Cell CPU as the next thing?

[Iggy]

Rumored PS4 uses "AMD Liverpool APU" i.e. AMD Steamroller based CPUs + AMD Radeon HD 7850 (16 Compute Units) level GCN.
 
AMD Kaveri APU has quad-core AMD Steamroller based CPUs + AMD Radeon HD 7750 (8 Compute Units) level GCN.
 
Note that the APU is AMD's "CELL" solution.

Rumored...but not necessarily true.

[danbeaver]

Now think about the contemporaries of the Amiga circa 1986 (more so because of the scalability of the A2000); we are talking about the Mac Plus, the Compaq Portable II, the Tandy Color Computer, the Apple II gs, and by the end of the year there are 386 based computers.  How many of these computers today support USB, networking (Internet & Web access), advanced graphics cards, IDE/SCSI/CF usage and as we move into the A3000/4000 a Power PC, PCI cards, and the rest.  How many are out there being used today for games, productivity, image manipulation, et cetera.

"From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remembered, We few, we happy few, we band of brothers." -- well not really.....

[Hammer]

Rumored...but not necessarily true.

IBM wouldn't beat AMD when the CPU is nearly thrown in for free e.g. buy AMD GPU and get the CPU for free i.e. that's AMD APU economics.

[Iggy]

IBM would beat AMD when the CPU nearly thrown in for free e.g. buy AMD GPU and get the CPU for free i.e. that's AMD APU economics.

Yes, and I rather expect IBMs fab to produce whatever goes in the PS4.
AMD is supplying the GPU for the XBOX720 as well.
But we're not going to have a complete picture of what else will be used for awhile.

[Hammer]

Yes, and I rather expect IBMs fab to produce whatever goes in the PS4.
AMD is supplying the GPU for the XBOX720 as well.
But we're not going to have a complete picture of what else will be used for awhile.

I have revised my post i.e. "IBM wouldn't beat AMD when the CPU is nearly thrown in for free "

Xbox 720 Yukon has both AMD APUs and IBM PPE X3 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2405922,00.asp

[danbeaver]

I revised my post.

"IBM wouldn't beat AMD when the CPU is nearly thrown in for free "

How's that 89 Octane doin' for ya?

[Hammer]

How's that 89 Octane doin' for ya?

PowerPC emulator runs fine.

[Hammer]

Dont expect ARM CPU`s or even AMD CPUs to come near Intel performance, but that is easy once you have gross market share to invest in R&D.
.

On multi-threaded wintel apps, 8 core AMD Bulldozer is around i5 to i7 Sandybridge.

For single thread apps, AMD doubled X86 decoder resources for AMD Steamroller CPU core.

To me, CPU that can run HTML5 broswer, 720 dpi video and other daily productivity apps and good OS is enough for 90% of people.

And Cell offers MORE PROGRAMMIBILITY then those high performant CPUs that can just share thread overload with bloated software (Win) that doesnt even use it properly.

To bad PS3's SPE's IEEE 754 support is gimped.

For GPU command generation, DX11 can use multi-core CPUs.

With 128GB SSD drive and Windows 8 Pro RTM, my Acer Iconia W500 tablet (AMD C-50 APU) operates smooth and quick e.g. MS Word 2010 loads about 1 second.

[danbeaver]

PowerPC emulator runs fine.

So this thread is now about hardware that can run an Amiga emulator? Or should we include hardware (like an easel) that can hold up an Amiga poster?

[Iggy]

I have revised my post i.e. "IBM wouldn't beat AMD when the CPU is nearly thrown in for free "
 
Xbox 720 Yukon has both AMD APUs and IBM PPE X3 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2405922,00.asp

Interesting.
IBM scheduled to make a 3 core Power7 derived PPC for the Nintendo WiiU.
And according to the document you reference, IBM will be fabbibg the chipset for the Xbox 720 which will contain PPC and X86 cores.
 
So, why not a Cell based PS4 (or something similar to the Xbox720)?
 
After all, IBM will no doubt be fabbing Sony's chips as well.

[Hammer]

Interesting.
IBM scheduled to make a 3 core Power7 derived PPC for the Nintendo WiiU.
And according to the document you reference, IBM will be fabbibg the chipset for the Xbox 720 which will contain PPC and X86 cores.
 
So, why not a Cell based PS4 (or something similar to the Xbox720)?
 
After all, IBM will no doubt be fabbing Sony's chips as well.

AMD was talking about adding 3rd party IP on future AMD APUs e.g. PPE X3 IP for Xbox 720's case. http://www.anandtech.com/show/5494/amd-is-open-to-integrating-3rd-party-ip-in-future-socs
It's AMD Torrenza initiative on-a-chip.

For AMD Streamroller, AMD made improvements on fab portability. AMD also includes ARM based "off-load" security processors in thier future AMD APUs. ATI's business model has effectively taken over AMD.

Xbox 720 "Yukon" looks to have AMD Liverpool type APU(user land apps) + AMD Jaguar type APU(system) + IBM PPE X3 (legacy, user land apps). MS's WindowsRunTime(WinRT for C++) could abstract the CPU ISA differences e.g. ARM and X86 atm.

IBM CELL+AMD Liverpool APU combo for PS4 would mirror IBM Roadrunner supercomputer partnership e.g. AMD Opteron + IBM CELL combo.

[Iggy]

Hammer,
These details seem pretty covincing.
Looks like the next series of game consoles are going to be monsters.

[freqmax]

With a price tag to make them an uncompetitive with a used stationary computer?

[vox]

With a price tag to make them an uncompetitive with a used stationary computer?

No one can compete to mass fabrication in China.

But I am very much glad there is something made in Europe. It makes me think quality is back.

[vox]

PowerPC emulator runs fine.

Having Rosetta software open sourced now its no longer part of OS X would be nice thing to do :-)