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IBM may introduce the new CELL chip for Sony next-gen console ?

Sony and IBM still together?

IBM still supports the CELL Broadband Engine, signed Sony Playstation! The official website continues to offer the chip created for the Playstation 3 and displays it proudly in the company's history with the symbols of buttons on the pad, and has signed also agreements with Toshiba (the CELL is present in his REGZA TV) and have achieved server supercomputer.

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user39158004112d ago

No it wont happened, Sony already stated they are going with multi procesors, so no cell and to be honest im glad there is no cell on the ps4.

decrypt4112d ago (Edited 4112d ago )

Cell is over rated imo, its only Sony fanboys cheer leading it, hell even Sony themselves have stopped.

Its a fact had Sony released the PS3 with a normal CPU and GPU like the 8800GTX, the PS3 would have easily been capable of running most of its games in 1080p @ 60fps.

While Cell is better than a standard CPU when it comes to doing graphics, thats because CELL was designed to do graphics a CPU isnt designed for that job. However against a real GPU Cell stands no chance. It would absolutely fail even against the RSX, let alone anything that was relevant at the time the PS3 was released aka the 8800GTX.

CELL tried to do everything at once CPU tasks and GPU tasks and ended up being bad at both of them. It cant compete with a Dual core CPU when it comes to general purpose tasks, while it absolutely gets devastated by 4-5 year old GPUs. Proof is in the pudding, With Sony running at the last moment to Nvidia for help. Had their been no RSX in the PS3 there was no way it was going to compete with Xbox 360 even with 2 cells on it.

Coming to the current time. It takes billions of USD to develop chips. IBM is no where near a contender in the graphics business. Even if they did update the CELL it wouldnt stand a chance against any of the current offerings from Nvidia or AMD. Hence it would be in Sonys best interest to go with a standard CPU and a good strong GPU from AMD.

AMD and Nvidia have put in years or work and billions of USD into these chips, there is no way IBM can compete in this department with either of them. Sony would be better of putting the extra money toward a better GPU than to invest in upgrading the Cells ancient design.

Edit:

Here come the disagrees lol, for the disbelievers go ahead put together a 4 year old PC with a dual core CPU and a 8800GTX watch as it will play most console ports in 1080p. Something which PS3 will barely do in 720p, despite any sort of optimization from the Cell.

Hence for the PS4 it would be in Sony best interest to drop the Cell watch and see as thats exactly whats going to happen.

blackbeld4112d ago

Maybe, if so then it will easy be backward compatible.

Still rumour, we should wait and see.

yewles14112d ago (Edited 4112d ago )

*sigh* decrypt, WHY are you comparing the PS3 to a graphics card that had cost $50 MORE than the whole console at launch?

zebramocha4112d ago

@yewles do you have a time frame for your next video? I like them and your intros,going up and down my inner tubes.

steve30x4112d ago

@ decrypt : If you put an 8800GTX into a console the console would die within an hour because the 8800GTX got extremely hot. With the stock cooler it would reach up to 95 celcius.

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DeadlyFire4112d ago

Only reason I see is for PS3 compatibility for PS3 games. Which is very likely to be in at least the first wave of consoles.

Cell is not necessary anymore. Power series is a parallel or better to it now really. I personally believe Power7 is the successor to the Cell tech.

32 threads in 8 core Power7 Cell 2 was aimed to have 32 SPUs. What is the real difference between 32 SMT threads and 32 SPUs. Its possible the performance was equal or lesser than Power7 series CPUs that were coming out which could be the main factor in it getting canned.

Cell up to 256 Gflops.
Power7 264 Gflops and is more efficient at keeping that pace.

Power8 Could possibly stomp both of them, but doubtful Power8 is coming along side AMD APU, but it technically could. Just doesn't seem like enough room in the system.

sikbeta4111d ago

2 things:

.CELL is dead as a viable chip

.Unless you want to buy a $599 console again and Sony want to be the laughing stock for another generation... it's just better to cut expensive PS3-BC and go for an affordable console that is easy to sell

Now, when Sony unveil the PS4 and tell there is no PS3-BC, people will RAGE! and XBX8 will have another advantage compared to PS4

+ Show (6) more repliesLast reply 4111d ago
Enemy4112d ago (Edited 4112d ago )

Nope, the Cell Saga is over, folks. They're moving on to better, simpler things.

Unless you were expecting:

Sony: And now for our worst kept secret...the PS4!
Crowd: YEAHHHH!! HOO HOO HOO HOO!
Sony: ...to be powered by the most advanced and most complex architecture ever put into a single chip. PlayStation fans, I give you the Cell 2!
Microsoft: (laughs)

nukeitall4112d ago

I hope Cell isn't returning for Sony's own sake. I want to see the PS4 flourish and be a serious competitor in the industry.

