DevStation 2006

["Nerve-Damage"]

Yeah NVidia has definitely made allusions in the past to Soundstorm coming back on the GPU, but that said I just don't see why in PS3 Cell wouldn't handle the audio. I mean, this chip is *more* than capable in having an SPE spend some of it's time doing audio.

As powerful as the Cell processor is xbdestroya, for Sony to solely rely on it (video, audio, AI, physics, vertex shading, some/certain post processing effects, ECT…) seems a bit much IMO.

Why not give the RSX certain (post processing) duties towards the audio & video end of the spectrum.

Notice I didn’t say decoding (still Cell job)!!

 

[Shifty Geezer]

You've a potential 200+ GFlops of Cell capability. Audio is by all accounts a drop in the ocean. If adding more silicon's cost to PS3 nets you a benefit saving of like...2% CPU power, is it worth bothering with?

 

[London Geezer]

Kutaragi has explicitly said that there isn't a dedicated sound-chip in PS3, as it's natural for Cell to handle it. Not sure what role RSX could play here, except piping audio out through HDMI if it was connected to a HDMI tv or reciever.

BINGO!!!

Some people really get heated up for nothing sometimes...

 

["Nerve-Damage"]

You've a potential 200+ GFlops of Cell capability. Audio is by all accounts a drop in the ocean. If adding more silicon's cost to PS3 nets you a benefit saving of like...2% CPU power, is it worth bothering with?

Well you know that 200GFLOPS is just raw theoretical peak performance!?!

Using a program like Linpack showed Cell was capable of around 130+ GFLOPS of real-world performance. And as far as I know Linpack doesn’t factor in AI, Physics, sound, certain post processing effects, ECT…

So once you factor in those things…“CELL” claim to fame (FLOPS) starts to dwindle down real fast with the added variables.

Meaning; if Sony wants to keep the hi-flop count with the Cell processor; the RSX must at least to some degree be able to help out with certain post processing video choirs (some audio).

And by the way SACD HD, DTS, Dolby Digitial, 3DX, 5.1-7.1 setup, and so fourth arent a cake walk in the park to process, no matter what Sony saids. I don’t care how powerful the Cell processor is!! Cell maybe a monster at decoding it…it’s the fedility of the playback that I’m concerned with.

 

[Titanio]

Well you know that 200GFLOPS is just raw theoretical peak performance!?!

Using a program like Linpack showed Cell was capable of around 130+ GFLOPS of real-world performance. And as far as I know Linpack doesn’t factor in AI, Physics, sound, certain post processing effects, ECT…

So once you factor in those things…“CELL” claim to fame (FLOPS) starts to dwindle down real fast with the added variables.

Cell has no more on its plate than any other console's CPU (that we know of so far), so I'm not really sure what this is about. Higher peak performance, all else being equal, will mean higher realisable performance anyway. Linpack is just one app, there were other tasks were they showed nearly full use of Cell's peak fp capability.

Typical audio requirements really aren't going to take much out of Cell at all.

 

["Nerve-Damage"]

Cell has no more on its plate than any other console's CPU (that we know of so far), so I'm not really sure what this is about. Higher peak performance, all else being equal, will mean higher realisable performance anyway. Linpack is just one app, there were other tasks were they showed nearly full use of Cell's peak fp capability.

Typical audio requirements really aren't going to take much out of Cell at all.

Don’t get me wrong!!

The Cell processor is a beast!!

I just don’t see the problem (others may have) with Sony/Nvidia allowing certain video (and possible audio) routines to be covered by the RSX GPU.

If we're to believe now (to a certain extent) the RSX is more than G70/G80 variant?

That’s all I’m saying…

 

[Titanio]

Don’t get me wrong!!

The Cell processor is a beast!!

I just don’t see the problem (others may have) with Sony/Nvidia allowing certain video (and possible audio) routines to be covered by the RSX GPU.

If we're to believe now (to a certain extent) the RSX is more than G70/G80 variant?

That’s all I’m saying…

Well I can't be sure, but unless nVidia put some specific audio logic on the GPU I'm not sure why or how it'd help. Asides for output. And Kutaragi has said there is no specific audio chip in PS3.

 

["Nerve-Damage"]

Well I can't be sure, but unless nVidia put some specific audio logic on the GPU I'm not sure why or how it'd help. Asides for output. And Kutaragi has said there is no specific audio chip in PS3.

Well Feb is upon us; will soon find out...........

 

[Tahir2]

What is the audio processor on Xbox360?

 

[Titanio]

What is the audio processor on Xbox360?

The CPU.

 

["Nerve-Damage"]

What is the audio processor on Xbox360?

Xbox 360 doesn't have a dedicated audio chip (for sound processing), but rather a sound outboard chip for output functions.

 

[DeanoC]

Xbox 360 doesn't have a dedicated audio chip (for sound processing), but rather a sound outboard chip for output functions.

Xbox 360 has an XMA decoder, which is a good idea IMHO. Let the CPU do the fancy programmable bit with its float SIMD and do a hard fixed bit with some dedicated hardware.

 

["Nerve-Damage"]

Xbox 360 has an XMA decoder, which is a good idea IMHO. Let the CPU do the fancy programmable bit with its float SIMD and do a hard fixed bit with some dedicated hardware.

You lost me here....

I guess you mean a dedicated audio chip for sound!?!

 

[DeanoC]

You lost me here....

I guess you mean a dedicated audio chip for sound!?!

X360 has DACs (obviously) and a XMA hardware decompressor. It can decompress a bucket load of XMA (i.e. better than MP3 audio) per frame for 'free' (there some bandwidth cost but the processing cost is free), the uncompressed data is then processed by the CPU before being output by the DACs.

 

[overclocked]

DeanoC in regarding to Devstation and i was thinking about the G70 pipes so NOT RSX pipes!
Are the fragment ALU thats coupled with the TMU only stalling the other ALU when doing tex ops or is their more circumstances?

 

[DeanoC]

DeanoC in regarding to Devstation and i was thinking about the G70 pipes so NOT RSX pipes!
Are the fragment ALU thats coupled with the TMU only stalling the other ALU when doing tex ops or is their more circumstances?

You'd be best off asking G70 questions in the PC section.

 

[overclocked]

But there is a link between PS3-devkits and G70, or?

You'd be best off asking G70 questions in the PC section.

...

 

[ROG27]

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[DeanoC]

Err just in case it wasn't clear... There are lots of ways of figuring out a G70 and that people already have data in the PC section of this very website.

I wasn't even thinking of RSX... so if you want to read more into it and come up with crazy stuff like Xen on that other thread, its not my fault.