goddog said:
the problem with that is the master cores, would need some sot of manager to performe tasks properly otherwise it would nto be able to function, its far easier to add more spe's. the multi cell chip would have a master core for each of the other main cores, this would limit speed, and create a net loss of processing power, this is true in any multicore set up, but much more true in the cell due to its parent child relation with processing. so no i doubt they would go that way unless its a two per chip set up and one is modified to be dedicated gpu, and the other handles all other tasks. otherwise its a terrible idea |
My personal expectations for the cell processor are (probably) quite a bit different from what it will end up being ...
In general, algorithms are either not (easily) parallizable, able to be split into a small number of parallel processes (typically because they require synchronization), or are able to be split into practically limitless parallel processes (because they're implicitly asynchronous). As time goes on and processors become designed with a greater focus on parallel processing there will be a greater focus on asynchronous algorithms and having a large number of cores will be a better approach than having more powerful cores ... currently this is not the case.
With this in mind, I wouldn't be (that) surprised to see all CPUs in the next generation to have a very small number of conventional cores (4 to 8) and a large number of much simpler processors (spes, stream processors) ...