Supercomputer vs. Mainframe — What's the Difference?

A supercomputer is a computer with a high level of performance as compared to a general-purpose computer. The performance of a supercomputer is commonly measured in floating-point operations per second (FLOPS) instead of million instructions per second (MIPS).

A large powerful computer, often serving many connected terminals and usually used by large complex organizations.

A mainframe computer that is among the largest, fastest, or most powerful of those available at a given time.

(computer hardware) A large, powerful computer able to manage very many simultaneous tasks and communicate with very many connected terminals; used by large, complex organizations (such as banks and supermarkets) where continuously sustained operation is vital.

(computing) Any computer that has a far greater processing power than others of its generation; typically they use more than one core and are housed in large clean rooms with high air flow to permit cooling. Typical uses are weather forecasting, nuclear and other natural science simulations, advanced mathematics and animations.

(computer hardware) A computer chassis that hosts and interconnects modules that perform various tasks.

A mainframe computer that is one of the most powerful available at a given time

A large digital computer serving 100-400 users and occupying a special air-conditioned room. At any given point in development of computer technology, the mainframe will be faster, have large main memeory, and be more capable than a minicomputer, which will in turn be faster and more capable than a personal computer. The typical personal computer in 1999 is faster than a mainframe was in 1970.

The board holding the CPU and the memory forming the central part of a computer to which the peripherals are attached.

A large digital computer serving 100-400 users and occupying a special air-conditioned room

(computer science) the part of a computer (a microprocessor chip) that does most of the data processing; the CPU and the memory form the central part of a computer to which the peripherals are attached