First look at PlayStation 3 chip

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4051983.stm


Some details of the chip inside Sony's PlayStation 3 have been revealed.

Sony, IBM and Toshiba have released limited data about the so-called Cell chip that will be able to carry out trillions of calculations per second.

The chip will be made of several different processing cores that work on tasks together.

The PlayStation 3 is expected in 2006 but developers are expecting to get prototypes early next year to tune games that will appear on it at launch.

Early glimpse

The three firms have been working on the chip since 2001 but before now few details have been released about how it might function.

In a joint statement the three firms gave hints about how the chip will work but fuller details will be released in February next year at the International Solid State Circuits Conference in San Francisco.


Current PC architecture is nearing its limits
Ken Kutaragi, Sony
The three firms claim that the Cell chip will be up to 10 times more powerful than existing processors.

When put inside powerful computer servers, the Cell consortium expects it to be capable of handling 16 trillion floating point operations, or calculations, every second.

The chip has also been refined to be able to handle the detailed graphics common in games and the data demands of films and broadband media.

IBM said it would start producing the chip in early 2005 at manufacturing plants in the US. The first machines off the line using the Cell processor will be computer workstations and servers.

A working version of the PS3 is due to be shown off in May 2005 but a full launch of the next generation console is not expected to start until 2006.

As well as being inside the PlayStation 3, the chip will also be used inside high-definition TVs and powerful computers.

"In the future, all forms of digital content will be converged and fused onto the broadband network," said Ken Kutaragi, Chief Operating Officer of Sony.

"Current PC architecture is nearing its limits."
 
Don't believe the hype. They promised the moon graphically with PS2 and didn't deliver. It'll probably be good, but it won't change the world or anything. And I don't buy that crap about the PC architecture, they just want you to use a closed, proprietary system that they own. Notice the lack of details in the article, its all just marketing.

Since this is so completely new, this could be insanely hard to program for. Who has experience programming for an architecture that doesn't exist yet? I expect a steep learning curve, worse than we saw with PS2.

Overall I do expect it to be good, as long as they don't make any stupid design choices like they did with PS2, and I expect Xbox 2 and PS3 to be on about even footing, so it should come down to what matters most, the games.
 
Actually this statment is kinda old, they've said the Cell was going to be used in multiple devices like a year ago.
 
None of this matters...people will buy the PS3 in droves no matter what happens. The graphics can be the worst of the 3 systems, and the launch games could suck, but people will bend over backwards and pay 100's over retail at launch... (kinda reminds me of Madden games in a way)
 
Second look at Playstation 3 chip!!!

0027-0409-1507-5756_SM.jpg



... couldn't resist...
 
I just skimmed through it, but it seems like Sony claims to be developing CPU with a speed of 16 teraflops.

I think I just heard my wallet scream.
 
[quote name='Wshakspear'][quote name='Alpha2']It's called consumer loyalty.[/quote]

or heard mentality.[/quote]

There will no doubt be a heard of drones for any of the three companies, the trick is to know why you;re buying it, this is what separates you form the heard.
 
I don't see why sony has to invent all this wack shit that in the end does the same thing that other, easier to deal with/program for technology does.
 
I think sony's mentality is to try and leap frog current tecnology this way if their opponents are using stock equipment they should technically have an edge, like how the PS1 edged out the Saturn and the PS2 made people hesitate on the DC.

And of course the cell is supposed to be part of a grander scheme in network compatability between various sony devices. Sonthing about product synergy.
 
yeah i agree that sony didnt quite meet graphics expectations to the ps2. Some games do look amazing, but from what they were promising, it sounded as though we'd be playing photorealistic movies by now.

Plus, I do like the PC archetecture. I guess we'll have to wait til the Xbox 2/PS3 war to see which is more powerful.
 
I think PSM had an srticles on this 2+ years ago funny to see BBC just catching on to this
 
Im still not that impressed the Cell chip, but I dont have enough info. Maybe Sony will change my mind when they release more info.
 
[quote name='jalu6']yeah i agree that sony didnt quite meet graphics expectations to the ps2. Some games do look amazing, but from what they were promising, it sounded as though we'd be playing photorealistic movies by now.

Plus, I do like the PC archetecture. I guess we'll have to wait til the Xbox 2/PS3 war to see which is more powerful.[/quote]

That's not a war. PS3 will win by default because it's one year younger. PS3 and Revolution will battle it out, but probably PS3 will win.
 
