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The Museo de Historia de la Computación in Spain has unveiled a unique exhibit that resurrects the iconic 1976 Cray-1 supercomputer. By daisy-chaining 30 Mac Minis manufactured between 2012 and 2014, the museum has created a functional replica that significantly outperforms the original hardware.
The system utilizes five quad-core i7 and 25 dual-core i5 processors, totaling 70 cores. Running on macOS Mojave, the cluster employs the Message Passing Interface to distribute computing tasks. During testing, the setup achieved 1.5 teraflops, far exceeding the original Cray-1's theoretical peak performance of approximately 160 megaflops.
To manage heat without mechanical fans, the Mac Minis are housed in a tower designed for natural convection. The museum reports that the primary noise source currently stems from two gigabit Ethernet switches, which they intend to replace with silent alternatives. The control terminal integrates Raspberry Pi units and authentic 2006 Cray CX1 hardware.
This exhibit is now a permanent installation at the museum. Looking ahead, the team plans to launch a crowdfunding campaign to acquire 80 additional M4 Mac Minis, aiming to construct a modern supercomputer capable of qualifying for the Top500 list.
