IBM shrinks Cell to 45nm. Cheaper PS3s will follow

At an ISSCC session yesterday afternoon, IBM announced details of a smaller, lower-power version of the Cell BE processor that powers Sony's Playstation 3. The Cell BE is currently fabricated on IBM's 65nm SOI process, but IBM will soon move the console chip onto the company's much-ballyhooed, next-generation 45nm high-k process.

The 45nm Cell will use about 40 percent less power than its 65nm predecessor, and its die area will be reduced by 34 percent. The greatly reduced power budget will cut down on the amount of active cooling required by the console, which in turn will make it cheaper to produce and more reliable (this means fewer warrantied returns). Also affecting Sony's per-unit cost is the reduction in overall die size. A smaller die means a smaller, cheaper package; it also means that yields will be better and that each chip will cost less overall.

[cooke15]

maybe they should figure out how to make games look better on ps3 before they worry about the size of its processor.

[Rikitatsu]

that Uncharted is the best looking Console game... Trash Multi-plat games doesn't matter ... since the good multi-pat gamers are better on PS3 ... Burnout paradaise . DMC4 . COD4 , Oblivion etc..

[Iamback]

When 360 produces graphics like Rachet, Uncharted, Heavenly Sword, Killzone 2 than we can have discussion, until then pst!

[cellypower]

Are you joking? Your talking nonsense.

[leon76]

Cooke, are you a mushroom???

[ruibing]

Even if you are running of out ways to insult the PS3, you should at least pick a better one than that.

Let's compare Lost Odyssey to Uncharted in their graphics and engine. Lost Odyssey is based on the Unreal Engine, framerate issues, and 20-30 sec load times between just about every battle or area transition (according to IGN). Uncharted is based on an engine built by Naughty Dog from scratch using C++ versus LISP that they are used to, has no framerate problems from my experience with it, and has absolutely no load times between any areas its a seamless experience.

A much better issue to pick with the PS3 would have been longer development time, but certain developers have even managed to get around that. Insomniac is able to churn out one AAA title every year.

[AllroundGamer]

the average brain of a casual Nintendo fanboy...

[Bathyj]

Sad, sad little man.

1st party Sony games sh*t all over 1st party M$ games graphically. All you you have to cling to are minor differences in poorly ported 3rd party trash. When dont right with games like CoD4 or Burnout, the PS3 version is just as good or better.

Offer an opinion when you grow up to be a real gamer.

[TheHater]

stop eating all that mushroom dude. It bad for your health.

[darkside]

maybe nintendo should worry about their third party developers.
Because most 3rd party games (98%) are $hit.

[PSWe60]

This coming from a guy who probably owns a Wii

[Iron Man 2]

STFU cooke15,go play with your Wii you Wii-tard,look at this kids comment history,PATHETIC!;)

[mighty_douche]

Oh, cheaper playstations? according to n4g that means Sony is deperate and ripping off customer right?

im outraged, i bought mine at launch at had to pay more! who knew things became cheaper over time?!!

....enough sarcasm i believe...

[Blankman]

Am not the type 2 have 2 of 1 console but if sony tosses out a slim i gotta get get it.

[hazeblaze]

Well, I don't think you all should expect any price cuts just yet. I doubt Sony will cut the price before the holiday UNLESS Microsoft has a price drop first. The PS3 is selling well, it would make sense for Sony to continue selling at the current price value, recoup costs, and then do a MAJOR price drop for the holiday.

[masterg]

I think Sony will make a price cut just before GTA4.
Sony is selling well right now and the latest US numbers only show a small gap up to the 360.
This is the year for Sony to truly excel compared to the 360. With the game line-up plus a price cut Sony would over take the US as well.

Sure people might say that the 360 will cut the price as well. But you have to keep in mind that the further down the price goes the less effective the price cut is. With a $300 PS3 the 360 would have to go to $200 to keep up. $250 would not be enough. $50 extra for Blu-ray and a much better game line-up would make it hard to justify a 360 purchase.

[Tempist]

Well I'll be... I said way back that to get a slimmer PS3 (when the rumor mill started churning out that) you would need a 45nm processor, and well, here it is. The next step to getting to a slim PS3 is a 65 or 45nm RSX chip.

Still, a slim PS3 is no 2008 or even mid 2009 release. They'll have to burn the current models from inventory before they can even consider a redesign. And to add on that they released a white and silver model.

I'll state this now however, by 2010 a slim PS3 will be out. Hardware computability might be re-integrated with the PSTwo's hardware.

