What's the point of cell?

[NJ5]

Bokal said:
Cell is not 3.2ghz.
The Cell processor OF THE PS3 is 3.2ghz.

The Cell is a familly of processors intended to be installed in many different systems like servers, clusters, home cinemas, mainframes...
It has a lot of promise for the future.

Now if you want to discuss the inclusion of the Cell in the PS3... well... in 2005, it was faster than the common intel processor... Sony invested in it... it's pretty good at running videogames... so it looks like a good choice to me.

If you want more info, just look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_(microprocessor)

Why comparing it with Intel processors? Since we're talking about consoles, it's even better to compare it with 360's CPU, which is surely cheaper, easier to program for and has so far delivered very similar results at lower cost.

Might there be some upcoming PS3 game in two or three years which finally puts the 360 to shame? Perhaps, but will that have been worth all the cost? In my opinion, it's doubtful at best.