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Redirected from: computer costs

Definition: computer prices


Computers can fit on the head of a pin or take up an entire room. The microcontroller chip embedded in toys and myriad gadgets can cost pennies, while a supercomputer may cost many millions. The difference is in the amount of work they are capable of doing within the same time frame. A computer's power and price is based on the size and speed of its CPU, memory and storage, and following is a "rough" guide to system cost. See computer system, microprocessor, microcontroller, supercomputer and how to select a computer.

 TYPE OF HARDWARE        Approximate
                           Cost in
 Chips                     2024 $
 Microcontrollers
  (4, 8, 16, 32-bit)      $0.50 - 25

 CPUs (processors)
  (16, 32-bit)            $5 - 25
  (64-bit)                $5 - 5,000

 AI chips                 $5,000 - 40,000

 Clients (64-bit)
 Desktop/laptop         $200 - 6,000
 Workstation/gaming     $4,000 - 15,000

 Servers (64-bit)
 Rack mounted           $500 - 10,000
 Midrange               $5,000 - 25,000
 Mainframe category     $100,000 - 10M
 Supercomputer          $1M - 50M






Small to Large
The tiny microcontrollers from Microchip are used by the tens of thousands in small devices and can cost as little as 50 cents in wholesale quantity. Costing millions, the powerful IBM z196 mainframe stands more than six feet tall and contains 96 processors running at 5.2GHz. (Mainframe image courtesy of IBM.)