The industry needs it.

Ulf4112d ago (Edited 4112d ago )

Enemy, you just stuck a red sign on your head, with the word "CPU clueless" on it.

The next gen platforms will probably have barely the performance of the Cell, when it comes to some tasks, like movie-quality animation, and good physics -- its a real shame, from a CPU and gamer standpoint, that we won't see a quad-core, 16-32 SPU Cell this next gen.

DragonKnight4112d ago

@nukeitall: BAHAHAHAHAHA! That was a good one. Oh wait, you're serious? Gee, what can one say to that. Hmm, well I guess the PS3 didn't have the best looking console games of the gen. Oh, it did? Well damn. I guess the PS3 didn't sell at a faster rate globally than the 360 (meaning it was more desired throughout the world) and has likely surpassed it now. Oh, they did that too? Gee, I wonder how anyone could come to the conclusion that the Playstation brand isn't flourishing. Oh, an MS fanboy? That explains a lot.

nukeitall4111d ago

@DragonKnight:

The Playstation brand is the weakest it has ever been as reflected by the marketshare of each respective company.

Seeing how I hurt your feeling with a pretty innocent comment, it is clear who is the real fanboy is!

hesido4111d ago

It wasn't Cell that held back PS3, it was the RSX. CELL's cycles were used to make up for it (e.g. Vertex skinning on Xbox is usually done straight on Xenos, while for PS3, this had to be done on the Cell to get better performance.)

I hope PS4 has an butt-kicking graphics card where you can throw anything including aiding the cpu for some tasks, not like on Ps3 where it was the other way around. Then it can have whatever CPU they like.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4111d ago
ATi_Elite4112d ago (Edited 4112d ago )

although "SOME" people believe The Cell is the second coming, can cure Cancer, and get them a date with Megan Fox or Megan Good........

hate to bust your bubbles but the Cell is Dead!

. IBM has taken it's Cell Servers off-line
. Toshiba has no plans for the Cell in it's Next Gen TV's
. Sony has already said x86-64 for PS4
. Toshiba sold the Cell plant back to Sony and Sony will use the Cell manufacturing plant to make sensors for cameras and other parts but NO Cell manufacturing!

The Cell was a nice chip but it just doesn't fit in too nicely in a x86 world no matter how much power you give the PPE part of it!

True no PS4 News has been given but Sony saying NO to the Cell for the PS4 did slip out and you only have to read a SOny or IBM or Toshiba Financial report to know that Sony is not making any Cell Processors and Neither is IBM or Toshiba!

trenso14112d ago (Edited 4112d ago )

Yell Dead Cell!

(hope they get the reference)

DarkHeroZX4112d ago (Edited 4112d ago )

Sony has not confirmed anything on the ps4. They where testing how much power it would take to run GT5 at 4k resolution and it took 4 ps3's to do so. So at minimum they need 4 cells which 1 new one blows the current cell out of the water. They need a minimum of 1 gig of vram and 1 gig of system ram to play a ps3 game at 4k, and atleast a 660 gtx or equal graphic card. We'll what Sony does though. This could help keep cost low for the next console.

4112d ago Replies(3)
Irishguy954112d ago

I hope they stick with Cell, so the system will be backwards compat with the Ps3.

IG-884112d ago

well if they do not go with the cell next gen than Gaikai could be used for backwards compatibility.

guitarded774112d ago

Yeah, but I have a collection of about 200 disc games. If they go cloud, they damn well better have a system in place where I can play the games I already paid for, for free or I'll be pi$$ed.

Cueil4112d ago

how about this... keep your PS3... when you're done with your PS3 sell it and all your games on EBay... till then keep it hooked up. It's not going to poison your PS4 because you play with it more. They are consoles, not women.

Saigon4111d ago

A while back I asked a question if Sony decided to use the cell chip with the supposedly graphics chip they implied from AMD. I received some various answers.

What if the APU is a custom chip using the cell technology (not necessarily the cell chip) with a weak GPU for the low end processing and an off the shelf high end GPU + APU (Previously mentioned) for high end processing. Do you think that will work.

Or what if they decide to use the cell chip as the main processor and the APU + GPU will be used for all game processing, of course in combination with the cell, could that work?

Grandmaster-B4112d ago

I hope so, the re-bought cell fabrics could consider this.

Cell2 FTW

TheBreezyBB4112d ago

Wouldn't it be better if Sony are indeed using a new Cell Processor?
Think about, BC and easier workflow for most developers, as they would not need to start all over again with some new hardware.

