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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Why did Sony use the Cell processor in the PS3?

rubido on 03 August 2007
MikeB said:
But the PS3 also runs on mass market gas (most common, PS2 games)! The ride may overall be more comfortable (wireless controller, no memory cards, upscaling, etc).

Got me! You never know...

 

But I still won't bet on it. I wouldn't change my prediction with that fact considered. But it certainly is a point I was not considering in the arguments I made about cars. Anyway, I still think that in the long run, it would have been better to not have included the blue ray. The visual quality is only a factor if it does sell more in the long run.

 

But who knows... I might change my mind. I just don't believe that I will in the next couple of months. It would take a while and some change in the current situation for me to believe that it could have been something good. 

 



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rubido on 03 August 2007

Could we like... stop the car thing?



endimion on 03 August 2007



rubido on 03 August 2007
GotchayeX said:
We're getting off topic,

I said my opinion about the topic. I would discuss yours if you want to mention and talk about it. Guess I got carried a bit by other things.

 

So... again on what I said. I think they could have done better for cheaper. And my two reasons for the cell are:

1) bragging rights on the theoretical power

2) general purpose powerful processor for central media hub



MikeB on 03 August 2007

@ GotchayeX and rubido

There are tremendous network effects with consoles as well, both in terms of developer support and playing with friends.


OK, let's not compare consoles with cars. Think of the PS3 as a Suzuki FXR150 Motorcycle and the Nintendo Wii as a Vespa scooter!



VS



Just kidding.



Naughty Dog: "At Naughty Dog, we're pretty sure we should be able to see leaps between games on the PS3 that are even bigger than they were on the PS2."

PS3 vs 360 sales

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z64dan on 03 August 2007

Honestly I think the main reason they went with Cell is to show that it IS, infact, different than the 360. Not just the same components with a black casing.

I think, however, that Blu-ray is what is really hurting PS3 sales right now. The added cost is killing them. In a year or so, PS3 should cost the same as the 360, if they keep lowering costs (and blu-ray will lower ALOT).

MikeB said:

OK, let's not compare consoles with cars. Think of the PS3 as a Suzuki FXR150 Motorcycle and the Nintendo Wii as a Vespa scooter!
This is actually a very accurate representation. The Vespa is cute and more easily enjoyed by the mass market. The Suzuki would take a higher level of skills to properly function to its full potential (Think PS3 controller vs Wii Remote). And the thing is, they BOTH do their jobs. They get you from point A to point B and it is fun to drive either one of them.


endimion on 03 August 2007

lol we said stop the car thing.... it's not to start one with 2 wheelers lol



rubido on 03 August 2007
MikeB said:
@ GotchayeX and rubido



hahahahhahahahhahahaha great laugh on that one!! 



eab on 03 August 2007

I never understood the logic behind the cell. For simplicity's sake lets say the Cell is equal to a 6 Ghz processor.

Sony: Hey IBM, make us a 6 Ghz processor.
IBM: Uh, it will cost a billion dollars, lol.
Sony: I said make it.

MS: Hey IBM, how fast will the PS3 be?
IBM: About 6 Ghz
MS: Can you put two 2.9 Ghz processors together to get us 5.8 Ghz?
IBM: Yea, that should work. Cheap too.

Nintendo: Hey what's a really really cheap processor that works pretty good?



thors1982 on 03 August 2007
MikeB said:
@ thors1982

Cell will NEVER reach 100% "theoretical power" its not possible. And so people don't think we are dissing the PS3... Xbox will never reach 100% theoretical power either... although it will be closer because the number of cores is smaller.


This is the case with regard to the Xenon processor as well. IBM's testing indicates it's much easier to yield near full potential using the Cell processor. The Cell isn't simply a multi-core CPU, the SPEs operate very differently each having their own dedicated ultra-speed memory to work with (also the 3.2 Ghz XDR memory is much faster than the memory the Xenon has access to).

I understand Xenon will never reach 100% "theoretical power" I even said in my post neither xbox360 or ps3 will reach it because of the mulitple CPUs.

Also, IBM's test were probably tests that were 100% parallel tests/applications... gaming not so much parallel not even remotely close. So like i said that drops its potential power drastically.