65nm CELL processor production started

"Sony Computer Entertainment has started production on the previously announced 65nm CELL processor. All PlayStation 3 units so far have a 90nm processor inside, but this will change soon. As it seems Sony has started the massproduction of the 65nm processor, and this will have a few advantages.

First of all, this will mean a price cut for Sony on every PlayStation 3 sold. This is because the 65nm CELL processor is cheaper than the 90nm processor.

And second, this means a heatreduction for the PlayStation 3."

[NoUseMerc]

I was going to report this on New4gamers but you beat me too it...lol. Great news.

[big_tim]

I just posted his story for him. It is still good news.

[zonetrooper5]

Well this is good news for Sony and i hope that they can get a price cut by the end of the year or maybe the start of next year. I just can't wait to play Motorstorm, MGS4 and Killzone 2 on the PS3.

[R34GTR]

Sony can only afford steps forward at this point. So this is good.

[BrotherSic]

"Don't expect a price drop though, because Sony will still lose a lot of money with this 'new' processor."

also i would like to see an official announcement, unfortunatly psu.com does not give a source for this information.

[whengeeksgobad]

May be a little too soon to claim this is going in the ps3 immediately. I'm sure they still have a healthy amount of 90nm chips not only already made but being made as we speak. It would cost a LOT of money to start just dropping these in the latest production runs. My guess is we see this chip in the v.2 (whenever that may be).

[HaKeRsCanRotINHEL]

is sure to follow!

[Skynetone]

Lower price for xmas i hope

this year sony has to prove its worth or it may be doomed

[hellraiser501]

I think its good for sony that they are lowering production cost but I'm kinda wishing I would of waited for the upgrade before I purchased my PS3 but I guess as long as it doesn't affect gameplay I will live :[

[r1000]

Hmm yea i don't think prices will drop due to this....

[NoUseMerc]

Sucks for me cause I already own a 60GB PS3...perhaps i can get a good trade in value for it if I go to get the new bundle.

[kingboy]

i might be force to wait a little longer for more clearance about this before buying my ps3

[MikeGdaGod]

i'm glad i bought the extended plan with my ps3. in a year or so i'll take it back, tell Best Buy it stopped working, and get a new one

[Rooted_Dust]

This is good news, and not too much trouble for early adopters. You paid what you paid to get it early...oh well. It also cools easier, but the first versions don't have a big heating problem anyway.

[jerrell]

This machine should be classified as a Sleeping Giant. Once this beast is awakened, it will definitely be a console to reckoned with. Xbox 360 is doing good at this point, and it will continue to, but for them to be coming out with a Whole new console is weird. At least this upgrade Sony is doing, it will not change anything but make it a cooler running system and cheaper production wise. Good move Sony. I am a PS fan and always will be no matter how many people bash this system. It may have a little games right now, but when the games hit this system, it is going to be a great console like the PS2.

[DJ]

and quite cool, so this is just gonna be icing on the cake.

[Asuka]

the PS3 is pretty quiet, well at least compared to my 360 which has loud fans hooked up to it lol

[deathtok]

Very cool, I didn't expect Sony to start production this early. For a system that is already very quiet this may allow even more noise reduction. More importantly the long-term benefits of less heat =)

[Dragonopolis]

That IBM had announced that the 65nm cell could run up to 6GHz..

It would be sad if Sony released the 65nm and didn't provide a GHz increase. They could use a PC method of upgrade where the Top model is the new improved version and the lower price model inherits the previous top dog features but at the reduced $500 price. An Advantage with this is that Sony could hold their pricing structure but continue to improve the performance of the machine without raising the cost of the console.

Yea, Yea, I've heard the comments that this is stupid idea before but it works for the PC industry. My PC is 2 years old and its AGP and not Vista ready. If I want to bathe in all the DX10 gaming glory, I'll need to fork over $1500 plus dollars [unless I build it myself :) ] Forking over $600 dollars within two years to get a massive increase in speed and possibility of other upgrades (hard drive size, improve blu-ray, even memory upgrade) doesn't seem so bad.

Heck, even with upgrading graphic cards on a PC if you want to stay current you'll be forking $400 to $600 every 2 years anyway.

[deathtok]

The glory of consoles is that the hardware remains one spec even if it goes through various revisions. The problem with PC gaming is it often requires a large amount of configuration and developers have to program to support laundry lists worth of hardware. Sony would be shooting themselves in the foot by upgrading the speed of their processor.

[Dragonopolis]

First of all, PC game Developers don't Code to the High End Crowd. They don't need too. They would still target Mid End. The High End would still get a performance boost. This primarily has to do with GPU though and I am not talking about upgrading the GPU. CPU can bottleneck a system and can Prevent a GPU from achieving its full potential. I not asking to drastically change GPU specs but a faster CPU and SPEs could a give the GPU some breathing room and faster framerates. Also it is possible for Software/games to scale to the processor.

Technology is Changing too fast for consoles to stick it out for 5 years. I truly believe a Low End DX10 Computer with a minimum Duel core CPU will be easily achievable in 2 years at current console prices. These system will definitely be more powerful than anything the consoles can deliver and have more memory available to them. Consoles will be forced to drop prices quickly(good for those with tight wallets) and still won't be able to compete graphically.

The one advantage that Microsoft has over the others is it will have been out for 3 years. Technically, in 2 years technology will be powerful and cheap enough that I believe Microsoft will just use full Windows OS rather than less compatible version to make it easier on PC Developers as well as open up more gaming software to Vista users.

Lets face the facts. The days of 5 years for a console are over. Competition will force somebody's hand.

For instance, if PS3 actually does live up to the hype and can out pace xbox 360 and MS starts to loose you bet MS has an upgraded Xbox 360 just waiting to jump in year 3 or 4. However, I believe it will be the PC market that really pushes the consoles into upgrading earlier than they wanted too.

Think about it - what would a duo-core extrem x6800 ( more powerful than any consoles cpu) cost in two years. How about a single 8800gtx (which is way more powerful than the GPUs in any current console)? How about faster memory? In 2 years we will see 2-3 drops in CPU die size 65nm current, 45 nm next year, 30 nm the year after. This leap in technology will drastically drop prices especially when smaller dies are cheaper to manufacture.

[PS360PCROCKS]

Dang I was going to say that this was really fast, but considering the cell was actually developed in 2005 I guess it's sorta old now so it's not really surprising to see this already. Good news for Sony

[OutpostCommand]

This is no doubt good news, but I wouldnt recommend selling your PS3s guys.
The console is already pretty well ventilated, and you should not see any advantages to the 65nm PS3.
Its mainly on Sonys part-
They are making enough of a loss at the moment. I think that they will just keep the price the same, and just make less of a loss on each console.
That is what I would do, anyway.

[MySwordIsHeavenly]

Oh my gosh, I'm so happy to hear this. Maybe mr. Valve and everyone else can finally get what they want. Price cut = good sales...WOOHOO

This can only be awesome for the whole industry...

[bilal]

dont think that would cause such resuction in cost so as to sell the ps3 at alower price ...but it would be good for sony

[anonymous]

prices coming down this year.sony owns the tech.and they always streamline it.i won't benefit from it since i already have a 60gig.but good for other people.

[pixel_sword]

Guess who'll be trading in when this comes out?

$100 was worth it.