Cell down to 45nm, PS3 production costs to slim too
IBM's Cell processor continues to shed those nanometers, soon down to a bony 45nm, reports Ars Technica. Of course, the smaller you become, the less energy you consume, and after trimming off 34% of its die area, the new Cell is practically starving itself. Can you believe this thing lives off a mere 80 watts? And to think, some of us have PS3s bulging with 90nm chips that scarf up 200 watts!
Not only are we talking less power consumption, the 45nm chip will be cheaper to produce than the current 65nm version, and when coupled with the incredible shrinking Blu-ray laser, Sony is poised to make PlayStation 3 manufacturing actually profitable – imagine that! Question is: when do all these savings get passed on to the consumer?
