Computing Power

Overview

1959

1960

1961

1962

1963

1964

1965

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Computing for Research and Education: 1965

1965

Computing: 1965

KDF9s for AEA

Winfrith took possession of a large KDF9 in December 1964 and was up to 2-shift working by June 1965. Culham also took delivery of a large KDF9 in March 1965.

University Computers

By 1965, computers defined in the Flowers Report had started to arrive in universities. The Elliott 803 computers had been installed and the first round of English Electric KDF9s had arrived. Making a good estimate of total power during this period as a result becomes more difficult.

The KDF9s did not come to expectations early on and were performing at no more than 0.1 of an Atlas rather than the 0.3 anticipated.

The table below gives a fairly complete snapshot of exactly who had what in 1965. It almost certainly has some minor errors. The table includes the computers in the Research Councils.

None

Establishment	Computer	Arrived	Comment
Aberdeen	Elliott 803
Aberystwyth	IBM 1620	1961
ACL	Atlas	1964	3-shift working
Aston	Elliott 803	1963
Bangor	Elliott 803
Bath	Elliott 803	1963
Belfast	Deuce	1963?	Loaned by US Navy
Birmingham	KDF9	1965	Passed acceptance 21 June 1965
Bradford	Stantec Zebra	1962
Bristol	Elliott 803		Originally offered London's Mercury
Brunel	Elliott 803	1960
Cambridge	Atlas Titan	1965	MTBF 3 hours, 2-shift basis
Cardiff	Stantec Zebra	1959?
Dundee	Stantec Zebra	1961?
Durham	Elliott 803	1962
East Anglia
Edinburgh			Offered Durham's Pegasus
Exeter	Elliott 803	1962
Glasgow	KDF9	1964	Previously a Deuce, before that Manchester's Mark 1
Herriot-Watt	Sirius	1965
Hatfield	Elliott 803	1963
Hull	Elliott 803	1962
Imperial	IBM 7090	1964
Keele	None
Kent	None
Lancaster	ICT1909	1965	On Order
Leeds	KDF9	1964
Leicester	Elliott 803
Liverpool	KDF9	1964	Previously a Deuce
London	Atlas	1963	25% owned by BP, 2-shifts, 60-95% efficient, previously a Mercury
Loughborough	IBM 1620	1961
Manchester	Atlas	1962	Owned by ICT, service to Edinburgh, Nottingham, UMIST
Newcastle	KDF9	1964	Pegasus, 1957
Nottingham	KDF9	1965
Oxford	KDF9	1965	Previously a Mercury
Reading	Elliott 803
RHEL	Orion	1963
Salford	KDF9	1964
Sheffield	Mercury	1963?	Second-hand from Manchester, previously a Pegasus
Southampton	Pegasus	1958	ICT 1907 in 1967
St Andrews	Stantec Zebra	1963
Strathclyde	Sirius	1964
Surrey	Sirius	1964
Sussex	None
Swansea	IBM 6120	1961
Warwick	None
York	None

The relative powers of these machines is also difficult to assess accurately as they are very dependent on the size of job and the language in which they were programmed as well as the basic machine speed. An approximate comparison is given below.

With most computers requiring a high level of manual intervention, the number of shifts worked per day is also a factor in assessing overall output.

Machine	Memory	Integer Add Microseconds	Speed
Elliott 803	4K 39-bit words	576	0.4
Ferranti Mercury	1K 40-bit words	180	1.0
English Electric KDF9	16K 48-bit words	12	10.0
Atlas	48K of 48-bit words + paging	1.6	80.0
IBM 1620	2K 30-bit words	560	0.1
IBM 704	32K 36-bit words	100	2.5
IBM 7090	32K 36-bit words	4.36	15.0
IBM Stretch	128K of 64-bit words	1.2	60.0
Ferranti Orion			5
Ferranti Sirius			1
Stantec Zebra			0.1
Ferranti Pegasus	56 39-bit Words, 5K paging Drum	640	0.1

This should be seen in the context of one Atomic Energy Establishment (AWRE Aldermaston) whose computing facilities are listed below.

Machine	Date	Speed (Mercury = 1)
IBM 704	1957	2.5
IBM 709	1959	5.0
IBM 7090	1961	15.0
IBM 7030	1962	60.0