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Forums - Sony Discussion - the cost of the ps3

leo-j on 28 July 2007
Dolla Dolla said:
leo-j said:
I read this not to long ago and didnt post it for some reason. Though they are already making a profit(or were in europe) in some regions including australia.

Sony have stated in their first quarter report that they aren't making a profit on PS3's, and that they hope to make it to break even soon.

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=14849

The 80gb has to be the closest to break even. At $599, it might only lose $50 bucks. The transition from 90nm to 65nm for the CPU and GPU will cut costs a lot, 50% on both components. Is there any confirmation about transitioning these parts to 65nm?

Why do they want to change it to 65nm anyway?

 



 

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FishyJoe on 28 July 2007

Higher yields is my guess. More chips per wafer. Also, lower power consumption means they can use cheaper components.



dallas on 28 July 2007
Dolla Dolla said:
leo-j said:
I read this not to long ago and didnt post it for some reason. Though they are already making a profit(or were in europe) in some regions including australia.

Sony have stated in their first quarter report that they aren't making a profit on PS3's, and that they hope to make it to break even soon.

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=14849

The 80gb has to be the closest to break even. At $599, it might only lose $50 bucks. The transition from 90nm to 65nm for the CPU and GPU will cut costs a lot, 50% on both components. Is there any confirmation about transitioning these parts to 65nm?


Yes, the Sony people have confirmed this.....



dallas on 28 July 2007
leo-j said:
Dolla Dolla said:
leo-j said:
I read this not to long ago and didnt post it for some reason. Though they are already making a profit(or were in europe) in some regions including australia.

Sony have stated in their first quarter report that they aren't making a profit on PS3's, and that they hope to make it to break even soon.

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=14849

The 80gb has to be the closest to break even. At $599, it might only lose $50 bucks. The transition from 90nm to 65nm for the CPU and GPU will cut costs a lot, 50% on both components. Is there any confirmation about transitioning these parts to 65nm?

Why do they want to change it to 65nm anyway?

 


Well, given 2 chips, one made with 95nm etchings and one with 65nm etchings the 65 will cost less, and will produce less heat and use less voltage. 

 The thing of it is that this 65nm stuff is pretty new, and the price for the machines that manufacture with 65nm are still too expensive for sony or microsoft to invest in now, just like the price of BD players are still too high for many consumers.  Either way, expect all three console companies to upgrade eventually.



Dolla Dolla on 28 July 2007

FishyJoe has it right, and I'll add a little illustration to shed some more light on the subject.

 

This is a wafer of chips. They produce the Cell and RSX chips like this. Let's say, for shits and giggles, that at 90nm, they can make 100 Cell chips on one wafer, and it costs them $10,000 for the entire wafer. When they switch to 65nm, they'll be able to produce twice as many chips on one wafer. So, instead of making 100 90nm chips, they can make 200 65nm chips, and it'll still cost them only $10,000 bucks. So, they pretty much save 50% on that one component by switching to 65nm.

Also, to accomodate the change, they must also change the motherboard of the PS3. A smaller chip uses less power, takes up less space, and requires less resistors, so when they remake the motherboard, it has less parts and costs less to make. So they save more money on the motherboard, too. This is why the slimline PS2 is so small, they are currently running on 45nm processors. 



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FishyJoe on 28 July 2007
dallas said:

Well, given 2 chips, one made with 95nm etchings and one with 65nm etchings the 65 will cost less, and will produce less heat and use less voltage.

The thing of it is that this 65nm stuff is pretty new, and the price for the machines that manufacture with 65nm are still too expensive for sony or microsoft to invest in now, just like the price of BD players are still too high for many consumers. Either way, expect all three console companies to upgrade eventually.


Sony and Microsoft don't invest in fabrication. They contract stuff like that out. 



outlawauron on 28 July 2007

I think by this article they are infering that 65nm chips will be in production by march 08.



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BenKenobi88 on 28 July 2007

I don't understand anything about chips...but why is it a circle?



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FishyJoe on 28 July 2007

That's the way silicon is provided from the manufacturer.



Nonquihote on 28 July 2007
FishyJoe said:
That's the way silicon is provided from the manufacturer.

 its got something to do with boobs ?