Chinese supercomputer Sunway-TaihuLight is currently the fastest supercomputer in the world, operating at 93 petaflops. That means it's able to perform 93 quadrillion (million billion) calculations per second.<br /><br />China uses the supercomputer for weather forecasting, pharmaceutical research, and industrial design.
Sunway-TaihuLight —
Chinese supercomputer Sunway-TaihuLight is currently the fastest supercomputer in the world, operating at 93 petaflops. That means it's able to perform 93 quadrillion (million billion) calculations per second.

China uses the supercomputer for weather forecasting, pharmaceutical research, and industrial design.
Wang feng/Imaginechina/AP
Fujitsu's K Computer, housed at the RIKEN institute in Japan, clocks in at 10 petaflops. It was the fastest in the world from June to November 2011.<br /><br />The supercomputer draws almost 10 megawatts of power — about the same as 10,000 suburban homes.<br />
K Computer —
Fujitsu's K Computer, housed at the RIKEN institute in Japan, clocks in at 10 petaflops. It was the fastest in the world from June to November 2011.

The supercomputer draws almost 10 megawatts of power — about the same as 10,000 suburban homes.
Courtesy of Fujitsu
The $130-million IBM Roadrunner was the first computer to break the petaflop barrier in 2008. <br /><br />Operating at around 1 petaflop (performing 1 million billion calculations per second), the IBM Roadrunner was the fastest supercomputer in the world from June 2008 to June 2009.<br />
IBM Roadrunner —
The $130-million IBM Roadrunner was the first computer to break the petaflop barrier in 2008.

Operating at around 1 petaflop (performing 1 million billion calculations per second), the IBM Roadrunner was the fastest supercomputer in the world from June 2008 to June 2009.
Los Alamos National Labratory
This US-built supercomputer was the first to break the 1 teraflop barrier (performing 1 trillion calculations per second). It was the fastest supercomputer in the world from 1997 to 2000, and also the first supercomputer installation to use more than 1 megawatt of power.<br /><br />Pictured here, VP Rick Stulen and Intel designer Stephen Wheat look at the innards of an ASCI Red rack. <br />
ASCI Red —
This US-built supercomputer was the first to break the 1 teraflop barrier (performing 1 trillion calculations per second). It was the fastest supercomputer in the world from 1997 to 2000, and also the first supercomputer installation to use more than 1 megawatt of power.

Pictured here, VP Rick Stulen and Intel designer Stephen Wheat look at the innards of an ASCI Red rack.
Sandia National Laboratories
The Cray-2 was the world's fastest computer between 1985 and 1989, capable of 1.9 gigaflops. This was the first supercomputer to break the gigaflop barrier (1 billion calculations per second).<br />
Cray 2 —
The Cray-2 was the world's fastest computer between 1985 and 1989, capable of 1.9 gigaflops. This was the first supercomputer to break the gigaflop barrier (1 billion calculations per second).
Science & Society Picture Library/Getty Images
The world's very first supercomputer, the Control Data Corporation (CDC) 6600, only had a single CPU. <br /><br />Released in 1964, the CDC 6600 achieved a peak performance of 3 million floating point operations per second (3 megaflops).
CDC6600 —
The world's very first supercomputer, the Control Data Corporation (CDC) 6600, only had a single CPU.

Released in 1964, the CDC 6600 achieved a peak performance of 3 million floating point operations per second (3 megaflops).
Jitze Couperus/Creative Commons