Think Fast - IBM Model 170 - Brief Article

Automotive Manufacturing & Production, Feb, 2001

Although this claim was made on December 19, 2000, and may be invalid today, IBM Corp. (Somers, NY) announced that its Model 170 is (was?) "the world's fastest UNIX-based computing workstation." The Model 170, which made its initial debut a year ago, is now offered with a 450-MHz microprocessor and a GXT600P 30 graphics accelerator, both of which help move things long expeditiously. What's more, "Offering a geometric engine in hardware is especially valuable to engineering functions such as rotations, zooming, definition of light, and displaying large amounts of data," according to Jim McGaughan, product manager, IBM Web Servers.

One interesting aspect of the Model 170's microprocessor: copper wiring is used instead of the more conventional aluminum interconnects. The reason: copper has less electrical resistance than aluminum, so signals can be transmitted faster.