backtop

Gadgets Report: 40GB PS3 Shipping With 65nm Cell
Brandon Hill (Blog) - October 30, 2007 12:55 PM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 134 comment(s) - last by Shadowmaster62.. on Oct 31 at 3:59 PM
Sony reduces PS3 power consumption with chip swap

There has been plenty of press coverage on Microsoft's move to a 65nm processor on its Xbox 360 console. The Xbox 360, which has been notorious for heat-related problems in the past, is now equipped with less outlandish cooling hardware due to the cooler-running chips.

Sony isn't being left out when it comes to 65nm manufacturing, however. According to Engadget, the new 40GB PS3 -- which officially launches in the U.S. on November 2 -- will also feature a cooler-running 65nm Cell processor.

The move to a 65nm process allows power consumption to drop from 200 Watts down to a more palatable 135 Watts. The PS3 also has a new motherboard revision complete with an update Southbridge. The heatpipe used to cool the Cell processor has also been reduced in size thanks to the less demanding cooling requirements.

Heat problems haven't really plagued Sony's PS3 as they have the Xbox 360, but the move to 65nm technology should help Sony to trim manufacturing costs.

The 40GB PS3 has a price tag of $399.99 and will ship with a cop of Spider-Man 3 on Blu-ray. In order to reach the sub-$400 price point, the 40GB PS3 has no PS2 backwards compatibility, lacks a memory-card reader and features two fewer USB 2.0 ports than its more expensive 80GB brother.

Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
Correction: Shouldn't it be the CPU & GPU
By mWMA on 10/30/2007 2:07:05 PM , Rating: 2
I thought according the original source (computerbase.de) Both the RSX and Cell are getting the 65nm shrink.

Considering that it is dropping a whopping 65W in power use (200W to 135W at peak now) a Cell processor alone cannot give such a huge drop alone. The updated South bridge isn't gonna decrease power usage by much either.




RE: Correction: Shouldn't it be the CPU & GPU
By deeznuts on 10/30/2007 2:28:30 PM , Rating: 2
This is a huge power drop. I'm almost inclined to sell my PS3 20gb, but seeing as I don't use it that much, and I still want my PS2 compatiblity, ehh I'll stay.

But this is good news, 65w drop is very signficant.


RE: Correction: Shouldn't it be the CPU & GPU
By kileil on 10/30/2007 2:47:41 PM , Rating: 4
My cat's frigid, shivering butt agrees completely.


By Master Kenobi (blog) on 10/30/2007 3:46:25 PM , Rating: 2
Given the 65 watt drop, I would argue this is just the Cell. Cell chews up a ton of power. I'm not surpised the shrink saved so much.


By MrTeal on 10/30/2007 6:54:44 PM , Rating: 2
I'd argue against that being the only power savings, if the 200W to 135W figure in the article is accurate. Think about it, even if through some miracle the shrink cut the cell power usage in half, that would still mean that the Cell used 130W out of 200W in the old system. I find that very hard to believe, especially considering that the process shrink wouldn't net anywhere near a halving of power.


By mWMA on 10/30/2007 8:48:41 PM , Rating: 2
Cell in PS3 consume less than 80Watts total. and that is value from pre-production. each SPE consumes less than 5W.
http://www.blachford.info/computer/Cell/Cell1_v2.h...

Just about all 90 to 65nm shrink result in 30-45% drop in power. 90 to 45nm process depending on method will result in 50% or more.

Unless both the RSX and Cell had been shrunk I cannot see how CPU alone can provide such a huge drop.


RE: Correction: Shouldn't it be the CPU & GPU
By crazyblackman on 10/30/07, Rating: -1
RE: Correction: Shouldn't it be the CPU & GPU
By Locutus465 on 10/30/2007 5:10:41 PM , Rating: 2
Some people care about their electric bills :P


RE: Correction: Shouldn't it be the CPU & GPU
By kileil on 10/30/2007 5:18:58 PM , Rating: 4
quote:
Some people care about their electric bills :P


I care about other people's electric bills. Doc says I'm too empathetic. I hope it doesn't worry him at night.


By murphyslabrat on 10/31/2007 1:31:20 PM , Rating: 2
Can we get a six here?


By TontoGo on 10/30/2007 7:37:15 PM , Rating: 5
Like the people that bought their PS3 to fold@home?


RE: Correction: Shouldn't it be the CPU & GPU
By softwiz on 10/30/2007 5:25:08 PM , Rating: 3
Anyone know who much power the PS2 Emotion / RSX / GS hardware ate ?

