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Forums - Sony Discussion - Department of Defense Buys 2,200 PS3s to Upgrade Supercomputer

Winters on 09 January 2010

Apparently the Department of Defense believes that PS3s are a better value when it comes to supercomputers than IBM products specifically designed for the purpose. Granted recent price drops probably didn't hurt in justifying a 2,200 console order either.

This isn't the first time that the DoD is using PS3 consoles for supercomputing. In fact, these 2,200 units are going to be added to an existing Linux cluster of 336 PS3s used by the United States Air Force. According to Justification Review Documents, the purchase is all about getting the best value out the DoD's budget:

With respect to cell processors, a single 1U server configured with two 3.2GHz cell processors can cost up to $8K while two Sony PS3s cost approximately $600. Though a single 3.2 GHz cell processor can deliver over 200 GFLOPS, whereas the Sony PS3 configuration delivers approximately 150 GFLOPS, the approximately tenfold cost difference per GFLOP makes the Sony PS3 the only viable technology for HPC applications.

For some reason this makes me proud to be a PS3 owner.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5414938/department-of-defense-buys-2200-ps3s-to-upgrade-supercomputer



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Kenoid on 09 January 2010

Yup, good for you! =) Sadly, I don't owe one =(



                                  

                                       That's Gordon Freeman in "Real-Life"
 

 

Tyrannical on 09 January 2010

Sony must love that, since they probably still loose a $100 per console when you factor in sales and marketing costs instead of just manufacturing.



Yet, today, America's leaders are reenacting every folly that brought these great powers [Russia, Germany, and Japan] to ruin -- from arrogance and hubris, to assertions of global hegemony, to imperial overstretch, to trumpeting new 'crusades,' to handing out war guarantees to regions and countries where Americans have never fought before. We are piling up the kind of commitments that produced the greatest disasters of the twentieth century.
 — Pat Buchanan – A Republic, Not an Empire

Winters on 09 January 2010
Tyrannical said:
Sony must love that, since they probably still loose a $100 per console when you factor in sales and marketing costs instead of just manufacturing.

Well according to VGChartz, the new design of the PS3, the PS3 Slim, is being manufactured for US$336.27 each and being sold for US$299 each, therefore with a loss of US$37.27 for each console.

Still a minor loss though, but not as high as $100.



<a href="http://b0c40pmhv4t-qfuimlmmqex5q0.hop.clickbank.net/?tid=WT5K3KF3" target="_top">Click Here!</a>

DaBuddahN on 09 January 2010

Is this related to the Navy buying PS3's? I mean, I've seen the 2,200 number before.



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Fufinu on 09 January 2010

Damn this will reduce software attach rate and increase losses for Sony :)



Kenoid on 09 January 2010

i don't know why but the link does not work, can you re-edit please?



                                  

                                       That's Gordon Freeman in "Real-Life"
 

 

Winters on 09 January 2010

The link works just fine, but I re-edited it just in case, I hope it works for you now.



<a href="http://b0c40pmhv4t-qfuimlmmqex5q0.hop.clickbank.net/?tid=WT5K3KF3" target="_top">Click Here!</a>

Tyrannical on 09 January 2010
Winters said:
Tyrannical said:
Sony must love that, since they probably still loose a $100 per console when you factor in sales and marketing costs instead of just manufacturing.

Well according to VGChartz, the new design of the PS3, the PS3 Slim, is being manufactured for US$336.27 each and being sold for US$299 each, therefore with a loss of US$37.27 for each console.

Still a minor loss though, but not as high as $100.

 

Did you drone off before you finished reading the first sentence?



Yet, today, America's leaders are reenacting every folly that brought these great powers [Russia, Germany, and Japan] to ruin -- from arrogance and hubris, to assertions of global hegemony, to imperial overstretch, to trumpeting new 'crusades,' to handing out war guarantees to regions and countries where Americans have never fought before. We are piling up the kind of commitments that produced the greatest disasters of the twentieth century.
 — Pat Buchanan – A Republic, Not an Empire

klaudkil on 09 January 2010

judgment day is at hand