Talk:PlayStation 3/Archive 11
I removed a statement that seemed to suggest the new processor for the PS3 will
cost $3Billion to produce, but the $3Billion refers to the cost of building the
new manufacturing plant in East Fishkill. At least this is what I deduce from
reading the article on the BBC website [1]
-- Camster342
Anybody notice parallels between the Fifth generation computer systems project and the massively-parallel Cell chip used in the PS3? — ChrisErbach
Elpida Memory tapped to make PS3 chips 512MB XDR DRAM
- Ram Wars -- Gamespot article above asserts that PS3 has 512 Megabytes of RAM; they claim this is from a Reuters article. I wasn't able to find a Reuters article that gives a figure for the total amount of RAM, although there are Reuters articles in English mentioning that Elpida will make XDR RAM for PS3 (specifying neither the size of the chips nor the total), and in Japanese mentioning the 512 megabit chip size but not the total. pc.watch.impress.co.jp quotes unnamed sources as expecting that the box will contain 4 512 Megabit chips for a total of 256 Megabytes, and goes on to say that Elpida, Samsung, and Toshiba all have limited capacity to produce 512Mb chips and Sony may be forced to use 256Mb chips for a total of 128 MB. I am more inclined to trust the PCWatch article since it is much more detailed, and since I can't find any Reuters article backing the gamespot interpretation. Willhsmit 21:14, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC)
- It is INDEED, the 512 Megabit XDRAM memory, 64 Megabytes per unit, with up to 4 per Cell Chip, for a maximum of 256 MB. The schematics are readily available for that. Gamespot doesn't know what they're doing. Terrapin 05:37, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC)
- Strange, when I translate that page with Google they seem to suggest that the console will use 128MB of Ram, not 256. Of course I may just be reading it incorrectly. Anyhow, after poking around at the website for awhile, and translating a few different pages, I've noticed that PCwatch appears to speculate alot on future products. Now there's nothing wrong with that, but because they speculate alot, I think everyone should just assume that we won't know for certain how much RAM is on the thing until Sony makes an official announcment concerning the inner workings of the Playstation 3. WolvenOne
- Nothing is known about the configuration of PS3, not even the number of SPEs per Cell Chip, so PC Watch is off its rocker. Terrapin 05:40, 16 Feb 2005 (UTC)
- My interpretation of the article is that PCWatch speculates that XDR RAM shortages will make Sony reduce the amount. Personally I'd bet that Sony would delay the console a few months rather than ship with less than 256...but my main point was that the Gamespot article has no confirmation, conflicts with what is known about XDR manufacturing, and could easily be a misprint. I actually got a live person there who promised to get back to me. IMHO, the main article could either present competing rumors or just skip over the issue for now. Willhsmit 21:14, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC)
- Unfortunately, PC Watch is using TODAY'S shortages of XDR Ram as its source, and not the new processes coming out by Toshiba for 512MB, which they're testing now, and will be available two years hence. Listen up, guys, IGNORE anything from PCWatch or Spong, or Gamespot. Terrapin 05:40, 16 Feb 2005 (UTC)
- I agree that Sony would probably delay the release a few months rather then go with less the 256MB's of RAM. Considering that both Microsoft and Nintendo are likely to throw at least 256 in thier machines, and considering that the PS3 is likely to be the last of the 3 next generation consoles to be released on the market, it'd simply be inconcievable to me that Sony would allow itself to be beat out on RAM. Of course, they may not delay it, they might just launch the system and allow there to be massive shortages, much like they were for the Playstation 2 during it's initial release. Of course though, this is just more speculation and has no barring on the article. WolvenOne
- It's concievable that the PS3 could have more than one Cell chip (that's what they're designed for, after all, shoving as many as you need in a consumer device instead of using different powers of chips in each one) with more RAM available to it. If it does have only one Cell, 256MB would be fairly slim. I'd like to know how much VRAM it would have before making judgements, though. Sockatume 23:32, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC)
- Indeed, it has been widely speculated that as many as four Cell proccesers could power the PS3, though I feel that a full four would be unlikely considering the increased cost and the the fact four Cell's could be considered overkill. If there are multiple Cell processers, my logic tells me that it'd be limited to two, based on what I feel to be the likely cost of each processer. I should point out though, that this is merely more speculation on my part. Speaking of speculation, perhapes somebody should create an area in the article purely for speculation about Playstation 3 components that do not yet have solidly confirmed specs. After all, there is quite alot about this console that we don't have solid information on yet, and much of what we do take as facts are merely rumors or came from unconfirmed sources. WolvenOne
nVidia has stated recently that the GPU for the PS3 wouldn't use either Direct X or Open GL, and would instead use Sony's own API. With this in mind the section marked PS3 standards, at least needs to be edited and may need to be deleted altogether.
Source: http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/multimedia/display/20041228125957.html
It should be noted though that Nvidia was trying to cover for one of it's employee's claiming that the PS3 would use Direct X and also have a few other features typically only seen in Windows machines. We really don't know what features Sony's API will utilize so there may indeed be some open standards within it.