If the PS3 comes out before the XB2 then people willjust fal back on the lame ass argument that anything that comes out after it is more powerful and thus better. I think sony would prefer to be the second out the same way they where against the DC, this would help their claims later on the the system has a lot of power under it's hood still untapped.

As for the original claims on the PS2 the system DOES push a whole hell of a lot of polygons, but only when thats ALL it's doing. When you start adding complex physics calculations and music and explosions it's not going to be as hardcore as they say. You can throw 8 billion polygons on a largly untextured Reiko Nagase walking up and down a fashion runway at 60 frames per second and have it look fucking awesome but try doing that with 10 soldiers breaking through glass and flinging molotov cocktails to Slipknot and see if you dont loose a few frames... Remember kids, tech demos are not games.

On the Cell: Sony wants to be able to run everything from one point... ie. You turn on your Wega HDTV, it connects to your digital cable and downloads a new level into your PS3 and the fridge automatically fills a cup with your favorite beverage while the stereo plays one of the Music files stored on you Vaio computer which is displaying video from your last vacation taken by your Sony Digicam and stored on their Memory Stick format.

This is sony's wet dream and as long as they have life in them they're going to try and make it a reality and the cell is part of the plan.
 
Sony sure has been getting bold lately, and they keep assuming that they will be at the forefront of development in the home entertainment industry and be the sole supplier of such equipment.

But one statement is even bolder than a case of bad diahrrea caught from eating five day old Manwiches:

"In the future, all forms of digital content will be converged and fused onto the broadband network," said Ken Kutaragi, Chief Operating Officer of Sony.

"Current PC architecture is nearing its limits."

That's as true as... that movie Timecop or something
 
Sony this time around wont take it up the a** from MIcrosoft in terms of graphics again..Thats what theyre making sure of, from what i can tell.

Im expecting one HELL of a console war.
 
[quote name='Alpha2']
On the Cell: Sony wants to be able to run everything from one point... ie. You turn on your Wega HDTV, it connects to your digital cable and downloads a new level into your PS3 and the fridge automatically fills a cup with your favorite beverage while the stereo plays one of the Music files stored on you Vaio computer which is displaying video from your last vacation taken by your Sony Digicam and stored on their Memory Stick format.

This is sony's wet dream and as long as they have life in them they're going to try and make it a reality and the cell is part of the plan.[/quote]

That's kinda scary having Sony control so much. I just want to play games.

The cell thing sounded cool when it was first announced a while back, but I know as much about it now as I did then. I can't wait until the next E3. I'm sure we will learn alot more about the new consoles seeing as how the XBOX 2 is supposed to be coming out next year (i think).
 
I'm glad everyone here is willing to say "don't belive the hype". It's true sony always seems to promise alot then very quietly stops making those big claims down the road. Like how awsome the PS2 HD was going to be.

I'll get excited over the PS3 when I see one in action just like I'll wait to get excited over the PSP when I get to play with one in my hands.
 
Sony made claims about the HDD in terms of online content delivery but backked off of it when they realized the internet inferstructure wasnt going to be able to sustain what they wanted (delivering music and movie downloads on a mass scale wont be viable untill the whole country has access to broadband), thats why we almost didnt get the HDD at all.
 
[quote name='Alpha2']Sony made claims about the HDD in terms of online content delivery but backked off of it when they realized the internet inferstructure wasnt going to be able to sustain what they wanted (delivering music and movie downloads on a mass scale wont be viable untill the whole country has access to broadband), thats why we almost didnt get the HDD at all.[/quote]
45% of American households have broadband internet, and I'm sure a higher percentage of PS2/Xbox owners have it, since both require disposable income... It wasn't our infrastructore that wasn't good enough, it was Sony's. They don't have a viable business plan or viable technology ready to sustain any online functions beyond what they do now.
 
Sony initially lost money selling the PS2 at $300, and it used ancient components.

Now they are making a supercomputer console, so how are they going to pay for the losses?

I am officially calling their bluff.
 
I'm only reporting what they said.

Also, I have a PS2 and yet no broadband so I know first hand not everyone has it. The fact that they continue to include the 56k modem in the PStwo shows that they understand not everyone with the system has access to anything better than that.

Even if they didn't have a plan in place they'd still probably be serving a small portion of their user base rather than a huge percentage.

The PS2 wasnt using ancient hardware when it was released, the "Emotion engine" was a custom job even if it wasnt powerful enough to stay top of the line after the xb cameout.
 
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