More problems for the PS3 - Processor Cores

The_One

The_One

The_One

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Once upon a time, the much-anticipated Playstation 3 looked as if it would wipe the floor in the battle of the next-generation consoles. Supporting the high capacity Blu-ray disc and powered by a Cell processor, the technological superiority of the PS3 would help Sony maintain dominance in the console market. However the electronics giant may have bitten more than they could chew with news that gremlins are affecting the production of the new-console.

One of the worries concerns the 3.2 GHz Cell processor-- the engine of the PS3. Its size and complexity as meant that up to 90% of the chips produced are rendered unusable for the console. This is pretty high when you compare it with the 5% failure rate of a standard silicon geranium chip.

The Cell chip has 8 cores, and the PS3 needs 7 cores to be operational. Sony are prepared to install the chip in the console, even if only 7 of the 8 cores are working The danger here is that if just one of the cores blows the whole console needs to be replaced -- which would be bad news for a customer whose warranty has lapsed.

A further implication is that Sony will have to invest a lot of money just to produce an adequate number of chips. Even then it's likely that supply will be initially quite limited.

This is another addition to the long list of setbacks that have affected the PS3.
Problems with the development of the Blu-ray drive have already forced Sony to push back the launch date from Spring to November, giving the rival XBox 360 a much longer time to establish itself in the market

The high entry price - quoted as being- £425 - is likely to frighten casual and non-gamers from investing in the console, especially as Nintendo's Wii is likely to retail for around £150. Even at this high price, Sony will be still be operating at a loss and will only expect to make a profit after a couple of years - that's if it makes a profit at all.
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Oh dear :o
 
Aye, the PS3 will sell on a mass of blind enthusiasm. Its the Playstation brand i would be worrying about after the PS3 has destroyed their loyalty...

IMO
 
considering how many Ps2's they are still selling, the Ps3's demand will way out strip its supply for some time.

i can also see the X360 being only number 2 best selling console next year (maybe 3rd if they still churn out those Ps2's) and stArt to struggle.

the console sheep will always follow sony
 
Its an inaccurate report anyway:

The Cell chip has 8 cores, and the PS3 needs 7 cores to be operational. Sony are prepared to install the chip in the console, even if only 7 of the 8 cores are working The danger here is that if just one of the cores blows the whole console needs to be replaced -- which would be bad news for a customer whose warranty has lapsed.
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It would seem all cores need to be operational (all 8), since the OS uses one general purpose core all the time, and the other on occasion. Plus a core 'blowing' is highly unlikely to happen, not only that, its not exactly different from a CPU 'blowing', a core on the Xbox 360 'blowing', etc.

I doubt there is a 90% failure rate too, Cell is used in some servers right now. Incidentally Cell is designed for servers and not games.
 
People who buy a PS3 at launch are either blind or stupid to be honest. Its gonna have a ton of problems, its gonna be super expensive, has no launch titles that are considered worthy of buying the console, the games are £50 a piece (when buying a £400+ console who wants to spend another £100 for some games?), Blu-Ray discs are supposed to be even more fragile then DVD's (or so I heard but im probably wrong).

The list goes on and on, but you can always count on the fanboys and average person see the words "playstation 3" and just buy it. I would hate to be the parents of any 8-12 year olds this coming christmas.
 
MikeWild74 said:
considering how many Ps2's they are still selling, the Ps3's demand will way out strip its supply for some time.
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I dont think the question :Will it sell, the real question is :Will Sony be able to sell enough to make any money off it ? (or sell enough to get their money back)
 
McDaniel said:
Anyone else bored with these threads (not a dig at the OP) -
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*Raises hand*

It doesn't help that all the quoted statements are written from an anti sony point of view. Also the bit about the cores was laughable. As if all other computer hardware out there is sat with a spare core incase one "blows" :p
 
McDaniel said:
Anyone else bored with these threads (not a dig at the OP) - cant we just wait till its out then comment?
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Agreed.

I'm getting fed up with all these threads. The slightest news of a problem with the PS3, no matter which monkey publication comes up with it has the forums going like mad. Then the inevitable, 'Sony fan boy' comments follow! :rolleyes:

I'm really hoping that Sony launches a machine that's better than the 360 (and yes, I have a 360), because I don't give a **** who makes the machine, I just want the best for gaming.

