View Full Version : PS3 Powerhouse Hits Cellular Snag
Electrezz
02-22-2005, 10:59 PM
A little protozoa tells me that Sony is having a hard time deciding just how to put their Cell technology to use in the Playstation 3.
Engineers are searching for the right mix of SPUs—those are the Synergistic Processing Units that give the Cell its polygon-crunching power—for the Playstation 3. The company is trying to find a sweet spot that blends cost, processing power and stability.
Right now it looks like they are trying to really push the envelope with the PS3, jumping well beyond the four SPUs many predicted and trying to stuff six or eight of these sub-chips into the version of the Cell that will be in the PS3—just like the chip they showed off last month. Sadly, IBM, which is manufacturing the chips for Sony, is having problems fabbing an eight-SPU version of the chip for the console.
A whole other group of people are feverishly working to finish the external design of the Playstation 3 in time for a super secret internal whoop-de-do being held in March.
Sources tell me that Sony is flying people to their headquarters in Japan over the Easter holiday to get their first hands-on of the PS3. It’s just an internal sneak peek, but that’s still pretty damn exciting.
It’s apparent that teams are racing to finish both the internal and external designs of the PS3 for some sort of looming deadline. While I think E3 could be part of the rush, I have a feeling we will be getting more details on the next-gen Playstation sooner then we think.
Kotaku
orcus116
02-22-2005, 11:03 PM
Trying to stuff more sub-chips than necessary? Rushing to get the product done on time? Doesn't look good for Sony.
I don't understand what's happening...
X2_revolution
02-22-2005, 11:49 PM
Sony rushing doesnt suprise me. Thats why we see so many flaws in the PS2...the Emotion Engine could have been something incredible.
Sony, good idea, bad execution.
Or at least it seems that way sometimes.
OutlawAdidas
02-23-2005, 12:02 AM
^the emotion engine is just like Ati's Flipper, just another engine that helps create graphics. It doesn't affect how people play
X2_revolution
02-23-2005, 12:14 AM
No, but at the time the emotion engine could have done some great things.
OutlawAdidas
02-23-2005, 12:21 AM
Depends, because the Emotion Engine was just hyped. To tell the truth, the emotion engine does nothin for the PS2.
Wikipedia
The Emotion Engine is the name of the Central Processing Unit (CPU) used in Sony PlayStation 2 video game consoles. It was jointly designed by Toshiba and Sony and began mass production in 1999. According to MicroDesign Resources, it is two times faster than a 733 MHz Pentium III and 15 times faster than a 400 MHz Celeron at handling tasks like full-motion video.
I have yet to see that. If its faster than a 733 Mhz, then how come other systems are still faster and can do much more that it. Hell it was just hype. If you want specs, I can show you specs
Eidorian
02-23-2005, 12:26 AM
Power vs. Hype vs. Cost
Freeman_JI
02-23-2005, 01:29 AM
MS looks more and more like being the ROCK this gen.
:headbang:
however good luck to sony, maybe the cell will blow everything out of the water but it looks like it'll cost em' adding quite a few cores.
Electrezz
02-23-2005, 02:17 AM
Well what it appears to me is that Sony tries to do much in too little time. They probably started on the PS3 at the last minute and thats why all the rest of their systems are like crap. And have those stressful loading times. Their planninf for the systems is not executed correctly.
koten
02-23-2005, 02:56 AM
They haven't finalized the PS3 and yet they think it is ready to be shown at E3...
that's good planing right there.
Glenn2K4
02-23-2005, 09:56 AM
rushed product is never good.
SuperLuigiBros
02-23-2005, 11:09 AM
Miyamoto said something about "a rushed game is never good but a delayed game will be great forever" its something along those lines, but i guess we will soon know if the same can be said about consoles.
HereticPB
02-23-2005, 10:13 PM
News Alert:
Sony's Game division is bankrupt Sony sells all parts of the division to Microsoft.
koten
02-23-2005, 11:58 PM
I wouldn't doubt the bankrupt part (seeing as sony is always losing money on the PS2s and is losing money on PSPs now too) but they would never sell to M$.
Good joke though.
Freeman_JI
03-01-2005, 05:36 AM
Hardware losses yes but SONY's entertaimnet division is their best cash cow.
