Sony to finish shrinking PS3 chips to 65nm this fall?

According to Next-Gen, PlayStation boss and Kaz Hirai claims that PlayStation 3s have done the same with Cell chips since last holiday season, and that Sony intends to finish the process of shrinking its major chips to 65nm with the RSX graphics processor this fall. Die shrinkage will mean a lot less to PlayStation buyers than it did to 360 owners suffering from the red ring of death on Microsoft's less-reliable 90nm parts, but it still means Sony can save some cash on producing and cooling PS3s -- and you shave a bit off your power bill.

[Via Joystiq]

[Davedrastic @ Jun 26th 2008 9:45PM]

Dear Engadget writers,

Not all of your readers are from the good ol' US of A and as such may not have a handle on when exactly the "Fall" is. So please, make life a little easier for us that aren't living in your blessed land by letting us know the months concerned.

Thanking you.

[MRCUR @ Jun 26th 2008 9:45PM]

August - September

[farfisa @ Jun 26th 2008 9:56PM]

Like, when all the new shows come on, dude! Or Autumn.

[DefPo3t @ Jun 26th 2008 10:04PM]

soory but if you dont knwo what usa fall is then u need go back and learn geography if its fall here its spring on the other side of the world and west to that is is winter and east to that its is summer

[Funke, Tobias Dr. @ Jun 26th 2008 10:08PM]

I just voted down. Enough said.

...Well then again, maybe I should be specific as to which way down is here--South.

[John @ Jun 26th 2008 11:20PM]

Well, Fall is a lot easier to write than "Sometime in August-September, that area, some of November mayhaps, thereabouts".

[Davedrastic @ Jun 26th 2008 11:56PM]

To the others that have replied to my polite request...

You're coming over as mighty arrogant. It's not all about the USA you know. Readers from all over the world access this site and it would be kind of handy if the writers went to the trouble of letting worldwide readers which months they are referring to. This would mean that the rest of the world doesn't have to return to Geography class as suggested, or take the time out to figure out the months that the writer is referring to, when if the writer was a little less lazy and/or US centric, s/he could quite simply make our lives easier by letting us know which months they're referring to as a matter of course.

It's a simple request and although it would involve the writers to accept that the US readers are not the be all and end all, it could be implemented quite easily.

God you yanks suck.

[Davedrastic @ Jun 27th 2008 12:02AM]

To the others that have replied to my polite request...

You're coming over as mighty arrogant. It's not all about the USA you
know. Readers from all over the world access this site and it would be
kind of handy if the writers went to the trouble of letting worldwide
readers which months they are referring to. This would mean that the
rest of the world doesn't have to return to Geography class as
suggested, or take the time out to figure out the months that the
writer is referring to, when if the writer was a little less lazy
and/or US centric, s/he could quite simply make our lives easier by
letting us know which months they're referring to as a matter of
course.

It's a simple request and although it would involve the writers to
accept that the US readers are not the be all and end all, it could
be implemented quite easily.

[AJ @ Jun 27th 2008 12:13AM]

You could've looked that up in less time than it took you to b*tch about it. Being that this is a US-based blog, it's perfectly alright for the editor to say Fall instead of Autumn.

What're not ok, however, are the typos in the the first sentence. I had to read it more than a couple of times for it to make sense.

Corrected, it would read...
'According to Next-Gen, PlayStation boss Kaz Hirai claims that PlayStation 3s have done with the same Cell chips since last holiday season, and that Sony intends to finish the process of shrinking its major chips to 65nm with the RSX graphics processor this fall.'

[Davedrastic @ Jun 27th 2008 12:57AM]

@ AJ - no it wouldn't have taken me less time to look it up than "b#tch" about it, because I won't be looking it up in the first place. I know when Autumn is in the country I live, I know when Autumn is in alot of countries I don't live, however I'm not going to take time out of my day to try to identify the months that Autumn falls in the US as I have no interest in that whatsoever.

It's ok to say Fall, not Autumn - huh? you've completely missed the point. I have nothing wrong with the term "Fall" - if that's what you decide to call Autumn, fine that's your perogative and you can bastardise the english language as much as you like for all I care.

