The new “Big Mac” supercomputer at Virginia Tech could be the second most powerful supercomputer on the planet. The Big Mac’s theoretical peak is 17.6 teraflops, which would put it in second place behind Japan’s Earth Simulator.

The machine is the first supercomputer based on Macs; it is one of the few supercomputers built entirely from off-the-shelf components and cost only $5.2 million. Most of the top 10 supercomputers cost about $40 million and up.