MasterCornholio4112d ago

True some people are freaking out because they believe that CELL is difficult to develop for but the truth is that developers have had 6 years to program for the processor so its normal that they get used to it. I really dont see why sony cant use a better version of the cell processor.

Pandamobile4112d ago

Maybe they got tired of seeing their platform get the ass-end of pretty much every multiplatform game?

Use a more standard architecture: More happy devs, more happy players because multiplatform PS4 games don't look inferior to the same game on a next-gen Xbox.

Consoldtobots4111d ago

I dont know what's been hated on more this gen the cell or the PS3.

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50°

LG Gaming Week deals kick off with $500 off this 45-inch UltraGear OLED curved gaming monitor

Save a bucket load on this massive curved gaming monitor- with the potential of even more savings in LG's Gaming Week

80°

Review: GameScent - Now you can smell your games | KnowTechie

KnowTechie writes: "The GameScent is a unique way to add immersion to your games. Thanks to its HDMI and 3.5mm jack, the device is versatile, so you can use it across your consoles and PC. However, it would be great to see a new range of scents since there are only six, and many smell similar to each other."

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TheLigX13h ago

Ah yes… whenever I play a game I always think that it would be so much better if my home could smell more like gasoline and burnt gunpowder.

staticall12h ago

Boogerman, Binding Of Isaac, Fallout, Postal and Scorn, here i come, smell away!

Skate-AK11h ago

Can't forget Octodad and Harlod Halibut.

160°

Here's why PC gamers aren't upgrading GPUs as often as they used to

At a time where GPUs are more available than ever, it appears as though PC gamers aren't upgrading as often as they used to.

Vits2d ago

For me, the primary concern with new software is how it's often exclusive to a new series. This not only frustrates me but also raises questions about the lifespan of the hardware. With GPUs no longer offering significant performance boosts, they rely heavily on software enhancements.

However, this reliance is contingent on developer support. When the new 5000 series hits shelves, it's likely that the 4000 series won't be compatible with Nvidia's new software. This would negate any advantage it had over the 3000 series, leaving one to wonder why they upgraded in the first place. And the same will keep happening as we move through the generations.

AMD is a bit better in that regard as they often use open standards, which offer wider compatibility. However, they have even less developer support, and their software solutions tend to lag behind Nvidia by at least one whole generation. So if you have a 3000 series from Nvidia right now, it doesn't really make that much sense to upgrade to the 7000 series from AMD because feature-wise they are pretty similar level.

just_looken6h ago

The huge thing you are missing is display.

If you have a 1440p/1080p monitor there is 0 reason to leave the 3,000/amd 6,000 series those cards are cheap with many years of driver support left and can push those resolutions for you 0 issues well unless you go below the 60 series range or amd's 6400

Right now computer games are having issues because of garbage drm and or just a garbage port that even is trash on consoles like dragon dogmas 30fps BS all versions.

There is 0 reason to get a 5k/amd 7k series card unless you are doing serious rendering and or 4k gaming or you want more vram as yes games are taking up more thanks to higher native textures.

It would be a huge help if these "gaming" consoles used real hardware not some apu/igpu garbage even a 3 year old gaming laptop has better guts. A real cpu/gpu/ram/mb/psu/storage on a console would help so much on game porting/optimization for the devs.

Vits5h ago

I don't think that is a huge thing. Hell, I would even argue that is completely not important.
Pc Gamers in general do not care about resolution that much and therefore I don't see 4K gaming becoming a thing on Pc any time soon. It's just not worth it. Even more when right now there are many better ways to improve the visual quality of your experience before going for the resolution.

From QLED, OLED, miniLED-based solutions, Fast IPS, IPS Black, better VA panels, all of them play a much larger role than resolution in improving game visual quality. Not to mention you don't need to sacrifice refresh rate if you stay in the Full/Quad HD bracket. And refresh rate is a thing that PC gamers care about.

And let's be honest, developers are not focusing on native solutions anymore. So why bother going for higher resolution if the game is going to fake it either way? It's a waste of resources that clearly most PC gamers aren't willing to do.

Furesis1d 19h ago

oh my god, these "Here's why" articles are always about the most obvious shit ever, like do people actually read these?

Neonridr1d 14h ago

because they last for generations. You don't need to upgrade every 1, 2 or even 3 years. I went from a 1080ti which served me so well to a 3080 with years in between. I won't even consider upgrading until the 5000 series at the earliest, but will most likely wait for the 6000 series.

hard joe1d ago

not every gamer have money to upgrade every year

just_looken6h ago

But you do not need too on a pc if you're non 4k gamer 3 year old hardware will work for you.

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