Sony are trying to do too much in so little time.
Phoenix
03-01-2005, 09:03 PM
It really doesn't matter. As long as they have some numbers to brag about, they'll sell plenty of PS3's. And if they fall apart 2 months after they're bought, causing gamers have to buy an other one, then that's all the better!
Bloodman
03-01-2005, 09:15 PM
O god, i have to see how this turns out.
Viper
03-01-2005, 09:24 PM
Miyamoto said something about "a rushed game is never good but a delayed game will be great forever" its something along those lines, but i guess we will soon know if the same can be said about consoles.
The quote is, "A delayed game is eventually good but a bad game is bad forever."
The PS2 Emotion Engine is twice as good as a 733 mhz P3 at specific tasks such as streaming video display which mean absolutely nothing in the long run. It's another hype thing. They just fail to inform you exactly what that video display thing means so you think it must be something cool when it's not.
pac4life
03-02-2005, 12:05 AM
either way, wahtever opinions, the ps3 is gonna be nice.
Glenn2K4
03-02-2005, 03:41 AM
.... and PS3 will sell boatloads, regardless.
some of my non-gaming friends are already talking about it and they know NOTHING about it. They want "on" the playstation cool-bandwagon.
The company is trying to find a sweet spot that blends cost, processing power and stability. I like the sound of that. That is good for the consumer market, regardless of one's personal loyalties.
Personally, I'm interested in seeing how/whether they are eventually able to push the tech envelope with this thing. The Cell processor is supposed to be pretty versatile, and this sounds like a great opportunity to find out just how far they can stretch it. I mean, obviously they wouldn't even be trying it if they didn't think it could be done somehow.
Good luck to Sony. I hope they can make the most of this risky-sounding endeavor.
Freeman_JI
03-07-2005, 01:05 AM
My concearn is that Sony is saying that they have the biggest best processor out there, yet i find it hard to believe that they have leapfroged companies like AMD and Intell who have been at this game for years.
OutlawAdidas
03-07-2005, 01:21 AM
My concearn is that Sony is saying that they have the biggest best processor out there, yet i find it hard to believe that they have leapfroged companies like AMD and Intell who have been at this game for years.
they haven't. IBM is making the Blue Gene/L chip which is ten times more powerful than cell.
Cell - 256 gigaflops
Blue Gene - 356 terraflop
Freeman_JI
03-07-2005, 03:02 AM
they haven't. IBM is making the Blue Gene/L chip which is ten times more powerful than cell.
Cell - 256 gigaflops
Blue Gene - 356 terraflop
until i see it with my own eyes or at least get proof that this Blue GL "Processor" can output that performance well.... i mean i've heard it all before.
Viper was going on how this processor would be in the N5, how it's used in some earth sim in Japan, and so on. But all my tech sites 3dguru, toms, ect never mention this chip, the best chip on the market availabe TO THE PUBLIC is the Athlon 64 4000+ in an FX variant (some may agrue the dual g5 in Apples comps). If any of you guys think that Next gen consoles will feature chips with better performance for $300, $400 then your wrong. Remember these are "gameconsoles" not Secret Service NSA supercomputers.
I'm betting chip performance with next gen console to be around what is availabe TODAY in the mid range PC's eg, Athlon 3200+ or P4 3.2 which is exactly what specs i've been hearing.
anyone care to agree or disagree?
Phoenix
03-07-2005, 04:54 AM
Plus, the Revolution is rumored to use a scaled down version of Blue Gene, not the full 14 times as powerful as Cell version. If they didn't, the Revolution would be abhorantly expensive. Even hardcore gamers have limits. That's not saying that the scaled down version won't be more powerful than Cell still, we just don't know.
Freeman_JI
03-07-2005, 06:41 AM
The rumours i've head indicate that the N5 will use a PowerPC CPU maybe in a dual config, much the same as high end Mac's same goes with the Nextbox could be running dual g5's or something.... but then there is the rumor about nextbox using Cell tech :confused:
All i gota say is Cell = Emotion Engine :banned2:
koten
03-07-2005, 09:17 PM
All i gota say is Cell = Emotion Engine :banned2:
Exactly.
A few weeks after the PS3 launch, you won't hear a word about the Cell processor, but until then, Sony'll hype it out their assholes if need be.
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