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HOUSTON, TX -- Building on its ten-year leadership in 64-bit computing, Compaq Computer Corporation (NYSE: CPQ) today introduced the AlphaServer(TM) ES45 system, the industry's most powerful mid-range server. The new AlphaServer ES45 system includes up to four 1 GHz 64-bit Alpha processors, and is available with the Tru64(TM) UNIX with TruCluster(TM) Servers, OpenVMS(TM) or Linux operating systems. The ES45, which has reportedly outperformed its mid-range competition in both industry-standard and commercial benchmark tests, is the only mid-range server available with a full 64-bit 1 GHz processor. In addition to the AlphaServer ES45, the company also introduced the AlphaServer SC45 system, a scalable, single-image supercomputer model based on the ES45, and the availability of new certified configurations based on Tru64 UNIX-based AlphaServer ES45 systems and Oracle9i Real Application Clusters. "The delivery and rapid deployment of these systems is another example of how Compaq is at the heart of providing the industry's most comprehensive IT solutions for the most advanced, real-time enterprise environments," said Howard Elias, senior vice president and general manager of Compaq's Business Critical Solutions Group. "We are intensely focused on the challenges and requirements of today's marketplace, and our customers and partners have recognized and experienced the tremendous competitive advantage that Compaq's platforms and solutions, such as the new ES45, can bring to their businesses." Among the customers who have purchased the new AlphaServer systems is the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, which is using 760 ES45 systems with more than 3,000 Alpha processors integrated into an SC45 system for the world's largest non-military supercomputer. "The AlphaServer SC45 system's increased bandwidth and memory access speed contributed greatly to our benchmarking results, confirming our decision that it was clearly the best system for our needs," said Michael Levine, scientific director, Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center. "This system brings significant new research capability to bear on many important problems. While the immediate, direct beneficiaries will be academic scientists, the benefits will flow to the country as a whole, in practical ways we can't forecast." "Compaq continues to provide the highest possible performance at the most cost-effective price for our customers," said Rich Marcello, vice president and general manager of Compaq's High Performance Systems Division. "The enthusiastic response from customers who have installed these systems is testament to our ability to provide the industry's highest performing systems to meet the most demanding application needs." With its high performance, demonstrated scalability and high availability, and leadership clustering capabilities with Tru64 UNIX and OpenVMS, the AlphaServer ES45 is targeted for users in areas such as high-performance technical computing, telecommunications, e-business and healthcare. The AlphaServer ES45 system has demonstrated its power with industry-leading performances in both industry-standard and commercial benchmarks. In the industry-standard SPECint_rate2000 integer benchmark, the quad-processor ES45 performed 50 to 75 percent faster than its competitors and more than twice as fast in the SPECfp_rate2000 floating point performance benchmark. In a single-processor SPECfp2000 floating point performance benchmark, the ES45, powered by a 1 GHz, 64-bit Alpha processor, performed at more than twice the speed of its mid-range competitors. The ES45 systems come with up to four 1 GHz Alpha processors and 32 GB of memory and offer 8 GB per-second bandwidth and 1.85 GB per-second of I/O bandwidth. Richard Roach, senior director of ASP market development for SAS Institute, said, "SAS Institute recently launched IntelliVisor, an ASP service that applies data mining technology to help online retailers maximize profitability. Memory access speed is critical to us. We process an enormous amount of data every day, using the latest data mining technology. The faster I/O bandwidth of the AlphaServer ES45 will let us iterate the data more often, improving the quality of the reports we provide our clients." In clustered configurations, ES45 systems running Tru64 UNIX or OpenVMS deliver guaranteed 99.999 percent up-time availability for business critical systems with defined Compaq Services offerings. The AlphaServer ES45 is already shipping with models starting at $58,000. AlphaServer SC45 Unparalleled Scalability for High Performance Computing: The AlphaServer SC45 supercomputer can scale up to huge systems that include thousands of processors delivering multiple TFLOPS (trillions of operations per second) performance to meet the most demanding compute- intensive research projects. The SC45 systems, whose single system image provides unparalleled ease-of- use and manageability, is available with the Tru64 UNIX operating system. In addition to the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, other large Supercomputer Centers relying on the ES45 include the French Atomic Energy Commission with the largest supercomputer in Europe, and the Australian Partnership for Advanced Computing with the largest university supercomputer in Australia. The AlphaServer SC45 with a base system of 16 Alpha processors and 16 GB of memory is also available now with prices starting at $899,000. For more information visit www.compaq.com