INDUSTRY

International Business Machines says it has sold a supercomputer based on microchips made by Advanced Micro Devices to Bristol-Myers Squibb, giving a boost to AMD's fledgling Opteron technology. The supercomputer, the price of which was not disclosed on Wednesday, is made up of 64 computer servers that each run on two Opteron microprocessors. Bristol-Myers will use it to help accelerate early discovery of new compounds used to make drugs. AMD in April 2003 launched its new 64-bit chip, which runs applications faster than the standard 32-bit chip because it can process more data at once, in an effort to better compete against the world's largest microprocessor maker and chipmaker Intel. The Opteron chip can also run software applications that are built with 32-bit technology faster than Intel's rival and more costly 64-bit chips. Because of that, analysts have said Opteron chips make it easier for companies to use their existing software. Several government agencies are currently building supercomputers based on the Opteron chip including Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratory.