ASUS, one of the world's leading vendors of computer hardware and consumer-grade computer systems, has recently announced the debut of its first supercomputer, a desktop-sized system that mixes Intel's latest Xeon processors with a number of NVIDIA graphics processors to deliver speeds of up to 1.1 teraflops. While the company had previously designed motherboards for the server and professional segments, this is the first time an ASUS-designed supercomputer makes its debut on the market.

Dubbed ESC 1000, the new ASUS supercomputer has been designed to meet the performance requirements of customers working in segments such as scientific research, image manipulation, engineering modeling or medical research. The speed of 1.1 teraflops has been achieved by adopting a configuration that mixes NVIDIA's graphics processors with Intel's LGA1366 Xeon W3580 microprocessor, working at a core speed of 3.33GHz and designed for servers and workstations.

According to the technical specifications of the ASUS supercomputer, the ESC 1000 has adopted three Tesla c1060 graphics processing cards, coupled with one Quadro FX5800 GPU. The three Tesla cards are featured with a dual-slot cooling solution and have no graphics ports available on the back, as they are only used for processing data. Additional features of the new supercomputer include 24GB of DDR3 1333MHz memory, a 500GB SATA II hard drive and a high-capacity 1100 watt power supply unit. The chassis in which the system has been built measures in at 445mm by 217.5 mm by 545 mm, according to ASUS' specification sheet.

The company hasn't yet unveiled the pricing and global availability details of the new supercomputer, but according to PC Advisor, the ESC 1000 comes with a cost structure in software and hardware of $14,519 (£8,900) over five years. In addition, it appears that the system is already available for shipping.