RSSPS3 Chip to Make it Into New IBM Server
By Ed Oswald | Published February 8, 2006, 5:27 PM
IBM on Wednesday announced that it would be using the processors it co-developed for the Sony PlayStation 3 in an upcoming server product aimed at those who require graphic-intensive and numeric applications.
"Today's announcement puts Cell into an IBM product for the first time, taking it outside of the gaming realm -- and indeed, the Cell solution announced today is the same chip used in PS3," IBM spokesperson Charles Zinkowski told BetaNews.
The processor was co-developed by IBM, Sony, and Toshiba, and is based on the company's Power processor architecture. It is optimized to work well in computer-intensive and broadband media applications, which the computer manufacturer says makes it well suited for server applications.
The new system is intended to keep IBM's BladeCenter products in the top spot in the blade server market. The company holds 42 percent of the market, according to IDC surveys.
IBM said the servers could be used to quicken the process of 3D rendering, compression, and encryption, allowing companies to create and run graphically rich applications in real-time.
"Effectively delivering 'supercomputer-like performance' by incorporating advanced multi-processing technologies used in IBM's sophisticated servers, Cell BE is especially suitable for high performance workloads across a number of industries including digital media, medical imaging, aerospace, defense and communications," the company said in a statement.
The servers will require Red Hat Fedora with the addition of several IBM-designed patches in order to run. Also, there are no applications currently designed to work on the platform, however the company expects that to change as it signs more software developers on to the project.
The first severs based on the cell processor technology are expected to make their debut in the third quarter of 2006, however IBM said it would make them available immediately via special bids.
Sweet nice to know that we are going to have this cpu in server now, just wait until we get our hands on it. Can't wait to have something like that on my labtop or destop lol AMD is my pick for cpu, but if IBM try to open cell then we are going to have other brand of cpu to fight over lol
Fox
Down with Intel ;o
Score: 0
|great
More reasons to sell the ps3 for a low price.
Score: 0
|...and another reason to boycott sony if they don't.
Score: 0
|"Give me a PS3 or I won't buy one!"
You won't buy a PS3 either way, in that scenario.
Score: 0
|ofcourse this is a real good hint that playstation 3 will be coming out in the third quarter as well since it wouldnt make sense to release two completely new products with the same chip technology in completely different seasons and time frames.
plus i think releasing both the chip and ps3 within the same season of the year will give both sony and ibm a good boost in sales once people see how well this chip will perform. if it is as good as sony and ibm has said it will.
Score: 0
|I agree, I think this move will benefit both company and will probably move the PS3 to the top of the heap. All of us server admins will work on our PS3 servers all day and play on our PS3's all night.
AHampton
www.fits.cc - IT Community
Score: 0
|This doesn't mean that the PS3 and cell servers will be in any way compatible. It just means that IBM wil be able to produce a lot more chips. bringing the price per chip down, which should help the PS3 turn a profit sooner.
Score: 0
|His comment had nothing to do with whether or not they are compatible. It was just mentioned in the same sentence, because they use the same product in the console and server.
He didn't say he would be using the server to pay console games, it was an impromptu comment..
Score: 0
|This is what i want on my friggin' desktop:
in one test it rendered one complex scene at 32fps, while it took the fastest Pentium over 2 MINUTES.............
This is what moronic Steve Jobs should've aligned with!!
Come on, folks: start clamoring for it please!
Oh, & btw it takes XDRAM(as well all lesser types we currently use)!!
Even-more-moronic Sun has a similar Niagara processor and an array patented technology that can just align lots of processors and memory clusters, bypassing a bus.
Goole needs to buy out this useless $4 a share of a company, to spread its wings and let it fly!!!
We masses are being fed pablum and tossed peanuts due to the Wintel duopoly-- why we don't even have a 64bit OS, and that architecture has been out for a decade! Don't y'all think it's time for a righteous change?????????
Storm the castlegates my fellow Frankensteens!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Score: 0
|Actually, Sony and Apple discussed about this, but Steve Jobs concluded that The Cell wasn't powerfull enough... Go figure. Probably because he had already dealt something with Intel.
Score: 0
|Steve Jobs really is a moron if he thinks the Cell processor isn't powerful enough. The Cell processor is more powerful than any other processor on the market currently and when it comes to video rendering the Cell processor blows every other high end processor away.
Score: 0
|"in one test it rendered one complex scene at 32fps, while it took the fastest Pentium over 2 MINUTES..........."
Can you stop saying that...you're starting to make me sick every time I read your posts...you're obviously a sucker for marketing hype.
Score: 0
|"why we don't even have a 64bit OS"
Umm... we have XP 64, and we've had several Linux distros in 64-bit for a long time.
Score: 0
|AMEN!!!!
Score: 0
|Would have to recompile the OS & most apps for it, but Linux has done this already... He wants to sell iPods & laptops and have good DRM, the latter which only Intel can do sufficiently to his liking.
Score: 0
|A lot of code gets stripped away from the processors to get them to perform thusly: putting the onus on the OS to be redone including all that-- guess he wasn't up to redoing the OS again; and + Intel is on the DRM bleeding edge...
Score: 0
|The tests are on the web, go see for yourself.
Score: 0
|Yeah, but the duopoly hasn't offered Linux to us, and xp 64 just got here and still needs a lot of work.
MS botched things when it scrapped porting windows to the PowerPc architecture more than a decade ago, settling instead for sucky x86.
Score: 0
|Like I said...a sucker to marketing.
Score: 0
|The only morons here are those who think Cell would work in a home computer.
Hint: in-order processing.
Score: 0
|Really? Well that suck then my new AMD 64 FX60 x2 wasn't a good buy ~crys~ lol ohh well I need a new labtop anyway soo in 2 years top find cell in your new labtop..
Fox
Score: 0
|Yah, fer shur, but at least I ain't a punk.
Score: 0
|lol...uhm...good one!
lol
Score: 0
|BURN THE HEADQUARTERS.
Score: 0
|I agree. His friend-meter is looking a little on the shabby side.
Score: 0
|