Toshiba, Sony to ship 45nm Cell in 2009?
PS3 chip finally able to go mainstream
Toshiba will next year begin mass-producing 45nm Cell processors, allowing Sony to put them into a (hopefully) slimmer PS3.
The Cell in the current PS3 is a 65nm part. Dropping the chip down to the 45nm 'node' would leave Sony with a processor that delivers the same performance is the current one but consumes less power.
That, in turn, means it generates less heat and, bingo, the PS3 doesn't need quite so much internal cooling kit. Reduction in the size of other console chippery could bring down the machine's cooling requirements considerably.
If it happens at all. The claim that Sony and Toshiba will shift Cell to 45nm is entirely plausible if not certain, but so far as we can tell, neither company has confirmed the statement that it'll happen next year, made by Japanese newspaper Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun.
Toshiba will undoubtedly make use of the 45nm Cells in the next-gen HDTVs its planning to ship next year with the PS3 processor on board. The chip will be used to deliver multi-image picture-in-picture screens.
The company already uses Cell technology in its QuadCore HD graphics chip - aka SpursEngine - to be found in a few of its top-of-the-range desktop replacement laptops. Unfortunately, such is the part's power consumption, Toshiba prevents you from using it when the PC's running on batteries.
And what of that other Cell partner, IBM? Sony's already said Big Blue will fab 45nm Cells, sometime soon.
COMMENTS
@Eddie Edwards
Want to show us that claim? I bet you can't Nobody was making claims of 45nm chips back in 2003 (Sony was not even talking about PS3 back in 2003).
There really are some total idiots around here..
PS3 vs 360 power consumption.
Interesting... The PS3 consumes MUCH less power than a 360.
60GB PS3 = 180w
All 360's = 175w
40GB PS3 = 135w
80GB PS3 = 110w
Looks like Sony are the only ones making headway in die shrinks and component improvements, whilst Microsoft is still stuck trying to get the darn thing reliable (and having lots of trouble it seems, as even the latest units are still as unreliable as a ukranian pimp).
Shouldn't this have been 45nm to begin with?
I remember way back in 2003 the claim was that PS3 would use a 45nm Cell processor.
So it might be true by 2009 then.
Good old Sony, they never lie.
Why waste the heat?
How about placing em in the basement of office blocks or apartments in towns where the weather is cold, damp and crap all year round (just about everywhere in the UK). Hook up some kind of heat exchange with the central heating system and "bobs your uncle". Nice toasty warm offices and flats, reduced heating costs and zero air con bills.
Not sure what we do on the two or three days a year when it actually does get warm here in blighty but Im sure some expert in these matters will come up with a workable answer. Oh, hang on a minute, I know... we could pipe the warm water to the local swimming pool, that'll work. Wont it?
Have you heard a current 80GB PS3?
It's got a 65nm Cell and a 65nm RSX (as opposed to the 40GB having a 65nm Cell and 90nm RSX), It's whisper quiet. You really can't even hear it's on, even when it's folding@home. When you stick a disc in, it makes absolutely no noise at all.
Compare that to the 360, it's loud when you turn it on (if it's still working), and even louder when you stick a disc in. Of course, with the new fix-all dashboard update, thats going to be fixed, as on your 20GB Xbox360 Premium, you can now use all your HDD space to install 3 games.