I was thinking that in addition to the die shrink, the complete removal of BC means it won't be sucking up power / causing heat either.


RE: Correction: Shouldn't it be the CPU & GPU
By Brockway on 10/30/2007 6:24:05 PM , Rating: 2
200 watts ps3 total. Not sure if the 200 is for the 80gb sku or the original 60gb though.

The ps3 gpu is just a 7800gtx, which consumes like 80 watts peak on the pc.

The ps2 slim's total power consumption was like 45 watts, but that includes dvd drive and all that.

Only info on Cell I could find was estimated power consumption of 60-80 watts.

So ~160 of the 200 watts are accounted for with cell and rsx, last 40 are blu-ray, motherboard, hard drive, and ps2 b/c hardware.


By walk2k on 10/30/2007 7:30:22 PM , Rating: 2
I have the original 20GB and it uses 170-205 watts, depending on what you are doing. I tested it myself with a "Kill-a-watt" meter.

Funny thing is it seems playing MP3s with the visualizer requires the most power. Folding@Home and playing games it uses about 185-190 watts.

I have no clue if the GPU has been 65nm'ed yet, though Nvidia did just release their first 65nm GPU yesterday (the G92) but that is a Geforce 8-series GPU, the RSX is based on a 7-series GPU.


Why don't people get it?
By glitchc on 10/30/2007 3:34:48 PM , Rating: 5
The popularity of the console has actually very little to do with the price point. It is determined by the games. So far, there's NO must-have PS3 game, which is why people quibble on the price. Price becomes a very flexible parameter when the system has an extremely popular (hyped) must-have game that everyone wants to play.

Even for PCs, the incentive to upgrade is just not there unless it's to run the latest and greatest software, be it game, application, or OS. Consider a videocard, the 8800GTX. We know it's out there and a few early adopters buy it, but it really sells only when you have a game like Crysis which everyone wants to play, and reviewers report that the GTX is the only card that can handle it in all its glory.




RE: Why don't people get it?
By SavagePotato on 10/30/2007 5:03:22 PM , Rating: 2
Actually ratchet and clank is totally awesome, exclusive, and exactly what I would call a must have.

I'm looking forward to playing tonight, final fantasy 13 I'm guessing will be falling in that category as well. For myself Conan has been a must have, but then I'm a Conan fanatic.

With call of duty 4, assasins creed, metal gear solid 4, grand theft auto 4, force unleashed, all on the list for release by Spring. I would say those would all be must have titles in my opinion as well. Possibly UT3 as well, though id sooner play it on my PC as is always the preference with FPS games.


RE: Why don't people get it?
By Locutus465 on 10/30/2007 5:12:33 PM , Rating: 1
How many of those must haves justify a $399 price tag to the average joe? At the high end the price difference is minimal, but at the entry level both Wii and 360 still have a big leg up on Sony.


RE: Why don't people get it?
By SavagePotato on 10/30/2007 5:37:28 PM , Rating: 2
To be honest I really don't give a rats ass what the average Joe does with his money. $399 for a blu ray player that plays games Is a plenty good deal to me. And there are plenty of games on ps3 despite the incessant bitching that there aren't, with more to come.

In fact $549 was a good enough deal for me, and the ps3 has been a very useful purchase for me. Even just as much as I use it as an upconverting dvd player and a blu ray player.

The average Joe is welcome to stick with the wii or 360 if it floats his boat.


RE: Why don't people get it?
By FITCamaro on 10/30/2007 8:29:33 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
With call of duty 4, assasins creed, metal gear solid 4, grand theft auto 4, force unleashed,


Save MGS4, those are all available on the cheaper 360.


RE: Why don't people get it?
By michal1980 on 10/30/2007 8:40:45 PM , Rating: 1
how long is that cheaper card going to be pulled?

399 vs what 359 for the preimum xbox 360?

wow you saved 40 bucks and didnt get wi-fi and didnt get bluray Wooo. big bucks there


RE: Why don't people get it?
By FITCamaro on 10/30/2007 8:45:13 PM , Rating: 2
To play those games, you don't need the Premium. The Arcade pack for $280 will suffice just fine. Sure I wouldn't buy one, but for parents buying their kid a console and the kid wants to play those games, $280 vs $400 is a lot.

The point is that the cost of entry is lower. If you want the addons, you can get them. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft cut the 360s price again to account for the new PS3 model. They're just going to wait until after the Halo 3 induced sales drop off.