Username2324 said:
sc94597 said:
dabaus513 said:
sc94597 said:
dabaus513 said:
sc94597 said:
^ We are talking about as a spare gpu.
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Sorry to ask a n00b question but what is the difference between a gpu and a spu? What do they do specifically? |
Well cell as a whole is technically a cpu. It is seperated in a core, and 7 spus. So a gpu is a graphics processing unit. WHile a cpu is a central processing unit. A cpu is the main processor , and it usually runs things in general, while a gpu stays in one specific area graphics. Now since the cell has a core, and several spus that aren't being used for most games I think you could use the spus for graphics production similar to a gpu. It just helps graphics production more than a regular cpu. I think that is what people are saying to me about the cell being used for graphics. |
Oh, sounds confusing. So based off what you know about processors and such would you theps3 or 360 has more juice or are they better at different things. Does making a hard drive make a difference as well? Sorry for the noob questions but i find this stuff interesting and dont really know much about it. |
Well the 360 has a better gpu while having an inferior cpu. I would say the ps3 is more capable , but the difference imo is similar to the difference between the gc , and xbox. Hard drives only matter for space, nothing too big. I'm far from an expert though, especially on the cell. I think another thing we have to take in to consideration is that most developers have to re learn things to develop for the cell, which means most of it's power won't be used until later on in this generation.
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Exactly why you shouldnt be talking like you think you're expert.
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Actually, for being a PS3 hater, SC did a good job of explaining it. Basically a CPU/GPU is a device to do math. Simple as that. The type of math that a GPU does is very very good at turning login into images for the screen. The GPU usually as much faster ram as well, as speed is key.
The SPU's are as good as a GPU at the kind of math needed to create images from logic, and with 7 of them, they are very powerful tools for this application. The problem is, GPU's are made by companies that know very well how to do this kind of thing, and provide very powerful software to developers. If you want to make smoke, you just call a software routine in the GPU and it does a lot of the work. If you want to use a SPU to make smoke, you need to develop code to make smoke. If you are not as good at is as the guys at NVidia or ATI (and 99% of the time, your not), then you don't get as much out of the SPU.
This is where time is needed for Sony, and the game developing community in general, to develop better tools to utilize the Cell. Some companies already do this well, most don't.