[Rikitatsu]

thats great to hear

[THE_JUDGE]

no one will be complaining about how expensive it is. I doubt that we will see an immediate impact but in a couple of years we will see it for sure.

[TheExecutive]

399 and 299 anyone?

[mighty_douche]

i doubt we'll be seeing any huge price drops like that anytime soon. But correct me if im wrong, that means less heat produced? we know that Sony (+others) have made great advancements in shinking down the Blu-Ray drives, so perhaps there is some truth to the slimmer/lighter PS3....

[TheExecutive]

Well maybe not immediately but I think that will be the price point this holiday season...

[mighty_douche]

oh, yeah i agree, theres little doubt there.

The only reason i dont see it anytime soon as at its current price its still outselling the 360.

[TheExecutive]

well, it also depends on what MS does. I really think that they will slash the price of the 360 before GTA4 in order to try and get more people to buy the console. If they do this it may force Sony to do the same... time will tell, this allows some wiggle room either way.

[desolationstorm]

I dont know if $299 will happen right away, but you are right it will be in response to Microsoft. If rumors are true they will do a cut for GTAIV so I think sony would have to do something. Id be more willing to bank on getting a DS3 pack in and maybe a game before another price cut. Who knows though, but if Microsoft does a $50 pricecut I could see Sony following its not as much as a $100 but it keeps them close and isnt a huge drop.

[TheHater]

if there is a 299 ps3, then I can see it competing with the Wii

[whengeeksgobad]

the die shrink is great news and it could mean cheapers ps3s that produce less heat, but its not just as simple as, "alright lets make em smaller now!" Manufacturing processes are as such that it would take MONTHS to get plants mass producing them whilst stepping away from the 90nm/65 they are at currently. At any rate, its how things get cheaper, but probably not for a while.

[Amnesiac]

Who cares about price, I just want a Ps3 slim.

[blu3print]

a slim ps3 might look like slightly smaller than the 1st ps2... probably when they reach 32nm it'll be as slim as the slim PS2 and those chips would be ready to power the PSP2

[Grahammad]

What the price of the individual components in the PS3 have been costing sony? I believe that they said they are now pretty much breaking even on the 40GB model which means the over all production price must be just around $400 US. With the Blu-Ray drive becoming cheaper and the loss of the various PS2 chipsets we've seen significant price reductions but they were all done in combination with each other. I believe I remember hearing that the Cell was still the most expensive component but I can't see a huge price drop just from that alone; have there been any more advances on the Blu-ray drives? If so that maybe enough to warrant a price drop, by what, maybe $50? That's assuming they wanted to continue breaking even on the console sales. So does anyone remember the actual numbers? I'd just like to know what the production price would be now for the Cell in particular and what the cost reductions might have been for the blu-ray drives if any. Either way, a price drop is a price drop, it'll help others get in on the system (Won't help me though since I already got a fully loaded 60GB).

[TheExecutive]

I dont remember the actual numbers. I havent seen any in a while. However, I dont think sony minds breaking even on their consoles atm. The life cycles of their consoles really allow them to make money later on.

[XiaoSet]

That was a couple months ago, before the shrinking of the blu-ray component, and now this. So they're making profit now, or very soon.

[Grahammad]

TheExecutive - Agreed

XiaoSet - While after this I can easily see them turning a profit on the console alone that's not generally what Sony likes to do, they perfere to keep their consoles in the break even area, maybe even selling them at a slight loss, and then they let the software make up the profit, unlike Nintendo which is pretty much the opposite as they are selling the Wii at a huge gain.

[niall77]

but the advantage with the ps3 is just after GTA4 we get MGS4 so alot of people will be getting ps3s this summer

[Tut]

You are probably right, but I have to wonder if they wouldn't wait until after their big-guns get dished out to drop price. Financially it would make sense, because that could yield them some pretty mean profits compared to dropping price before titles like Metal Gear Solid or Final Fantasy hit the sales floor. So, they keep the current price-point because it is competing very well against other consoles, then shortly after they make some profit (a month or two, maybe?) they drop the price to allow more adopters to come in and get a good deal.

Or, if they needed to drop price and were capable of a $100 reduction, they could do $50 now, and then finish the $50 when those titles have been out for a small while.