If you think that Sony & their 'affiliated' developers solely just churn out sequels & EA sports titles, then I think you should also look at MS as well. It's all about profits guys, and developers/producers will go where the £££'s are.

Let's not kiss Sony's a**, but remember that MS are no different - they don't love you!!!
 
Guys, if you don't like threads like this then don't read them and don't post in them. By doing so you are just going to get more people reading it! Stop moaning.

The_One: It is nice to post where you got the quote from.

However, people seem to have got their facts wrong.

The quote is right, Sony have said that the PS3 will only have 7 working SPE's. This is to help manufacturing. No PS3 will use that eigth core, even if it does work. As for one of the core's blowing, well, that is like any chip. The PS3 has a small amount of redundancy at manufacturing, but not after it has been put into the console. This is possible, and something that in theory could be done with the cell, but hasn't yet. Remember that one SPE is reserved for the OS at all times, so games only have 6 to use at any time, plus the main PowerPC chip.
 
"Oh dear "

oh dear what? if it dies, like say, a million xbox360's have done, then u just take it back and swap for a new one? are people making up issues out of non issues or wha!?
 
Nickg said:
it dies, like say, a million xbox360's have done
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Lol, it's easy just to make up figures. If you want some credibility don't answer an arguement you disagree with, with preposperous blatant made up statistics.
 
deSade said:
I'm really hoping that Sony launches a machine that's better than the 360 (and yes, I have a 360), because I don't give a **** who makes the machine, I just want the best for gaming.

If you think that Sony & their 'affiliated' developers solely just churn out sequels & EA sports titles, then I think you should also look at MS as well. It's all about profits guys, and developers/producers will go where the £££'s are.

Let's not kiss Sony's a**, but remember that MS are no different - they don't love you!!!
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Im sure everyone knows both Mircosoft and Sony are just a business and that neither of them cares about us individually. The reason people are becoming "Anti-Sony" is basically down to some of the comments they make. For example

"Everyone will buy a PS3 no matter what the price because it has the name Playstation." Which is true to an extent but people who know something about consoles wont. it will just be your average person/parent buying it for the name for themselves or for their kids (although £400+ for a console and some games those kids would need to be spoilt rotten :P)

Also they say it will be a PC and not a games console, which is great if they can manage to pull it off, but this function should come second to playing games.

I wouldn't be considered a "fanboy" since I've Owned all Nintendo's consoles so far minus the GBA and DS Lite, I own both PS1 + 2 with around 30-40 games for each, I Own both xbox and 360 but even I wont be buying the PS3 until 2 years after release since I can't justify spending close to £500 for a console which will have its share of problems and will be in short supply even more so than the 360, which will drive people to buy more then one and sell on Fleabay for almost double and triple the price. Plus there have been no decent games announced for launch.

So like me many others will wait for a price drop and by that time there will be decent games out for it which are PS3 exclusives such as MGS, Final Fantasy and devil may cry.

With all these problems the 360 just looks better at the moment hence all the PS3 bashing.
 
smcshaw said:
Lol, it's easy just to make up figures. If you want some credibility don't answer an arguement you disagree with, with preposperous blatant made up statistics.
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lol okay, - gets calculator out -
say out of those 3.6million sold (march06) 160,000 have been returned defective + other returns for credit...

so - ps3 is shipping with a cell processor which uses 7 cores. one may not work out of the 8 on die. thus u will have 7. and yes one could die. and yes then it may have to be returned...

is it really going to be more, or less than the number of xbox360 units returned? if not its kinda a moot point...s
 
Nickg said:
lol okay, - gets calculator out -
say out of those 3.6million sold (march06) 160,000 have been returned defective + other returns for credit...
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Lol. So using your stats... that's 4.4% have failed. Not really the 27.7% you used in the arguement (a million) ;)

Your point was perfectly valid. As long Sony provide a hastle free way to replace faulty PS3s it's a non issue. No doubt there will be a bad batch or two when it's first released but it will soon settle down.
 
there are always bad batches of everything, but yes it seems that 27% was a bit high. i predicted more sales of xbox's but it seems they havent sold as many as i imagined


as long as sony can supply enough stock, u should be able to take ps3 back to retailer and swap out there and then. (UK law 12 month warranty, contractual obligations etc)
 
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