IBM Announces 45nm CELL Processor

Daemonion

IBM will "soon move" to this smaller, cheaper chip, but the article doesn't say how soon. This basically means cheaper PS3s - I would suggest those who are on the fence wait to make their purchase, but I have no idea how long it will be until consoles with the new 45nm process hit the shelves ...

The 45nm Cell will use about 40 percent less power than its 65nm predecessor, and its die area will be reduced by 34 percent. The greatly reduced power budget will cut down on the amount of active cooling required by the console, which in turn will make it cheaper to produce and more reliable (this means fewer warrantied returns). Also affecting Sony's per-unit cost is the reduction in overall die size. A smaller die means a smaller, cheaper package; it also means that yields will be better and that each chip will cost less overall.

Article Here

Rook

Daemonion wrote: »

IBM will "soon move" to this smaller, cheaper chip, but the article doesn't say how soon. This basically means cheaper PS3s for sony to manufacture

Fixxed? If sony are still losing money on each PS3 sold I don't think they'll be that keen on dropping the price even further (and let's face it, it's pretty good value seeing as how it's an excellent blu-ray player)

Gyral

Cheaper to produce? Yes

All of these chip- and unit-level savings may or may not get passed on to gamers in the form of price cuts any time soon.

Cheaper for consumers? Maybe not.

Einhander

It's still a win for consumers, even if the prices stay the same.

The end consumer will be getting a Cell that runs cooler, meaning it will probably be more reliable. Not that the PS3 has had any problems with that issue, but still. And I guess it will run on less juice, so you'll probably save a few bucks a year on your power bill.

Malkor

Wow, 40% less power? How does that compare to the difference between Conroes and Penryn?

slash000

This is great news, but like the OP suggests, it's always a question of when.

Rook

Malkor wrote: »

Wow, 40% less power? How does that compare to the difference between Conroes and Penryn?

About the same. 65W->35W Conroe-> Penryn

0blique

I don't think people will have to wait too long. To present a paper in ISSCC, you need to have everything ready (including measurements) about 6 months ago, so a lot of the work has already been done. Also, their presentation indicates that their migration process is pretty much what you would expect- mostly automated procedures to use a new cell library and a new set of design rules, with some very occasional manual changes to cope with some of the issues related to voltage scaling as well as some other small improvements, so they shouldn't need to make too many runs to get a production grade chips. But I guess we will have to see, since there are other issues besides getting the die to work correctly to be able to ship out the new designs.

FyreWulff

I don't think Sony is going to drop prices due to this anytime soon, because

1) They need to make money back on the ones they've already made

2) They need all the money the PS3 can get

3) If they price cut, MS will just answer them with another one

Dark Shroud

Not counting this 45nm the PS3 currently costs Sony around $400 (US) per console. For awhile they were losing around $250 per console.