[meepmoopmeep]

if the price drops enough i'll pick up another PS3 for the other TV

[SIX]

This coincides with the PS3 slim rumor. Less heat/less power consumption = smaller cooling fans = smaller PS3= lower price= Win Win Win

[nirun]

slim ps3 won't be around for a while. everyone needs to remember the sale projections that sony made for the ps3... it has some correlation to the amount of stock that they hold. it's going to be a while until they ship all of the 65nm (40gb) and 90nm (80gb) units. Sales are really going to need to pick up if a slim is coming out anytime in the next 12 months. also i believe that the 80gb ps3 is still being sold at a considerable loss (educated speculation)

[TheExecutive]

I agree the slim is at least a year off. I just dont see it in the cards.

[King2008]

Would trade your woman in for a smaller, sexier, version of herself? Have some loyalty to the fatty we all bought long ago lol...i know she's huge and you prolly made her fatter by upgrading her HDD but have some respect and not drool at the next sexiest thing that walks by. I named my fatty ps3 Esmeralda and she has been so good to me. Everytime i press her buttons she turns on now does it really get any better than that?

[Skerj]

She's not fat, she's feature packed man. Wait, we talking chicks or PS3s still?

[Qbanboi]

Yours words has come to my heart. :'(

PS: God, Ps3 slim is like confirmed already. With all this going on, it is imposible to tell the contrary.

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

Relax man, we are talking about a videogame, a piece of eletronic, not fat moms. Don't you name a object as a woman... Not if it isn't a Guitar, a Car or a Motorcycle! ^^

[devilhunterx]

to go a diet

[Dark_Overlord]

"The greatly reduced power budget will cut down on the amount of active cooling required by the console, which in turn will make it cheaper to produce and more reliable (this means fewer warrantied returns)"

LMFAO, is he talking about the PS3?

[whengeeksgobad]

sure he is. Not that the ps3 is known for its warranty returns, but less power consumption = less heat = an even more reliable product.

[OC Shock Value]

If Playstation gets cheap enough they will go str8 to war with the Wii for the rest of this generation.. This will be Sony and Nintendos Craziest battle yet.. I can see this being an 8 year last man standind, WWF type fight between the two.. this will be verry fun to participate in.. since i support both consoles.. and lowering the PS3 prices of the PS3 makes the battle that much more believable..

The only thing that can ruin tnis is if Nintendo gets smart and drops their prices as well.. Which means things will get REAL nasty for sony and microsoft

[Exhaust]

I mean those greedy bastards are already making $50 or more profit on each console on day one. They can afford to drop the price way more than Sony or MS.

Yes I know Nintendo is a business but its old hardware and traditionally in the video game industry profits come from games and accessories. They won't even open a new factory over a year after demand is high because once again their greedy bastards.

/end Nintendo rant

[resistance100]

'maybe they should figure out how to make games look better on ps3 before they worry about the size of its processor.'

Wait? Aren't you a wii fan? im sure you are after reading some of your previous posts, talk about irony.

[TheHater]

If there is a price drop, to around 299-349, then I will buy another PS3 for my little cousin birthday. I just hope it happen before March 14th.

[OC Shock Value]

If my girl wasnt as sexy as she is.. i would take the playstation man.. no complaining, no crying, it wont leave me like my 360 did.. My 360 called me a lil sucka and never talked to me again.. (RROD)

[King2008]

Thats what i mean my playstation has been so great to me i dont see how i can trade her in or even think about getting another one. 360 is like an beautiful gold digger no matter how bad she treats you, you still end up coming back...i'm on #4. Only my real life woman can get me off the game...she's actually a little jealous of my ps3.

[OC Shock Value]

Graphics dont matter if your game is fun.. i am playin Mario 64 and Final Fantasy 10 right now.. Both better games then ANYTHING on the 2 new HD systems (as of now) cant say the same for the Wii tho..

But i do appreciate what sony is doing for us all in the graphics department.. They are trying to make history

[Orange]

you should play some of the PS3 games. Warhawk is as addictive as anything I've played. Super Stardust and Everyday Shooter are throwbacks as good as any old school shooters.

edit: and i agree, PSWii is a nice combo. i've been alternating between SMG and Warhawk the past few weeks.

[Bladestar]

Hopefully just in time for Metal Gear and Final Fantasy... I wouldn't mind paying $299 for a PS3 because Sony managed to drop the price at that point... I don't think that Sony will imediately drop the price of their product the moment they have a chance to make a profit thought. If the demand is high due to games like Metal Gear and Final Fantasy then there is no need to drop the price. Most companies try to reduce cost primarily to place themselves in a position where they can increase profits not to drop the prices of a product people are already buying... For example. Nintendo always made a profit on their hardware and I'm sure the production cost also drop.. but since they are selling like crazy so why would they drop the price?

