IBM begins production of 65nm Cell chip

It's no secret that IBM has had some bigger -- or, rather -- smaller and better plans in the works for its Cell microprocessor, but we've now got the word from Big Blue itself, with the company announcing that it has started production of an advanced version of the chip, using a 65 nanometer manufacturing process as opposed to the current 90nm. Apart from being physically smaller, the 65nm chip should also result in lower power consumption and reduced costs to manufacturers using the processor. While that would include IBM itself -- which uses Cell processors in some of its own BladeCenter servers -- the company's most famous customer is, of course, Sony, who use the chip in a not-so-little game console of theirs you may heard of. On that front, it's been reported that Sony does indeed plan to use this new chip in future versions of the PlayStation 3 to help cut manufacturing costs, although that doesn't necessarily mean we'll see a cut in the price of the console itself anytime soon.

[Via Yahoo News/IDG]

[Nobody important @ Mar 13th 2007 12:08PM]

OH NOES PS3.

Nobody cares. The PS3 is dead already. It's a two-horse race between the X360 and Wii.

[Sean @ Mar 13th 2007 12:23PM]

Does anyone know of any benchmarks available comparing the cell processor to other current processors? Might be interesting...

[Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Mar 13th 2007 1:03PM]

It is impossible to compare Cell to normal CPUs in any reliable way: they are way too different.

More closer benchmark would be CPU+DSP v. Cell - though again no such benchmarks exist.

But then again (even if there would be such benchmarks) it all would boil down to peripherals: DSPs (and Cell I think too) work internally magnitudes faster compared to e.g. RAM or PCI bus.

And also DSPs are real-time devices - you can calculate how long any particular operation would take. They are built into systems after calculating precisely what performance is needed. So they are kind of very specialized.

Cell is aimed to be more universal - but retaining all good features of DSPs. Though it doesn't look like it making any big inroads. DSP programming was always tricky...

[gibschan @ Mar 13th 2007 12:37PM]

@Nobody important

i'll hear from you again in a year....

"why is the PS3 doing so well now....that Home and LittleBigWorld, Final Fantasy 13, White Nights, MGS...et cetc...aiii why did those games have to come out..sigh"

[James Rainey @ Mar 13th 2007 1:02PM]

Lets not forget that IBM provides the CPU's for the GameCube, Wii, PS3 and XBOX 360 and apparently future versions of these boxes. We're also seeing the IBM Cell Processor show up in DVD Players, Smartphones and T.V.'s.

[craig @ Mar 13th 2007 11:10PM]

What DVD Players, Smartphones and T.V.'s, James? What smartphone could conceivably afford the power budget of a cell processor? Pulling this crap out of your butt?

"Lets not forget that IBM provides the CPU's for the GameCube, Wii, PS3 and XBOX 360 and apparently future versions of these boxes."

Yes, and only one of the (the biggest failure) uses the cell processor.

[att @ Mar 13th 2007 3:05PM]

xbox 360 for lame duck

[Jay @ Mar 13th 2007 10:46PM]

Sony is NOT a Cell customer! Sony and IBM (and Toshiba) developed it together: it was a collaborative effort to Sony's specification. You make it sound like Sony just bought something off the shelf which IBM had created, which is complete bull - and you know it.

Looking forward to your next iReport claiming Apple invented the internet, mp3, TV, mobile telephony...or something. Aaaaany day now....

[craig @ Mar 13th 2007 11:11PM]

Sony is an IBM customer, but, yes, Sony shares in the blame for the cell processor's colossal failure.

[Jay @ Mar 13th 2007 11:28PM]

Stick to subjects you can actually demonstrate you know about, Craig

Can spot a Wiiboy from a mile away.....

[Jay @ Mar 13th 2007 11:29PM]

Stick to subjects you can actually demonstrate you know about, Craig.

Can spot a Wiiboy from a mile away.....

[nonesuch @ Mar 14th 2007 2:14PM]

I thought Sony produced their own Cell chips? I remember hearing about them licensing the design from IBM so they could fab their own. If so, they'll have to come up with their own advances in miniturization.

Also remember that any PS3 pricecut is for Sony's benefit, not ours'. They're still looking to reduce their cost to manufacture while still selling for the same price.

[SornyPanafonic @ Mar 14th 2007 2:36PM]

im not waiting for a price drop on the ps3, im waiting for some good games to drop.

motorstorm how i loved you and waited for you after i played your demo (at target) and then i found out you were a 1 player game, no split screen. no thank you sony, i will not play games by myself, either with my brother or drunken comrades.

[Dobbs @ Nov 12th 2007 8:31PM]

I have a PS3 and a PSP so I'm not anti Sony... BUT

What the heck is going on at SCEA?
Is everyone there deaf, dumb, and blind?

it is so depressing watching Sony kill this console (and themselves.)
Sony Corp, apparently, has some social disease whereby anything that passes through their 'hands' turns into a disaster, a catastrophe of such epic proportions that the only thing most decent people can do is turn away (while less noble souls mock consumers of Sony products incessantly.)

IBM and Tosh ought to be grateful that the company is out of the Cell, anything they can do to distance themselves from this 'lepper."

The PS2 was, and is still, only defined by one word, success.
But that success is long forgotten in no small part thanks to... everything Sony has done since the PS2.

The PS3... everything from marketing, to the lousy physical dimensions and excessive weight, power consumption, over done technology, to the actual games (as if there were any), just plain sucks so hard, so very damn hard.

The PS3 is best known for -
No games,
Ridiculous price tag,
Technology that the market largely doesn't care about (BD),
No GTA IV exclusive (hence no reason to buy at all)
And, finally, a corporation that is clearly committing suicide in plain sight of everyone (exploding batteries, overpriced Windows boxes, DRM 'rootkit' nightmares, withdrawal from the Cell processor, and finally the most expensive, entirely game-less, next-gen platform.)

Imagine, Sony couldn't even get Grand Tourismo HD on the shelf within a year after this consoles nosedive onto the market. Grand Tourismo is thier own damn game... it is such a poor corporate response to customers, they way they've released the PS3, that I am tempted to think it is a cruel joke.

I know, I know, there is nothing as common as potential, wasted.
This company (Sony) should adopt this phrase as its slogan.

'Welcome to Sony, where there is nothing more common than potential, wasted.'

I know this story was about IBM, but see what happened -
half or more of the posts were about Sony.

I bet IBM and Tosh are happier than can be that Sony is going away and taking its self destructive, profit burning curse with it. This must be payback for the hundreds of millions of over priced consumer electronics they've sold the world.