The Power of the "Cell"! - Blu-ray Forum

Ascended_Saiyan · 03-10-2008, 03:05 AM

This is old news to some but new news to others. Just how powerful is the Cell? What are we talking about here? How can the average gamer begin to understand the implications of what the PS3 can bring to gaming? The following was a demo to show what the PS3 is capable of (ray-tracing environments).

Click here to see the image @ 1080p!

Here are some exerts from the article and comments from the writer.

Quote:

This week at Game Developers Conference IBM will show a Linux based PS3 real-time rendering a complex (3 million triangle) urban landscape, at 1080p resolution, using only software rendering techniques (iRT).

Quote:

To put this render job in perspective I just ran one frame of this scene through 3dsMax’s default ray-tracer an it took my Centrino Duo (dual core x86) machine one hour eight minutes to render what Cell and the iRT renders in less than one half of a second.

Quote:

Another point I wanted to clear up is that the iRT is a completely scalable ray-tracer. One SPE can render the entire 3M triangle city model by itself at 1080p. If other SPEs are found the renderer’s performance scales up linearly. Likewise if the PS3 can locate more remote Cell processors the performance will continue to scale. Minimally you need one SPE on a PS3 to run the renderer.

Here is the link.

The Cell Vs. Nvidia G80 (GeForce 8800) Family

Quote:

As you can see the G80 is twice as big, which is a good indication it requires twice the power, and produces twice the floating point power on paper. However when we ran one of the benchmarks discussed in the paper, the Stanford Bunny, we found that the Cell processor when combined with the iRT produces significantly better performance...

...When you factor power into the equation it gets even more interesting, given that Cell is half the size of the G80 and produces five times the ray-tracing performance.

Here is the link.

BTW, all these tests are without the RSX (GPU) being involved.

Kuraudo · 03-10-2008, 03:36 AM

AMAZING.
I know my Mac Pro + 3dsmax doesn't render that in real time for sure.
In my experience and my knowledge of 3d in art school, that is very very powerful.

DC_Street · 03-10-2008, 03:53 AM

this is why I'm looking foward to GT5 sooooo much!

Ascended_Saiyan · 03-10-2008, 04:08 AM

There is a Quicktime movie of the camera moving through the environment. Just follow the link to the website. It's about 30MB and it's worth it!

MrVorhees · 03-10-2008, 04:26 AM

Yes i have been studying the cell prossecor from day 1, i bought a magazine wich explained all features and possibilities of the cell processor.

According to the first benchmarks, the cell processor runs relevant calculations for games up to 6 times faster as the currently intel core 2 duo processor!

NOW THIS is indeed amazing.

I really cant wait until the game developer use the full power of the cell for games

btw. thx for the great informations Ascended_Saiyan

Copywriter · 03-10-2008, 04:28 AM

That city shot should be part of a Warhawk map.

player2006911 · 03-10-2008, 04:41 AM

wan't there rumors of sony wanting to put 2-4 cells in there next sytems so basically the QS20 in that test

Ascended_Saiyan · 03-10-2008, 04:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GSX600F

Yes i have been studying the cell prossecor from day 1, i bought a magazine wich explained all features and possibilities of the cell processor.

According to the first benchmarks, the cell processor runs relevant calculations for games up to 6 times faster as the currently intel core 2 duo processor!

NOW THIS is indeed amazing.

I really cant wait until the game developer use the full power of the cell for games

btw. thx for the great informations Ascended_Saiyan

No prob! You're welcome

Quote:

Originally Posted by player2006911

wan't there rumors of sony wanting to put 2-4 cells in there next sytems so basically the QS20 in that test

Well, I was thinking that, but they could put the "Cell 3" in the PS4 if made real. It has 2 PPEs and 27 SPEs! I think there is a thread in here about that. I'm on the PS3, so I can't cut and paste.

player2006911 · 03-10-2008, 04:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ascended_Saiyan

No prob! You're welcome

Well, I was thinking that, but they could put the "Cell 3" in the PS4 if made real. It has 2 PPEs and 27 SPEs! I think there is a thread in here about that. I'm on the PS3, so I can't cut and paste.

i totally forgot about that one.
here it is http://www.psxextreme.com/ps3-news/2676.html

Ascended_Saiyan · 03-10-2008, 05:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by player2006911

i totally forgot about that one.
here it is http://www.psxextreme.com/ps3-news/2676.html

That's right! It's 32 SPEs! Thanks, for the link

gavomatic57 · 03-10-2008, 07:59 AM

Its just a shame the market only seems to cater for the lowest common denominator isn't it, although the PS3 could potentially outlive the next 2 Xboxes, if only developers put the effort in.

I'd also like to see a Cell motherboard that I could buy, so I could run linux with a lot more RAM!

d_rob1031 · 03-10-2008, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ascended_Saiyan

There is a Quicktime movie of the camera moving through the environment. Just follow the link to the website. It's about 30MB and it's worth it!

I don't see any video...

edit: im blind

Marquoz · 03-10-2008, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gavomatic57

Its just a shame the market only seems to cater for the lowest common denominator isn't it, although the PS3 could potentially outlive the next 2 Xboxes, if only developers put the effort in.

I'd also like to see a Cell motherboard that I could buy, so I could run linux with a lot more RAM!

