Sony's ZEGO Cell Platform with PS3 cell CPUs gets speced out

If anything were done right by the PS3 it is its enormous Cell Broadband Engine and RSX graphics technologies capable of handling multi-core computing and rendering increasingly complex HD videos and graphics. The cell-powers are being used in IBM supercomputer to break Petaflop barrier, now the co-developer bundles the similar PS3 package; launches ZEGO Cell Platform that utilizes the same cell processor and RSX GPU processor, onto a 19-inch 1U rackmount.

[ajay_solidsnake]

Could this be a hint of slimmer PS3 ?

[MNicholas]

The reason the current PS3 has a large internal volume is because of the enormous yet quiet heatsink and cooling fan. The Zego, which is little more than a PS3 without the Blu-Ray drive shows that due to the improved manufacturing process, shrinking the chips and the resulting power requirements, the massive cooling apparatus is no longer needed.

So yes, a slim PS3 is definitely technically possible now. Having said that, I am not sure they'll do it. Instead, they might use the extra space afforded by the current enclosure to fit the cheaper 3.5" desktop hard-drives instead of the 2.5" laptop style units they currently use. This should drive down costs even further. Frankly, I'd choose a full size PS3 with a 3.5" drive over a slim PS3 with a 2.5" drive.

In any case, I'm working for a company that might be interested in the Zego. It all comes down to the price. Unfortunately, although the manufacturing cost is unlikely to be much more than $250-$300, the darn thing probably costs about $1000 or more.

[Lord Anubis]

for a slim PS3 they need to reduce the size of blu-ray diode and bring the CELL n RSX down to a 45nm to make it count.Maybe do what they did with the PS2 and combine both the rsx and cell into a single silicon to reduce price.

[ruibing]

I was just going to stay that. It seems to have everything besides Bluetooth, Wifi, and the Blu Ray drive.

[kopicha]

correct me if i am wrong. the 2.5HDD was the chosen choice mainly due to lower power consumption which is much efficient overall as compared to a 3.5HDD. i believe you can hardly find a 5.4k rpm 3.5HDD these days. and running a 7.2k rpm drive would increase the overall heat generation with very little performance boost with is not really worth imo. and i am talking about long operation here as well. as we should know in fact PS3 is already running pretty hot with its current default setting. i guess thats why they end up decided to go with a 2.5HDD instead. i believe sony aint all that stupid as i strongly believe they already know in the first place that 7.2k drives heat : performance ratio doesnt worth at all. else they would have gone with 7.2k drive in the first place as the default drive. i understand that they would end up increasing the cost of production but look as a manufacturer they deal in bulks, so price of a 5.4 vs a 7.2 drive to them is unlike going to be as much of the price difference as compared to the consumer's end. however all these are just base on my personal spectaculation. thats how i feel for it.

[JsonHenry]

I love hearing them talk about the Nvidia video card as anything but a VERY outdated video card. lol!!

[ECKOo9]

i'll admit i have no idea what any of that stuff is but it sounds cool haha somebody wanted to explain that would be sweet.

[kwyjibo]

Re: ECKOo9
It's essentially a rack-mounted PS3. Pretty much all servers fit into industry standardised racks, and so must fit into certain dimensions.

Having a rack mounted PS3 will mean that server vendors and IT providers will be able to consider the cell as a platform (although I don't think this will be any more than a niche accelerator).

But more importantly I think, it makes it a lot easier for Sony to host dedicated PS3 servers. It means they can do it at any location with server space, including third party hosts, without having to produce bespoke racks.

Re: MNicholas
No, it does not mean a slim PS3 is possible now. The reason there's less cooling visible, is because it's designed to fit a server rack, which goes into specified server rooms.

These have a guaranteed operating atmosphere, which include top spec air conditioning. Server manufacturers also have to pay no attention to the noise generated, the fans will be running very loud, way louder than suitable in a living room playing your entertainment.

[MNicholas]

Slim PS3 is possible if they stick with the laptop drive. If you look closely at the ZEGO board you can see how they repositioned the cooling apparatus.

What's more the chips are tiny, which means they put out far less heat than previous PS3 components.

The reason the server rooms have air conditioners is because those rooms can contain many megawatts of processing power stacked closely together. The worst a PS3 will have to contend with is the heat output from a few hundred watts of home-theater components.

As for keeping the PS3's current size and using a 3.5" HDD (like the VEGO), it would only add about 10-15 watts to it's overall power consumption at most.