Sony, Microsoft, And Nintendo's dropping console price is tied to market performance not production cost... No company drop a product when is selling well... this is why HD DVD prices are dropping... this is why Sony dropped the price of the PS3 by $100 and create a $400 SKU... Before Sony drop the price they need to do bad, probably fall behind a bit... if the PS3 sells like hot cakes.. don't expect a price drop.... the other thing to be aware is that, usually price drop arent aligned with exclusives... they work like timeout on a football game... you don't call 2 timeout at the sametime... you save them for later when you do need it.

[Ri0tSquad]

Agreed

[TheExecutive]

I agree with you. however, if MS drops the price i see sony doing so also. If and I mean if the ps3 starts selling well enough to where they feel they are at the right price point then I dont see the need for them to drop it. I dont think sony feels as though 499 and 399 is the right price point to hang on to, but thats just my opinion.

[heyheyhey]

its not like a timeout- its more like a smart bomb

if you use one then you will be hitting the oppstition pretty hard, however sometimes when your gaining on the opposition and are slowly starting to exceed them (like Sony is now) then it is logical to drop two smart bombs at once to excel yourself miles ahead of the opposition- that way you ensure that your not going to fall behind again

Sony has some pretty big decisons to make. A lot of people are going to buy the PS3 to play MGS4 so they can either sit around and watch the customers pour in and then make more profit or they could drop the price and make an unimaginable amount of sales, but at a lower profit per unit- Business is a complicated concept

personnally i would drop the price before GTA4- that way you ensure that less people will buy the 360 to play it instead of the PS3 and buy it for the PS3

you would also ramp up the install base rapidly to reap in more software sales which is especially important for games like MGS4 and Haze- if these 3rd party games sell well then it is likely that they will stay exclusive and that the company making them will not be afraid to make more exclusives

anyway this 65nm thing is great- roll on PS3 slim

[akaFullMetal]

so sony is trying to make the ps3 cheaper, and wii boys and 360 fans are trying to insult sony for this, god whats wrong with you people, dont you want a cheaper ps3??? a 299 ps3???? one for yourself someday???

[OC Shock Value]

LMFAO.. i understand man.. my girl also hates my PS3.. but really REALLY hates my Wii.. because she doesnt have one.. pure jelousy man.. pure jelousy.. She will probably make me choose between HER and MGS4.. and thats not a choice im ready to make yet LOL

[HardcoreGamer]

i would like to see the same trend with psone and pstwo slim follow.

but it needs at least 4 years since it launch like the other playstations

[OC Shock Value]

Damn man i think your right.. nice read.. threw some common sense at me.. bubbles for you

[jessupj]

I'd like to buy one soon but with all this news of cost cutting and smaller cells I think I'm going to have to wait it out as long as I can. Even if that still means getting it after the release of gtaIV and MGS4. But at that time, knowing I could be playing MGS4..... I could crack and buy one.

must... resist.... temptation.... *head explodes*

[kewlkat007]

sucks to be an "Early Adopter". I'm well aware, it can also be good for some.

I def should of waited with the PS3, like I said I was going to.

I bought my PS3 for "Fighters and Jrpgs" and have been dissappointed early on.

[ThatArtGuy]

I'm glad I'm an early adopter. I won't have to worry about backwards compatibility. :D I've also been enjoying Uncharted, Ratchet, and a whole ton of Blu-Rays.

[OC Shock Value]

I got my PS3 for JRPGs, MGS4, Resident Evil, GTA4, and mainly

waiiiiiit 4 it.....

Final Fantasy 7 Remake
Twisted Metal Black 2

Lord if your listning.. Please give man strength to deliver these games.. a new Jetmoto and Powerstone wouldnt hurt either.. Amen

[kewlkat007]

Good games... I tried folklore, thinking it would hold me over but that game fighting mechanism was just shallow.

Getting knocked down everytime you get hit is, ridiculous. Trudging through the story twice with the other character gets boring, endless "invisible walls everywhere.

I already beat Enchanted Arms on the 360, I think it's now on th ePS3, also.

[OC Shock Value]

People should probably stop disrespecting the playstation.. Do to the fact that it has some of the greatest games this year..

Seriously tho if u have the means to do it.. I recomend You all get the PSWii Combo.. owning both these systems is the greatest most diverse combo you will ever have.. You will always find something to play.. and it will never feel the same

[PSWe60]

It's safe to say that Sony has official began to kick some @$$
it's all good news from here on out boys

[TABSF]

This is good to know the small the processor get the older model get cheap. THIS WILL SELL MORE PS3