A major IT systems producer has unveiled the fastest ever super computer in the world.

IBM launched the Blue Gene/P in the US. The supercomputer is more than three times as fast as the previous most powerful computer - the Blue Gene/L.

The new IT beast is capable of operating at 'petaflop' speeds - meaning that it can perform the equivalent of 1,000 trillion calculations per second.

This means that the computer is 100,000 times more powerful than a home PC. To achieve the same level of computing power, enough laptops to make a tower 1.5 miles high would have to be linked together.

However, the new machine is also one of the most energy-efficient and space-saving computing package ever built, IMB claims.

"Blue Gene/P marks the evolution of the most powerful supercomputing platform the world has ever known," Dave Turek, vice president of deep computing at IBM, explained.

"A new group of commercial users will be able to take advantage of its new, simplified programming environment and unrivalled energy efficiency."

"We see commercial interest in the Blue Gene supercomputer developing now in energy and finance, for example."

Experts are already predicting that Blue Gene/Q could achieve operating speeds of three to ten petaflops.