I more then agree with that, I would love to actually be able to utilize linux without having a massive swap file. Running valgrind has a tendency to eat a swap file alive! Or user expandable RAM for the PS3, it's powerful enough in it's own rights to replace a computer.

lch · 03-10-2008, 01:24 PM

ya, now only if those game developer want to use the power.

xtop · 03-10-2008, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gavomatic57

Its just a shame the market only seems to cater for the lowest common denominator isn't it, although the PS3 could potentially outlive the next 2 Xboxes, if only developers put the effort in.

not a chance.

but this old news is still pretty cool

BluRayExplosion · 03-10-2008, 04:28 PM

So they've announced the Cell 3.... since when do underpants gnomes design microprocessors?! You guys skipped step two!

At least as far as Google and I can figure, Cell 2 hasn't been announced yet...?

xtop · 03-10-2008, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BluRayExplosion

So they've announced the Cell 3.... since when do underpants gnomes design microprocessors?! You guys skipped step two!

At least as far as Google and I can figure, Cell 2 hasn't been announced yet...?

cell 2 has been announced, they're just saying the first reports of cell 3 are also out

kingofgrills · 03-10-2008, 04:53 PM

This confirms what Sony, IBM, and developers "in the know" have been saying about the Cell processor since it's creation now. Hopefully, more developers will start with the PS3 as lead platform and really try to push the boundaries of the Cell/RSX combo. In order to do that they need to really shoot far beyond what they previously would have thought possible.

Also, if they really work at it, maybe EA can get Madden 2010 up to 60 FPS.

player2006911 · 03-10-2008, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xtop

cell 2 has been announced, they're just saying the first reports of cell 3 are also out

yes i think it was the QS20 used in that test, no?

Shin-Ra · 03-10-2008, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kingofgrills

Also, if they really work at it, maybe EA can get Madden 2010 up to 60 FPS.

NCAA Football 09's running at 60FPS this year so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

03-10-2008, 04:26 AM	#5
MrVorhees Special Member Top contributor Member since:Jun 2007 Location:Castle Grayskull 4K collection:2 Blu-ray collection:572 Blu-ray reviews:2	Yes i have been studying the cell prossecor from day 1, i bought a magazine wich explained all features and possibilities of the cell processor. According to the first benchmarks, the cell processor runs relevant calculations for games up to 6 times faster as the currently intel core 2 duo processor! NOW THIS is indeed amazing. I really cant wait until the game developer use the full power of the cell for games btw. thx for the great informations Ascended_Saiyan Last edited by MrVorhees; 03-10-2008 at 04:29 AM.

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03-10-2008, 03:36 AM	#2
Kuraudo Active Member Member since:Feb 2008	AMAZING. I know my Mac Pro + 3dsmax doesn't render that in real time for sure. In my experience and my knowledge of 3d in art school, that is very very powerful.

03-10-2008, 03:53 AM	#3
DC_Street Power Member Member since:Feb 2008 Location:Denver, CO Blu-ray collection:142 Trading Score:43	this is why I'm looking foward to GT5 sooooo much!

03-10-2008, 04:08 AM	#4
Ascended_Saiyan Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Sep 2006 Location:Atlanta, Georgia Blu-ray collection:608 Trading Score:1	There is a Quicktime movie of the camera moving through the environment. Just follow the link to the website. It's about 30MB and it's worth it!

03-10-2008, 04:28 AM	#6
Copywriter Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Sep 2007 Location:Vegas Baby, Vegas	That city shot should be part of a Warhawk map.

03-10-2008, 04:41 AM	#7
player2006911 Senior Member Member since:Sep 2007 Location:AZ	wan't there rumors of sony wanting to put 2-4 cells in there next sytems so basically the QS20 in that test

03-10-2008, 07:59 AM	#11
gavomatic57 Active Member Member since:Jan 2008 Location:Wales	Its just a shame the market only seems to cater for the lowest common denominator isn't it, although the PS3 could potentially outlive the next 2 Xboxes, if only developers put the effort in. I'd also like to see a Cell motherboard that I could buy, so I could run linux with a lot more RAM!

03-10-2008, 01:24 PM	#14
lch Senior Member Member since:Aug 2007 4K collection:103 Blu-ray collection:813 Blu-ray reviews:1	ya, now only if those game developer want to use the power.

03-10-2008, 04:28 PM	#16
BluRayExplosion Active Member Member since:Dec 2007 Blu-ray collection:27	So they've announced the Cell 3.... since when do underpants gnomes design microprocessors?! You guys skipped step two! At least as far as Google and I can figure, Cell 2 hasn't been announced yet...?

03-10-2008, 04:53 PM	#18
kingofgrills Blu-ray Guru Top ranked HT gallery Member since:Dec 2007 Location:PDX Home Theater Gallery:31 4K collection:5 Blu-ray collection:81 Trading Score:31	This confirms what Sony, IBM, and developers "in the know" have been saying about the Cell processor since it's creation now. Hopefully, more developers will start with the PS3 as lead platform and really try to push the boundaries of the Cell/RSX combo. In order to do that they need to really shoot far beyond what they previously would have thought possible. Also, if they really work at it, maybe EA can get Madden 2010 up to 60 FPS.

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