Sony targets enterprise with Cell-based computer board

After investing some serious dough in the famed Cell processor powering its PlayStation 3, it's little surprise that Sony actually wants to make a profit off the platform -- and since the console wars haven't been all that favorable to Kutaragi's baby, the company is looking to enterprise as another potential source of ROI. The first fruits of this effort will be borne at next week's SIGGRAPH conference, where Sony will unveil a prototype computer board based around the multi-core CPU and sporting an RSX graphics processor. This so-called Cell Computing Board is targeted at 19-inch rack mount systems, and it promises to put on quite a show at SIGGRAPH by performing real-time processing of the type of 4K footage captured by Red Digital Cinema's RED ONE. And with Toshiba already promising to ride the Cell's coat tails to victory over its fellow co-developer in the living room, -- along with pushing its own graphics workstations -- this is one rollout that Sony can't afford to screw up.

[idk @ Aug 1st 2007 3:08PM]

When I can buy a Cell & RSX based laptop for under $2K is when I'll care.

[oGMo @ Aug 1st 2007 4:03PM]

Why would you want a laptop? I'm really asking. Cell is more suited toward scalable computing, not portable computing. It eats more power and does things like rendering... server yes, PS3 yes, ...laptop? Maybe you have some use in mind I don't know about.

It'd be nice if the rack units were under $2k a pop though.

[idk @ Aug 1st 2007 4:10PM]

Well first off, we have SLI laptops with Quad core desktop CPUs and Dual 7950GTXs, im shure that's just as much power (or more) as a Cell+RSX setup!

I can dream eh?

[Dam @ Aug 1st 2007 3:18PM]

id hit that....i mean buy that

[HineyWipe @ Aug 1st 2007 3:18PM]

Considering that NC used 8 PS3s to make a supercomputer cluster...I'm all for ROI! We all know there is no return on investment from the PS3 sales. (nor 360 for you fanboyees).
Now, if someone would write an OS that isn't full of holes, nor gimmicky with metal-fruity-chewy-shiney buttons to run on this speed freak...

[Evil Bastard @ Aug 1st 2007 10:26PM]

Try Ubuntu For The PS3. You can customize the desktop anyway you like, and it's FREE!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_for_PlayStation_3

[puddytat @ Aug 1st 2007 4:04PM]

Well, we all know how well this technology made the PS3 fly off the shelves...

[AlanS17 @ Aug 1st 2007 4:54PM]

You can knock it all you want. It's heavy-duty and it's got the numbers to prove it. If anything, maybe cell processors are even better suited for such computing applications than for video games.

If that was just an attempt to squeeze in a knock on the PS3, it's a pretty lame attempt. The price of performance is usually complexity. That's just the way it works.

[Gio @ Aug 1st 2007 4:16PM]

Its so small, it actually fits up his nose

[SilkyZ @ Aug 2nd 2007 9:27AM]

Could this be the next step in computer gaming. next gen pc?!?!

[Gavin Greenwalt @ Aug 1st 2007 4:33PM]

I would rather invest my resources into something like Quadroplex and CUDA than pour more money into the black hole that is cell development.

I expect GPU development and advancement to be signficantly better funded and adoption to be far more common than some Sony proprietary workstation.

[Jimmy @ Aug 1st 2007 5:15PM]

You mean like an IBM BladeCenter QS20 with 2 Cell processors?

There are hundreds of proprietary systems on the market. Each with a niche market in which they specialize. Simply because something is proprietary does not mean it is not the best solution to a problem.

The Cell processor is owned by IBM, Toshiba, and Sony. These companies have the ability to license this technology to lots of other companies. I have no way of guaranteeing you that this technology will be used by other companies but there are many applications for a 400 GFLOP system!

[Gavin Greenwalt @ Aug 1st 2007 7:15PM]

I agree and I'm sure these will sell quite well. But if I was for instance developing a high performance Digital Cinema compositing application right now I would imagine developing it for commodity hardware would be a better long term use of your time and enable wider adoption.

[morcheeba @ Aug 1st 2007 5:21PM]

You can already buy a PCI Express Cell Accelerator: http://www.mc.com/microsites/cell/productdetails.aspx?id=2590
or, a number of blade systems: http://www.mc.com/microsites/cell/products.aspx

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Aug 1st 2007 11:35PM]

Sony says they are working on a low power mobile/embedded version, perhaps we will soon see one in a Sony-Ericsson cell phone?

[gerbick @ Aug 2nd 2007 1:03AM]

It honestly would be nice to have something small for the hobbyists to play with and use though that was Cell based instead of some blade based rack system.

Bring back the days of Net Yaroze... but with Cell processing this time.

[JCD @ Aug 2nd 2007 6:40PM]

The cell BE is not ideally suited for general purpose computing; replacing your CPU with one would be absurd.

The cell was designed for pure multi-threaded tasks (for example, decoding multiple mpeg4 streams simultaneously) by using programmable SPUs (similar to the programmable shader units found on all modern GPUs); it can handle general purpose computing, but that is not what it is best at.

A standard x86 cpu, on the other hand, is optimized for general purpose software (like running a word processor or handling OS related tasks) by incorporating elements conducive for those needs (like branch predictors and large L1/L2 caches).

This is why the cell is finding its way into high-end home entertainment systems and blade servers. That's what it was made for.