360 CPU and Cell are fairly equal according to Dave Shippy

[heruamon]

Procrastinato said:

I can write a C-program -- anything I want, as long as it fits in the 256K localstore of the SPE -- and have it kick out data to anyplace in the PS3's main memory, at any time, as well as read in info from anywhere in main memory, at any time.

I upload the code once to the SPU (much in the same way an OS starts a thread on any processor), and it goes... and goes on forever until I tell it to stop, completely asynchronously of the PPE. What, exactly, about that process makes you believe a SPE is not a fully fledged core? Are you saying that C is not a full programming language? Are you saying that 256K is not enough memory for a core to qualify as one? Are you saying that starting a thread on the PPU is somehow fundamentally different from starting a thread on a SPE, because you have to upload the entire program into what is effectively a 256K cache, rather than just send an instruction pointer, and let CPU cache do, effectively, the same loading for you? Do you think processors have to possess an intermediate caching mechanism to function?

Suggesting that the SPEs are not independent cores is beyond ludicrous, and basically just exclaims complete ignorance on the part of the person suggesting it.

Get over it guys. The Cell has more muscle than the Xenon, but its a hell of a lot harder to flex. Oh well.

If all that "technical mumbo jumbo" above confused you, try this on for size:

If the Cell had "one core" and the Xenon had "three", how is it that crossplatform games are even able to come close on the PS3, relative to the 360? Do you think that most 360 games only use one core, and thus the 360 has "room to grow", but the PS3 does not?

Yet... after more than 3 years on the marketplace, the 360 has yet to have a game that really shows the 360 as some sort of superior platform, just as the reverse is true. All this time, the PS3 games have been getting substantially better framerates, finally catching, and arguably passing the 360's graphics in some cases, etc... while the 360 games started out better, and have only marginally improved. Is the PS3 growing new cores? Are developers scared of the 360's awesome remaining power?

Do tell.

I don't know, but Gears 1 next to Gears 2 is noticeably different.  If The Cell processor has 8 cores, that's good, but it's a matter of flexibility as you say.