RIKEN's mission has been to conduct high-level research across the whole spectrum of the sciences and technology -- physics, chemistry, medicine, biology and engineering. Computational applications in these research fields have expanded in recent years, and they require quite high computing performance. The newly scored benchmark test result by our Cray XT3 system is a wonderful achievement that is very relevant to such research."

"We at Cray are excited that the Cray XT3 supercomputer has broken the teraflop barrier on the Himeno benchmark test in such a convincing manner," said Cray Japan President Mamoru Nakano. "Although benchmarks like this aren't the only criteria for choosing a high-performance computing system, a well-constructed test algorithm such as the Himeno benchmark gives customers a solid proof point for determining which system can best handle their most compute-intensive applications. This excellent benchmark result reflects the high level of scalable performance that Cray has engineered into our supercomputers, the level of performance that users can expect when solving their real-world scientific and engineering problems."

Complete Himeno results for all tested systems are available on the web at

http://accc.riken.jp/E/HPC_e/HimenoBMT_e/index_e.html. (English)

http://accc.riken.jp/HPC/HimenoBMT/index.html. (Japanese)

About the Himeno Benchmark

The Himeno benchmark was developed by Dr. Ryutaro Himeno, the head of RIKEN's Advanced Center for Computing and Communication. RIKEN is the largest research institute for natural sciences in Japan. Ranking in importance with major benchmarks such as Linpack and the High Performance Computing Challenge (HPCC) test suite, the Himeno program assesses the performance of systems ranging from desktop PCs to the largest supercomputers. The test measures the speed of a main processing loop as the computer employs linear algebraic techniques to predict the probable distribution of a series of hypothetical events. Technically speaking, it employs an algorithm to calculate Poisson distributions using the Jacobi iteration method. Go to http://accc.riken.jp/E/HPC_e/HimenoBMT_e/index_e.html for more information in English.

About the Cray XT3 Supercomputer

The Cray XT3 supercomputer is the third-generation MPP system from Cray. Purpose-built to deliver exceptional sustained application performance for challenging scientific and engineering problems, the Cray XT3 system has set new performance records for systems equipped with standard-based processors. The supercomputer's high-speed 3D torus interconnect, advanced MPP operating system and high-speed global input/output make it possible for users to scale applications from 200 to more than 30,000 processors without performance loss. The system's scalable processing element uses x86 64-bit AMD Opteron(TM) single or dual-core processors that employ HyperTransport(TM) technology to increase bandwidth and reduce latency. The Cray XT3 supercomputer was named 2005 Product of the Year by Scientific Computing & Instrumentation. Go to www.cray.com/products/CrayXT3 for more information.

About Cray Inc.

As the global leader in supercomputing, Cray provides highly advanced supercomputing systems and world-class services and support to government, industry and academia. Cray technology enables scientists and engineers to achieve remarkable breakthroughs by accelerating performance, improving efficiency and extending the capabilities of their most demanding applications. Cray's Adaptive Supercomputing vision will result in innovative next-generation products that integrate diverse processing technologies into a unified architecture, allowing customers to surpass today's limitations and meeting the market's continued demand for realized performance. Go to www.cray.com for more information.

Cray is a registered trademark, and Cray XT3 is a trademark, of Cray Inc. Opteron is a trademark of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. HyperTransport is a licensed trademark of the HyperTransport Technology Consortium. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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Melissa Power
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Investors:
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vic@cray.com

SOURCE: Cray Inc.