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Playstation 3 in mystery of missing Cell chip
Warning: wild speculation ahead
By Arron Rouse: Wednesday 23 April 2003, 12:09
THE NEWS EARLIER this week that the Cell chip intended for the Playstation 3 was going to be delayed has hit some people hard. It's a difficult idea to swallow after so much hype within the industry. So, what is likely to happen?
There are several major factors to take notice of. Firstly, Sony has said that the Cell chip will be later than thought. It's now saying that 2007 is more likely for a machine based around that chip. The Cell chip was always a hugely ambitious project. A two year delay would be no surprise at all, even with IBM's reputation for turning out new processors quickly. You can read about that here.
Next up, Sony has been investing heavily in its OTSS joint venture with Toshiba. That Fab is going to be used to make the Cell chips when they're ready. Interestingly enough, the investment in equipment for the Fab is all based around the 65nm embedded DRAM process coming online in financial year 2005. That seems a little early for a chip that won't be ready until 2007 so you have to ask the question of what's going on?
Then there's the not insignificant matter of the firm managing to put the PS2 onto a single chip. It's worth taking good note of that chip. It runs at the same speed as the PS2 CPU, 294MHz. But the GPU that's built into it only runs at 150MHz in the original PS2... Makes you think, doesn't it?
So now is the time for the crystal ball to come out. Gazing into its murky depths, a Playstation 3 in 2007 based on the Cell processor becomes a likelihood. Maybe 2006 if everything goes really well.
But where does that leave the PS2? It will be far too old by then and Microsoft will surely have the Xbox 2, or Xbox Next as it is rumoured to be called, ready long before then. Sony will need an interim machine.
The crystal ball gives a vision. It is of a Playstation 2SE, a PS2.5 if you will. It will be entirely compatible with the Playstation 2. Sony will achieve this by making a double-speed version of the PS2-on-a-chip. A PS2 that runs at nearly 600MHz with the internal graphics also doubling in speed. There will be a few tweaks here and there to make the graphics better rather than just giving the higher polygon count that a clockspeed doubling would allow for.
Personally, I don't really mind, I just want to buy the next Playstation that is released.
Warning: wild speculation ahead
By Arron Rouse: Wednesday 23 April 2003, 12:09
THE NEWS EARLIER this week that the Cell chip intended for the Playstation 3 was going to be delayed has hit some people hard. It's a difficult idea to swallow after so much hype within the industry. So, what is likely to happen?
There are several major factors to take notice of. Firstly, Sony has said that the Cell chip will be later than thought. It's now saying that 2007 is more likely for a machine based around that chip. The Cell chip was always a hugely ambitious project. A two year delay would be no surprise at all, even with IBM's reputation for turning out new processors quickly. You can read about that here.
Next up, Sony has been investing heavily in its OTSS joint venture with Toshiba. That Fab is going to be used to make the Cell chips when they're ready. Interestingly enough, the investment in equipment for the Fab is all based around the 65nm embedded DRAM process coming online in financial year 2005. That seems a little early for a chip that won't be ready until 2007 so you have to ask the question of what's going on?
Then there's the not insignificant matter of the firm managing to put the PS2 onto a single chip. It's worth taking good note of that chip. It runs at the same speed as the PS2 CPU, 294MHz. But the GPU that's built into it only runs at 150MHz in the original PS2... Makes you think, doesn't it?
So now is the time for the crystal ball to come out. Gazing into its murky depths, a Playstation 3 in 2007 based on the Cell processor becomes a likelihood. Maybe 2006 if everything goes really well.
But where does that leave the PS2? It will be far too old by then and Microsoft will surely have the Xbox 2, or Xbox Next as it is rumoured to be called, ready long before then. Sony will need an interim machine.
The crystal ball gives a vision. It is of a Playstation 2SE, a PS2.5 if you will. It will be entirely compatible with the Playstation 2. Sony will achieve this by making a double-speed version of the PS2-on-a-chip. A PS2 that runs at nearly 600MHz with the internal graphics also doubling in speed. There will be a few tweaks here and there to make the graphics better rather than just giving the higher polygon count that a clockspeed doubling would allow for.
Personally, I don't really mind, I just want to buy the next Playstation that is released.