In fact, the ZEGO has a 3.5" HDD and internal power supply. Since the PS3 is much shorter and narrower than the ZEGO (albeit about twice as tall), here are the two options for Sony:

-A slim PS3 with a 2.5" HDD and external power supply.
-A full-size PS3 with internal power supply and and 3.5" HDD

The latter option would cost considerably less to produce.

[kwyjibo]

I doubt it, is there any suggestion that the Zego chips are 45nm instead of PS3 standard 65nm?

Yes, of course server rooms are air conditioned due to the amount of kit in there. But that's not the point, the point is, you have a guarantee that air entering the machine will be in a certain range. A PS3 has to deal with folding on a summer's day in an enclosed rack underneath your TV.

The reason the cooling is rearranged is because all rack mounted servers take cool air from the front, and expel it out of the back. This repositioned cooling apparatus says nothing of how it would work in a PS3.

And yes, Sony could drop the size of the casing if they removed the power supply. But that's pretty much a given. Sure, if they made the HD external like the 360, they could reduce it even more...

[Darkseider]

Have known about it for a while. What I am still waiting for is a price w/ the optional DVI out board.

[crillyconlig]

if you watch a video of a ps3 being taken apart you will notice a large proportion of it is heat sinking and fan, its big for a reason, wonder when we will see a slim one though

[Microsoft Xbox 360]

I don't see any of my internal components being integrated into supercomputers.

Underpowered and unreliable? I think so.

-1 for the Xbox camp again.

[Rick AstIey]

Rofl.

[SONYSLAVE]

as you can see HAZE PROVED THE POWER OF THY CELL.

once again thanks SONY and the cell for all your delays help putting you in 3rd place :) but the sonytards still love you

[Rick AstIey]

What does Haze have to do with anything? It's a Free Radical game published by Ubisoft. When was it hyped for it's graphics?

All the best looking games this generation are PS3 exclusives developed by Sony's own 1st / 2nd party teams.

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Sony proved that they have the most powerful console a looong time ago. The graphics war is over. Take some trolling lessons from power of Green or the MART. You fail at it.

[Rick AstIey]

Talking about yourself there, Lower Roll? I see that Juuken turned you down again and so you went on to create that stupid user name.

"Pathetic" and "Loser" are the perfect words to describe you although I'd like to throw "Failure" and "Gay" into the mix. Here's hoping that you jump off a bridge soon, seeing how your mom failed to do so when you were younger.

[Rick AstIey]

So now you're a man trying to pass as a female that wishes black men would date him. Yep, typical 360 user.

[Rick AstIey]

Wtf.

[gamfreak]

Go find your mom if you're so free, cause she might be banging some guyS behind your back. Don't tell your dad about it if you happens to find out something......!!!!!!Oh forget you have no idea who your dad is.....!!!!

[Cynical-Gamerzus]

I can't believe the Specs on this Beast!!!
1GB of XDR!!This would of ended any questions about how powerful the PS3 was!!!

Shame this has no bluray and gaming capabilities ...
nonetheless this should of been PS3's specs!!!
Sony your full of it!!!

[mjones1994]

This is sony we are talking about they always slim down their consoles e.g. PSP, ps1, Ps2 what more can i say ?

[digger18]

Juukens Lower Roll, your a sad fu@ker!!!

You come into a PS3 thread and call Sony fans losers.. What does that make you?

Geez, Xbox fans are getting worse by the day.

Oh, I see its a new account...Mega loser!!!!

Edit: Sorry, it's only a XXXL t-shirt. Yup and I'm a thug :)

oh and you couldn't afford my car sh!t for brains

[nos4speed]

wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooow, did someone just insult the nissan skyline?!?!?!?! well theres definitive proof that ur brains are made from a composite of sh!t and a sort of soft spongy mucus!! Insulting the ps3 and being racist is one thing but by insulting the Nissan skyline you are officially on my hit list. My god if i was only so lucky to meet u in real life....

[jerethdagryphon]

reported as ofensive

[BrunoM]

Well that Sony will make a Slim PS3 well all know that (why would they not their history shows that yes they do it)

so is all about time even tho i think first they gona use these to make the smaler parts for the ps3 and still sell the ps3 at its normal price make some money of it and then do a price cut...

in lets say 1 year and a half maibe we will start to see a talk about the reall slim ps3 ..

[bviperz]

Although maybe not anytime soon, I'm sure a slim PS3 is already in the design phase.

[donnie-2105]

dont think well see a ps3 slim till the install base reaches at least 40million.anyway even though the nvidea is outdated by pc standards there really is nothing to compare on pc to the cell.the 360 is another matter