I think you misunderstand the significance of this early research. The SPEs are able to do additional work in addition to the main GPU regarding pixel shading. You do not need to allocate 5 SPEs to handle pixel shading, as the PS3 has the RSX as well! Do you understand? |
Yes, I think I do. I obviously know that this is in addition to the work performed by the RSX. But the numbers the article you mentioned talked about (the 30Gops) seem to be attained reserving 5 SPUs for shader work. That's a little unrealistic in an application that does something else besides shader work.
Also I am unconvinced that moving a ton of data between the GPU, the CPU, and the SPEs local caches (which is quinda required for "cooperation") is going to be that fast for pixel work.
Obviously, And I didn't mean to imply otherwise. I only said that it's natural to bolster one's research results as if they mean something in real life conditions. I know I don't like it one bit, and am often forced to do it myself. 
