IBM POWER5(TM) Systems Surpass HP With World-Record Performance Results

IBM System p5(TM) Servers With Linux(R) Operating System Achieve Top Spot for Eight SPEC Benchmarks(1)

ARMONK, NY - 11 Dec 2006: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that IBM System p5 servers, running the Linux OS, have achieved industry-leading benchmark results that beat HP servers in important measurements of business and scientific performance.

The IBM System p5 servers using the Linux OS surpassed HP Integrity and ProLiant systems in server speed according to recent SPECcpu performance benchmarks. SPECcpu, a software benchmark product produced by the Standard Performance Evaluation Corp. (SPEC), contains two benchmark suites: SPECint for measuring and comparing compute-intensive integer performance and SPECfp for measuring and comparing compute-intensive floating point performance.

“IBM’s System p™ servers’ superiority to HP machines in these key performance benchmarks illustrates the superior value that the IBM POWER5+-based servers running the Linux OS offer customers,” said Jeff Howard, director, System p Offering Management. “IBM’s System p5 servers’ leadership results in both integer and floating point performance reinforce the capabilities of the IBM System p platform in commercial as well as technical environments.”

IBM’s best-in-class SPECcpu performance achievements include:

11 percent greater performance than HP’s largest SPECfp 1-core Linux server result(2)

26 percent greater SPECfp 1-core performance than HP’s largest Itanium® 2 processor-based Linux server result(3)

20 percent greater 2-core SPECfp_rate performance than HP’s Xeon™ processor-based ProLiant ML350system running the Linux OS(4)

19 percent greater 8-core SPECint_rate performance than largest 8-core HP Linux server result(5)

40 percent greater SPECfp_rate 2-core performance than HP’s Integrity rx2620 system with Itanium 2 processing power(6)

Over two times greater performance on SPECfp_rate using an IBM 8-core System p5 550 server versus HP’s DL585 Opteron processor-based system(7)

According to the Transaction Processing Performance Council (TPC), an organization devoted to benchmarking transaction processing systems, the IBM System p5 520 running the Linux OS continues to maintain its leadership position as the most powerful two-core server based on the TPC-C benchmark.(8)

The IBM System p5 570 is the top performing Linux eight-core server running SAP beating all comparable systems by HP, Sun Microsystems, and all other vendors on the SAP SD Standard Application benchmark.(9)

IBM System p servers, using IBM POWER5+™ and POWER5 processors, help customers simplify their IT infrastructure at a low cost and increase flexibility while simultaneously allowing them to improve overall performance and efficiency of operations.

For more information about IBM, visit www.ibm.com.

Results current as of 11/15/06. Sources: http://www.spec.org, http://www.tpc.org, www.sap.com/benchmark (1) IBM System p5 575 (2.2 GHz, 1 core,1 chip,1 core/chip) SPECfp2000 result of 3,418; IBM System p5 505 (2.1 GHz, 2 cores, 1 chip, 2 cores/chip) SPECfp_rate2000 result of 72.4; IBM System p5 510 (2.1 GHz, 2 cores, 1 chip, 2 cores/chip) SPECfp_rate2000 result of 72.4; IBM System p5 550 (2.1 GHz, 4 cores, 2 chips, 2 cores/chip) SPECfp_rate2000 result of 143; IBM System p5 575 (2.2 GHz, 8 cores, 8 chips, 1 core/chip) SPECfp_rate2000 result of 370; IBM System p5 575 (2.2 GHz, 8 cores, 8 chips, 1 core/chip) SPECint_rate2000 result of 199; IBM System p5 575 (1.9 GHz, 16 cores, 8 chips, 2 cores/chip) SPECfp_rate2000 result of 541; IBM System p5 575 (1.9 GHz, 16 cores, 8 chips, 2 cores/chip) SPECint_rate2000 result of 311; (2) IBM System p5 575 (2.2 GHz, 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip) SPECfp2000 result of 3,418 vs. HP DL380 (3.0 GHz, 1 core, 1 chip, 2 cores/chip) SPECfp2000 result of 3056; (3) IBM System p5 575 (2.2 GHz, 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip) SPECfp2000 result of 3,418 vs. HP rx4640 (1.66 GHz, 1 core, 1 chip, 1 core/chip) SPECfp2000 result of 2712; (4) IBM System p5 505 (2.1 GHz, 2 cores, 1 chip, 2 cores/chip) SPECfp_rate2000 result of 72.4 vs. HP ML350 (3.73 GHz, 2 cores, 2 chips, 2 cores/chip) SPECfp_rate2000 result of 60.1; (5) IBM System p5 575 (2.2 GHz, 8 cores, 8 chips, 1 core/chip) SPECint_rate2000 result of 199 vs. HP DL585 (2.8 GHz, 8 cores, 4 chips, 2 cores/chip) SPECint_rate2000 result of 166; (6) IBM System p5 505 (2.1 GHz, 2 cores, 1 chip, 2 cores/chip) SPECfp_rate2000 result of 72.4 vs. HP rx2620 (1.6 GHz, 2 cores, 2 chips, 1 core/chip) SPECfp_rate2000 result of 51.5; (7) IBM System p5 575 (2.2 GHz, 8 cores, 8 chips, 1 core/chip) SPECfp_rate2000 result of 370 vs. HP DL585 (2.8 GHz, 8 cores, 4 chips, 2 cores/chip) SPECfp_rate2000 result of 174; (8) A 2-core IBM System p5 520 (1.65 GHz, 1 chip, 4 threads) is the best-in-class 2-core system (81,439 transaction per minute tpmC, $2.99/tpmC, configuration available 12/22/06). (9) The 8-core IBM eServer p5 570 (1.9 GHz) achieved the best 8-core two-tier SAP SD Standard Application Benchmark Linux result (2,000 benchmark users, 1.95 second average response time) running IBM DB2 Universal Database v8.2.2, SuSe Linux Enterprise Server 9, SAP R/3 Enterprise Release 4.70 solution. SAP Certification number 2005032.

IBM is a trademark of IBM Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries licensed exclusively through The Open Group.

SPEC and the benchmark names SPECcpu, SPECint and SPECfp are registered trademarks of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation

TPC-C is a trademark of the Transaction Processing Performance Council (TPC).

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other countries or both.

Itanium and Xeon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States, other countries or both. All other company/product names and service marks may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

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Jill Holt

IBM Media Relations

IBM

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