The point I'm making is that "Fall" is specifically referring to the US Autumn season, which occurs at a different time to the Autumn season of other places around the world. From this, it would be a lot easier if the Engadget writers, whose readers are from around the world, regardless as to wether or not the site is based in the US, would go to the trouble of informing us of the actual months they are referring to. To clarify this further for those that haven't quite caught on, "Fall" is a US term that does not need to be known by and is thereby not likely to be known by many that don't reside in the USA. However, the months of the year, from January to December, are universally known and occur at the same time regardless of geographical location.

Again, it's not that complicated, it's a matter of informing the readers more accurately and would thereby be a good procedure for (paid) journalists to follow.

However, disagree and continue to be an arrogant septic tank, see if I care.

[SimbaDogg @ Jun 27th 2008 3:08AM]

though i can appreciate your request, i must agree w/ others...it really boils down to elementary school geography. if its fall in the northern hemisphere, its spring in south, winter in north, summer in south, spring in north, fall in south...i'm sure we can all see the relationshit

i was going to end my post there, but your last post really has the tone of a jackass...

seriously, fall in the US=fall in england, france, italy, spain, japan, the koreas, the list goes on. It sounds like you're not really a fan of global affairs, because anytime i read publications from england/japan/mexico or zimbabwe i always take THEIR language, and THEIR customs and geography into consideration. they do not write their articles/publications for me in the US, nor should i expect them to cater to me. that's just asinine on your end buddy

[Funke, Tobias Dr. @ Jun 27th 2008 6:18AM]

Davedrastic:
If you are going to be such an ass about perfection in writing, and criticize people who in your words "bastardise the english language" (you should've capitalized the E in English by the way), then you should certainly find my pointing out your errors to be helpful. I don't pretend or wish for anyone to assume that I am a master of the language either, but when the proverbial resident of a glass house starts throwing stones, I'll happily join the fight:

Using "alot" instead of "a lot" is one of the hallmarks of a poor writer.

According to Merriam Webster, "wether" is a male sheep castrated before sexual maturity. Perhaps you meant "whether". Of course you did.

[farfisa @ Jun 27th 2008 9:13AM]

Thing is, it's Sony who's saying "fall"--they're being vague because they either don't know the month, or don't want to reveal it at the present time.

Engadget just quotes--they don't guess or assume what Kaz Hirai's talking about, because that leads to misinformation and then (more) people would be complaining about that!

[Dr. Evil @ Jun 27th 2008 10:35PM]

@ davedrastic

Your initial post had a dickish tone with "good ol' US of A" and "living in your blessed land", followed by "God you yanks suck".

How can anyone take you seriously when you start with insults.

[Cloakofskill @ Aug 5th 2008 6:15PM]

"Not all of your readers are from the GOOD OL' US OF A and as such may not have a handle on when exactly the "Fall" is. So please, make life a little easier for us that aren't living in your BLESSED LAND by letting us know the months concerned."


maybe if you didn't come off as such an america hating sarcastic cumfart we would have treated your request more politely. you are an arrogant schleb.

[MRCUR @ Jun 26th 2008 9:46PM]

Nice pic of the 360's GPU there Engadget...

[FordGTGuy @ Jun 26th 2008 9:50PM]

Fall, its a season get used to it.

[Justin @ Jun 26th 2008 10:32PM]

Just want to point out that it wasn't the 90 nm GPU or CPU that had issues when it came to the 360. The motherboard was thinner than most and couldn't handle the heat put out by all of the components which resulted in warping and eventually unseating the CPU. 65 nm components helped to reduce the heat but certainly weren't the solution.

[digitallysick @ Jun 26th 2008 10:14PM]

Dear sony, while you are at it please increase the ram in the ps3 so i can actually use linux on it, thanks -everyone

[Shinigami @ Jun 27th 2008 2:09AM]

Dear user, please buy PS4 whenever it is available. It will use more ram (hopefully).
Till then no hardware changes will be made so that developers can write games for the _same_ console. If everyone has a different PS3, it will become a PC xD

[Echo1 @ Jun 26th 2008 11:06PM]

how come Sony is technologically behind in terms of die size? Desktop and Laptop CPU's that use 65nm dies have been out since 2006 and only now Sony is hitting that mark?

