65nm Cell processor for servers - is it only a matter of time before it shows up in the PS3?
The new PowerXCell 8i is a far more than a process shrink from 90nm to 65nm. IBM currently runs the processor at the same 3.2GHz as before, so that the power consumption can be lower.
- The new design also uses less expensive DDR2 memory instead of the original Rambus XDR memories, allowing for further potential cost savings;
- Total memory capacity is now expandable up to 32GB.
- Expanded double precision floating point support on all eight Cell cores.
- 190 TFlops of double precision throughput, 5x as much as previous Cell
The "QS22" adapter card will be available at the end of May for $9,995 - it has sockets for two PowerXCell 8i's.
IBM is apparently also considering some other Cell products in the future:
- Multi-Chip modules packing two dies into one package
- 16 and 32 cell cores instead of the current 8
Hmm... I wonder how many Cell cores a future PS4 will have?
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Now it seems all 3 partners are putting it to use and IBM naturally is evolving to the chip to the needs of their market. It'll be cool to see them pushing it more since it'll basically smash Intel into the ground, I doubt someone is going to start stacking Xeon or Itanium if it's still around just to hope to match the performance.