Why PS3/360 can not compete vs PC - GPU vs CPU Benchmarking

[NJ5]

Kyros said:

I can almost guarantee that if the PS4 is based on a Cell like architecture

Of course the PS4 will have a enhanced Cell CPU, I thought fkusumot said that the PS4 will only have the CELL and no GPU (which was according to rumours a Sony idea for the PS3 but was scrapped) but perhaps I misunderstood him. Because the PS4 will also have a GPU and a Cell successor (most likely)

it will have a higher number of PPEs than PS3's Cell (which was Sony's original plan anyway, except cost problems prevented it). They won't do the same mistake again.

To be honest I doubt it. This would make programming even harder. At the moment you have one coordinator PPE and for everthing that takes longer you use a SPE. And when the PS4 comes out developer will know this programming approach like the back of their hand. Why should they make a hybrid classic multicore with additional SPEs? Multicore times two? I would rather think that they make the SPEs a bit more flexible.

But in the end SONY isn't alone in this at all . IBM makes the CELL and its successors and the question is how much both interested parties compromise.

 

The reason for more PPEs is that they're much easier to use for (and perform better with) generic algorithms. 2 or 3 PPEs would make it essentially as easy to program as the 360, while leaving the SPEs free for the number crunching parts which are truly suited for them. It's not just about knowing the Cell like the back of your hand, it's about fundamental differences, convenience and above all performance.

I think there's a lot of confusion about the Cell. The SPEs are middle of the road between normal cores and GPU units, which makes them great for number crunching at a performance gain vs traditional cores, while still allowing for generic computations with a performance hit vs traditional cores. Games use a mix of generic computations (with lots of logic and control code) and number crunching, they're not your average scientific application like FAH which does great on the Cell. At the project I'm working at now, we use an architecture similar to the Cell since we have to do a lot of number crunching, but I can see where game developers would have problems.

I better stop though, before MikeB gets here and starts making people cry.