[vigilante.killer @ Jun 26th 2008 11:13PM]

Because sony is not a bleeding-edge microprocessor manufacturer. Hell, the cell wasnt even their processor, it was IBM's, and Toshiba and Sony came along for the ride. (Basically).

[John @ Jun 26th 2008 11:23PM]

IBM didn't feel any pressing concern to decrease the die size when they started producing CBEs. Unlike Microsoft, they also had no pressing reason to try and shrink the chips since they've been working find as is.

[pball_inuyaha @ Jun 26th 2008 11:25PM]

maybe because it isn't your standard cpu but THE CELL PROCESSOR.

[John @ Jun 26th 2008 11:26PM]

oops, disregard that, wrong processing unit >.< But I believe the Cell chips that IBM manufactures for Sony are also 90nm, but they also use 65 and 45nm chips for other purposes.

[kal326 @ Jun 27th 2008 11:28AM]

Well it probably has a lot to do with the fact that Sony doesn't have its own chip factories. Intel and AMD make their own chips and they spend the money on those factories and the R & D to shrink them down. Sony on the other hand has to contract out the job and work with what ever generation of tech they have available.

[RoboDan @ Jun 27th 2008 7:21PM]

Screw 65nm

45nm or bust

[Pochi @ Jun 27th 2008 12:09AM]

Bring back backwards compatibility. Every model save for the 20 and 60 LOSE.

[jet @ Jun 27th 2008 12:16AM]

Doesn't ps3 40gb already have 65nm cell and rsx?

[Shinigami @ Jun 27th 2008 2:13AM]

Cell processor - 65nm probably.
RSX - should move to 65nm by fall (autumn).

So, when will they start shipping a shrinked down (smaller, slimmer) PS3 edition?

[Matt @ Jun 27th 2008 1:36AM]

Born and Raised in the great us of a, but i agree, just give the month, and as fare as backwards compatibility, I got the 60g for that but have not touched one of my old games since all the new games have come out, dark sector is incredible, and way cheap on amazon, time shift, metal gear, hulk, call of duty, if i was buying today, I'd be just as happy with a 40g, but as gitallysick is right, more ram would be great, and the ability to log out of linux without command line.

[tekdroid @ Jun 27th 2008 4:00AM]

All good. A case redesign to take it out of the 80s would be good, too.

[Dr. Evil @ Jun 27th 2008 10:44PM]

It would be nice if a cooler chip meant smaller heatsinks and a smaller case. I like the redesigned PS2.

[Jay @ Jun 27th 2008 9:00AM]

I thought that PS3 already had incorporated 65nm chips in the 40GB SKU. That being the reason that they run cooler and less loud then their 60 and 80GB SKU counterparts..am I wrong??

[True_Darknight @ Jun 27th 2008 9:44AM]

Only for the CELL processor.

Beginning Sept-Oct.. heheheheheh... it will also shrink the RSX. Let me tell ya I have one fo the 40GB(now 160) system and i can't hear it. I have done 10 hour sessions of the CoD4 monster and nothing. Then again it's well ventilated.. so I took care of that.

And yes I have the PS2 connected too. That's what all those plugs that came with the HDTV are used for! (S-Video from the PS2) , not that shabby!

And yes I bought the 6' wire to put it to the Flat screen in the bedroom.. but if they go low enough I may just have to buy me a blu-ray/PS3 for inside!!!

WOOOOO price drops!

[Andrew @ Jun 27th 2008 2:58PM]

Lucky you. My launch 60G PS3 gets fairly loud no matter what it does (including sitting idly) after about an hour, if playing a game/movie then much sooner. Not as loud as Xbox360 playing a game but fairly close to an idle Xbox. So does my friend's 60G unit. It's much louder than my HTPC, loud enough to not be useful for music listening. So I welcome die shrink, though the price would have to fall quite a bit before I'd consider getting another one (I got mine before any price drops).