"Cell" - The processor used in PS3...

source: http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/11...s_6114033.html

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Sony, Toshiba, and IBM will reveal technical details on the Cell microprocessor that will be at the core of the next-gen console.

TOKYO--For the past three years, Sony, Toshiba, and IBM have been codeveloping the "Cell" chip, an advanced microprocessor that will be used for the PlayStation 3. However, the corporate triumvirate have strongly guarded the technical details on the microprocessor.


That will soon end. The three companies released a joint statement today, announcing that they will unveil the next-generation chip at the International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), which runs from February 6 to 10, 2005, in San Francisco. Details on the Cell will be disclosed in four technical papers scheduled for presentation at the Conference.

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."

Coincidentally, the three companies will be unveiling details on the Cell chip one month before Sony is expected to unveil the PlayStation 3 in Japan. Americans will get their first look at the still officially unnamed console at E3 2005 in Los Angeles.

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Sweet, basically like a supercomputer in a chip. Still 3 months away though :) .

ps3?

aww i just started using my ps2 :(

Should be interesting. I thought games were already almost life like. This will take it to the next level. I am always facinated by how fast technology developes. Can't wait to see demos of the new PS3!

Yes, you're right rookie (btw, welcome back, been a while since i saw u on the boards :) ). I think HL2 has the most realistic facial expressions and physics, mix that w/ the lighting from doom3, well my point is if this is how real it is now, i wonder what it'll be like when PS3 and XBOX2 comes out. I honestly can't wait.

how long till pc pwns this too?

[bitch]i like the way every inhouse gamecube game has to have water in somewhere as if to say "emotion what what?". hype i tell you, hype![/bitch]

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Originally Posted by TheDave

how long till pc pwns this too?

[bitch]i like the way every inhouse gamecube game has to have water in somewhere as if to say "emotion what what?". hype i tell you, hype![/bitch]

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i don't get it :( :unsure: :huh:

sony bragged about the emotion engine being able to render water, glass, light and all that better than anything else. gamecube pwns ps2 at all those (apart from maybe silent hill 3, the light and shadows beat luigi's mansion IMO) and they like to rub it in.

even if its only a fountain or splat they like to get a body of water/liquid in every game.

super mario sunshine - fludd water gun thing
wave race - dont need to explain
1080 avalanche - snow melts on camera
metroid prime - water and bug goo on lens
pikmin - puddles
and the list goes on, i'm sure of it :unsure: :contradictory:

lol

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- On-chip hardware in support of security system for intellectual property protection

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There ends the playstation homebrew scene:dry:

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Originally Posted by namzuf9

There ends the playstation homebrew scene:dry:

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No way there will be away around it

never heard of chipping?

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Originally Posted by TheDave

how long till pc pwns this too?

[bitch]i like the way every inhouse gamecube game has to have water in somewhere as if to say "emotion what what?". hype i tell you, hype![/bitch]

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PC's may well be past those specs before the PS3 is even released.

When it comes to actual in-game looks and performance anyway.

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Originally Posted by TheDave

never heard of chipping?

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Yes, take one potatoe and slice with a knife into small sections:rolleyes:

Copyright protection on the current models is built into the BIOS. When you switch on your mooded console the chip overides the original BIOS and loads its own hacked version. If the infomation about the cell chip is correct the copyright protection will be built into the processor itself making it extremly hard to bypass.:(
I can see the xbox next having the same type of protection seeing as Microsoft would love to implement the same system into home PCs with the "Fritz" chip:dry:

isnt the xbox2 using an ibm proccesor aswell? so it may well be.

there'll be a way round, there always is.


whats the ps homebrew scene?

Theres quite a lot of PS2 homebrew software floating about the net:

PS2 Linux
Pgen (genisis/megadrive emulator)
Psms (Sega master system emulator.)
Snes station (snes emulator.)
Ps2Reality Media Player (Divx and XviD player)

ya, there is ALWAYS a way around. but my next console is gonna be PS3 first, I'll wait to see if XBOX2 is worth buying or net (on the count of it doesn't have a HDD incl. stock). microsoft is slowly dieing :)

im getting both :D

you rich bastard :)

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Originally Posted by namzuf9

Theres quite a lot of PS2 homebrew software floating about the net:

PS2 Linux
Pgen (genisis/megadrive emulator)
Psms (Sega master system emulator.)
Snes station (snes emulator.)
Ps2Reality Media Player (Divx and XviD player)

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You can't forget HDloader! Best homebrew made IMO

hdloader, i think PS3 will have an HD built into it, won't it?