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Gaming Forums => General Gaming => Topic started by: THE ONE on April 27, 2003, 04:45:43 AM

Title: WHAT IS A CELL PROCESSOR?
Post by: THE ONE on April 27, 2003, 04:45:43 AM

    I have been reading about the ps3 having a cell processor. WTF is a cell proccesor. can anybody give a link or some information on what that is?
Title: WHAT IS A CELL PROCESSOR?
Post by: MikeHrusecky on April 27, 2003, 06:41:54 AM
See the "Fast Forward" forum for some threads on the Cell.
Title: WHAT IS A CELL PROCESSOR?
Post by: EggyToast on April 27, 2003, 07:25:29 AM
And the PS3 isn't using one, fyi.
Title: WHAT IS A CELL PROCESSOR?
Post by: boggy b on April 27, 2003, 07:37:04 AM
Correction. The PS3 MIGHT NOT use one.
Title: WHAT IS A CELL PROCESSOR?
Post by: EggyToast on April 27, 2003, 10:36:50 AM
No, it will not.
Title: WHAT IS A CELL PROCESSOR?
Post by: manunited4eva22 on April 27, 2003, 01:27:53 PM
Prove that it will not.
Title: WHAT IS A CELL PROCESSOR?
Post by: Locke Cole on April 27, 2003, 01:32:28 PM
This is just becoming a spam war, its impossible to tell if PS3 will use a cell processor until Sony releases a spec sheet of all of PS3's parts.
Title: WHAT IS A CELL PROCESSOR?
Post by: Grey Ninja on April 27, 2003, 03:56:09 PM
Sony has officially stated that the Cell processor will not be in the PS3.
Title: WHAT IS A CELL PROCESSOR?
Post by: mouse_clicker on April 27, 2003, 04:30:54 PM
From DesignChain.com's article about Sony and the Cell processor:

"Although Sony refuses to talk about its future plans for the chip, it does admit that the Cell chip will not be the CPU in the Playstation3, reportedly slated for release in 2005."
Title: WHAT IS A CELL PROCESSOR?
Post by: Locke Cole on April 27, 2003, 04:36:51 PM
Thanks for the proof Mouseclicker and Grey.  This discussion can be furthered more by actually stating what a cell processor is, cause I have no clue....
Title: WHAT IS A CELL PROCESSOR?
Post by: EggyToast on April 27, 2003, 04:51:32 PM
A cell processor is a cluster of processors.  Have you heard of dual cpu computers, and servers using multiple processors?  Unisys makes servers that can use up to 64 processors (hot swappable, too).

A cell processor is essentially combining the technology of multiple CPUs into one cohesive CPU (which is really more like simply a cluster of CPUs).  It can be very powerful, as you can assign different procedures to different processors.  For instance, you could have one bad-guy's AI on one CPU, another bad guy on another CPU, and when those bad guys aren't present simply assign another AI to one.  I'm sure you can think of other examples where using an entirely separate processor for different processes can be useful, as you basically avoid cpu strain.

The problem, of course, is that developing for such a system is a royal pain.  Only recently have more companies been including dual cpu support for very mainstream applications.  Programming is even more of a pain as you have to tell the system where you want the code to run, and make sure things aren't conflicting.  For instance, if you have a 1 room house, and need to tell 4 friends where to move 5 pieces of furniture, it's easy -- 1 room, 4 walls.  But imagine if you had 4 friends, 5 pieces of furniture, and 20 different rooms.  It gets a lot more complex making sure everything ends up in the right spot, not to mention avoiding collisions.
Title: WHAT IS A CELL PROCESSOR?
Post by: mouse_clicker on April 28, 2003, 03:24:48 AM
I think I remembered hearing about this- wasn't Sony's plan to have the PS3 be a completely online console and it would use the CPU's from every machine to run the games, which you downloaded?
Title: WHAT IS A CELL PROCESSOR?
Post by: EggyToast on April 28, 2003, 05:58:10 AM
Well, sony says a lot of things.  Or at least the rumors started by fanboys get interpretted as fact by a lot of people.

Do you recall how super-powerful the PS2 was supposed to be?  It's already far-eclipsed by 2 other consoles that came out a little over a year afterward.
Title: WHAT IS A CELL PROCESSOR?
Post by: manunited4eva22 on April 28, 2003, 11:44:04 AM
Theoretically the PS2 is more powerful than both consoles. The only thing it really lacks is a fast bus, but the EE is a very powerful tool. Sony really never got down to building actual tools, and that is why the PS2 is so weak in comparison.
Title: WHAT IS A CELL PROCESSOR?
Post by: oohhboy on April 29, 2003, 07:29:21 AM
Horrable RAM lag, limited VRAM, lack of native graphical effects, yeah, that makes it great if you were not using it to play games. Game designers will tellyou how disapointed they are with it. Back to CELL. IMO it sounds great on paper, like the PS2, but the design is just not suitable from games. Breaking codes maybe.
Title: WHAT IS A CELL PROCESSOR?
Post by: manunited4eva22 on April 29, 2003, 07:43:58 AM
Did I miss where it became able to use quantum theories?
Title: WHAT IS A CELL PROCESSOR?
Post by: nitsu niflheim on April 29, 2003, 08:30:08 AM
...a pipe dream Sony came up with because they thought it sounded good and would get them attention... kinda like the Xbox.
Title: RE: WHAT IS A CELL PROCESSOR?
Post by: Mario on October 05, 2004, 04:56:49 AM
good question
Title: RE:WHAT IS A CELL PROCESSOR?
Post by: S-U-P-E-R on October 05, 2004, 03:00:33 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: Mario
good question


NICE POST THERE COUNT BUMPULA
Title: RE:WHAT IS A CELL PROCESSOR?
Post by: animex on October 08, 2004, 09:55:39 AM
CELL=FUEL4BATTERY=BATTERY PROCESSOR
Title: RE:WHAT IS A CELL PROCESSOR?
Post by: Ymeegod on October 10, 2004, 11:13:42 AM
Love it, love how MC doesn't follow up on any of the real facts otherwise he would have notice "spring 2003" issue.

Since then it's been confirmed quite a few times over that the cell processor is in fact going into the ps3.

Of course the official specs of the Cell wasn't confirmed.

Title: RE: WHAT IS A CELL PROCESSOR?
Post by: ib2kool4u912 on October 10, 2004, 02:33:27 PM
Umm, MC posted that in the spring of 2003.........
Title: RE: WHAT IS A CELL PROCESSOR?
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on October 10, 2004, 02:51:01 PM
Yep, someone failed at this internet.
Title: RE:WHAT IS A CELL PROCESSOR?
Post by: Ymeegod on October 11, 2004, 09:18:43 AM
LOL, my bad.

Wonder who bumped up such an old post.