Cell Designer talks about PS3 and IBM Cell Processors
On Wednesday evening in Austin Texas, Peter Hofstee delivered a technical lecture about PS3’s IBM Cell Processor. “IÂ’m an IBMer, there were a lot of IBMers on the project. It was done here in Austin, at the IBM campus. But it really was Sony, and Ken Kutaragi that was the driver for this project.” he said, re-affirming the fact that the processor was very important for Sony and that Ken Kutaragi spent $400 million on the processor. “This is about as serious as it gets.” Hofstee added.
When asked about the size of the processor, he said that it would be about the same size as the first chip which went into the PS2. He also added that he’d love to see everyone who has a PS3 start programming for the Cell, but pointed out, “I think the biggest problem is to find ways to make it effective for the programmers.”
He noted that with Game Processors, one always has to wait and see how it’s going forward because of the economics of game consoles, so there’s always a big focus on size and power.
When asked what he felt while developing game technologies, he answered “I think games are an interesting application area, but quite clearly, Cell is not just for games. There are many other areas it can be used. Games are the thing that inspired us to do it.”
He also responded to the “pain in my a*s” comment by John Carmack, saying, “I think whenever you have competing platforms there are people who really like one platform vs. the other. IÂ’m not sure I agree with him. He didnÂ’t give me very many reasons why he feels that way. I got the impression that heÂ’s just someone who likes PCs more.”
On Wednesday evening in Austin Texas, Peter Hofstee delivered a technical lecture about PS3’s IBM Cell Processor. “IÂ’m an IBMer, there were a lot of IBMers on the project. It was done here in Austin, at the IBM campus. But it really was Sony, and Ken Kutaragi that was the driver for this project.” he said, re-affirming the fact that the processor was very important for Sony and that Ken Kutaragi spent $400 million on the processor. “This is about as serious as it gets.” Hofstee added.
When asked about the size of the processor, he said that it would be about the same size as the first chip which went into the PS2. He also added that he’d love to see everyone who has a PS3 start programming for the Cell, but pointed out, “I think the biggest problem is to find ways to make it effective for the programmers.”
He noted that with Game Processors, one always has to wait and see how it’s going forward because of the economics of game consoles, so there’s always a big focus on size and power.
When asked what he felt while developing game technologies, he answered “I think games are an interesting application area, but quite clearly, Cell is not just for games. There are many other areas it can be used. Games are the thing that inspired us to do it.”
He also responded to the “pain in my a*s” comment by John Carmack, saying, “I think whenever you have competing platforms there are people who really like one platform vs. the other. IÂ’m not sure I agree with him. He didnÂ’t give me very many reasons why he feels that way. I got the impression that heÂ’s just someone who likes PCs more.”