Info on Cell Chip which will be in PS3!!

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SONY GIVES IT THE HARD CELL

Japanese giant releases concrete info on the processor technology forming the beating heart of PlayStation 3

Sony has released details on the Cell processor it's jointly developing with Toshiba and IBM that will lie at the core of PlayStation 3 - details coming dangerously close to a stream of gobbledygook unless you happen to be a true technophile.
Our own translation of the Cell info likely falls woefully short - all we could come up with in the time alloted was "packs more clout than a rhino on steroids who's just been told his mother's damned ugly" - so to ensure accuracy, we're going to reproduce the company line in full:

Specifically, the companies [Sony Group, IBM and Toshiba] confirmed that Cell is a multicore chip comprising a 64-bit Power processor core and multiple synergistic processor cores capable of massive floating point processing. Cell is optimized for compute-intensive workloads and broadband rich media applications, including computer entertainment, movies and other forms of digital content.

And there's more:

Other highlights of the Cell processor design include:

Multi-thread, multicore architecture.
Supports multiple operating systems at the same time.
Substantial bus bandwidth to/from main memory, as well as companion chips.
Flexible on-chip I/O (input/output) interface.
Real-time resource management system for real-time applications.
On-chip hardware in support of security system for intellectual property protection.
Implemented in 90 nanometer (nm) silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology.
Additionally, Cell uses custom circuit design to increase overall performance, while supporting precise processor clock control to enable power savings.
 
that means ps3 will be more powerful than any computer processor.

the bus must be enormous. like 40000 strong. hahaha.
 
&#946
May 2005? Just in time for my birthday.:sly:
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Same here! May 15th to be exact... I can't wait to get a glimpse at the sexy new PS3.. And yes, im sure the PS3 will literally own over any other system out there. Even the damned XBOX2. Bow down! Bwahaharharharr. :dopey:
 
Let´s wait until E3 so we can get some solid infomation about both consoles, and hopefully some screens and videos desmontrating their power.
 
Sounds very powerful. More powerful then the XBOX2 I would say.
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I'm sorry, but care to give me a comparison of both machines using offical specs and real world performance? Oh wait. You can't.

Emotion engine sounds more powerful then brain dead pentium 3, but as we have seen in games, it's not. This does sound good though, I like the fact that sony are embracing new technology.

Lets wait and see though, sony do have a tendency to over hype the hardware...*cough* emotion engine *cough pos*
 
Do not get sarcastic with me, I didn't mean it is more powerful. I am guessing it will be. The new technology is too powerful for some PCs to simulate, and that is mostly graphical features. This is from a reliable source. But I don't want to explain any further because I don't want to start an arguement with you.
 
Hiya! :D :O :lol: Meow! (='.'=)

Just reading this news here and at Gamespot just hyped up my attention to Cell. I really want to see what this chip for the PS3 when they reveal how strong it really by showing some demos of it :O
 
I wonder what will happen if they come out and say the Cell Grid runs at 50GHz.How will the world react.The nearest thing a PC can do right now is 4GHz.
That would be something,wouldn't it. :crazy:
 
Gtchamp, Come Back To Planet Earth.
I STRONGLY doubt that the ps3 will clock in at anywhere near 50ghz, plus I'm sure you could run a few athlon 64s together ;)
 
I know that won't happen,i was just speculating.
I found this btw.

It's from the ISSCC(International Solid-State Circuits Conference):

011bl.jpg


The following was included:

"In a teaser for the upcoming joint presentation of the Cell processor at ISSCC (International Solid-State Circuits Conference) 2005 a few new details were released.The clock speed for the initial Cell releases will be roughly 4.6GHz /per PE (Processing Element) @ 1.5V. Furthermore the teaser slide revealed that the PE core will reach an average of 85C degrees, acceptable for home usage (non-controlled environment), and exceptional for server utilization (controlled environment).

The final piece of information revealed, while not new, does re-affirm the fact that the Cell architecture systems will be utilizing 6.4Gb/s buses (per path, w/ multiple paths) between the PE and main memory.Workstations fitted with the Cell architecture, a $2 billion endeavor are already in the hands of game developers. The previous press releases would seem to back up those claims as a prototype has been officially revealed.

While none of the information is shocking in the least, the very fact that details are being "officially" released is a good sign that indeed Sony's plans are progressing on schedule and that soon gamers will have in their hands, the long awaited monolith; the PS3."
 
But after I am done playing a game on it, will it tuck me into bed and bring me a glass of water ? If not, I am only somewhat impressed.
 
code_kev
Emotion engine sounds more powerful then brain dead pentium 3, but as we have seen in games, it's not.
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Hum? What are you talking about? Do you even know what chip does what exactly? The pentium 3 has little impact on how games look. The last, say, 5 years the bulk of the game's graphics are done by the dsps on the videocard. Some modern graphics cards are so much more powerful that they could even run an emulator of a Pentium CPU faster than an original top-of-the-line Pentium.
 
Arwin, my point was that the emotion engine was hardly the UBER cpu sony made out to be, I'm fully aware of the fact that most games use the GPU just as much now. Looking back that post was abit silly, but meh.
 
This also just in:

"So far, what the three companies have revealed about the Cell is that it is a multicore chip featuring a 64-bit power processor core with multiple synergistic processor cores capable of massive floating point processing. The chip is optimized for intensive applications and also excels in broadband-rich media applications, including games and other forms of digital content, such as movies.

Cell processors will also have the ability to operate together as a cluster and act as one huge parallel-processing unit to handle massive data required for complex calculations. The cluster can be divided into smaller groups, each carrying out different tasks.

The Cell has a number of other features and capabilities as well, including:

- Simultaneous support of multiple operating systems
- Real-time resource-management system for real-time applications
- Multithread, multicore architecture
- On-chip hardware in support of security system for intellectual property protection
- Flexible on-chip I/O (input/output) interface
- Custom circuit design to increase overall performance
- Precise processor clock control to enable power savings
- Substantial bus bandwidth to/from main memory, as well as companion chips
- Implemented in 90-nanometer (nm) silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology

Sony, Toshiba, and IBM also announced today that they have successfully created the first Cell processor-based workstation prototype, which they originally announced at E3. In the future, the companies expect that a one-rack Cell-based workstation will reach a performance of 16 teraflops of floating point calculations per second.

"We have a supercomputer on a chip," IBM designer Jim Kahle told the San Jose Mercury News. "This will be significantly faster than previous types of game systems and should provide new effects." Sony Computer Entertainment CTO Masayuki Chatani, was less modest, saying, "The Cell processor-based workstation will totally change the digital content creation environment."
 

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