Sony Considers Cell for PS4 -- Report
Next gen talk, and we still haven't gotten Killzone 2.
September 30, 2008 - Impress Watch technology writer Hiroshige Goto has posted his latest "Weekly Overseas News" at the Japanese game and computing site. The subject, believe it or not, is PlayStation 4!
According to Goto, who doesn't cite any sources, Sony has started investigating the possibility of using the Cell Broadband Engine, the same CPU that powers the PS3, as a base for the new system and is currently seeking developer feedback. While it's possible that Sony will move away from the Cell, says Goto, Sony does appear at the moment to be moving towards an upgraded version of the current PS3 chipset as a basis for the next generation system.
The plan to use variants of Cell in future PlayStation iterations was always in place, explains Goto, which is why Sony invested so heavily in the chipset. However, while the use of the Cell in the PS4 may seem like Sony just sticking with its original plan, the real reason could be that the company in its current form doesn't have the reserves to create another chipset and build all the requisite development tools above it.
Going with Cell has the benefits of keeping production costs down for the PS4 and also allowing cutting game development costs due to a consistent architecture. Sony would also be able to include a smaller chip size from the start, potentially reducing the system's retail price.
The rest of Goto's article is mostly speculation as the highly respected writer considers how much of a performance increase we can expect from the PS4. According to Goto, Moore's Law suggests that Sony could go about including as many as 32 cores in the system (compared to the current 8). However, he doesn't think this is likely. Due to cost concerns, he thinks its more possible that Sony will stop with somewhere between 10 and 20 cores along with a small increase in clock rate. Looking at just the CPU, he says, the PS4 would have 2.x times as much power as the PS3.
Goto also feels that an early PS4 launch could be reasoning for the reuse of the Cell architecture. Assuming Sony wants to launch the PS4 earlier than it did the PS3 in comparison to the competition, going with a new architecture could be tough. According to Goto, it takes at least three years, and more usually four, to go from the start of chip development to an actual product. If Sony wanted a 2011 launch, for instance, they'd have to speed up the process, and one method for that, says Goto, is to use an existing architecture.
LINK:http://ps3.ign.com/articles/914/914584p1.html
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