Jaws said:
Do a search from 04' DEC on this forum and read all about it in hundreds of threads...
I read them, I was here
NV said that the technology had been worked on for 18mo at the time, they never said the PS3 GPU was specifically in the works for the last 18mo. Yet Sony advocates interpretated that as meaning the PS3 GPU was in the works the entire time. Later is was clarified that it would be using technology from their next Gen GF chips. It was stated to be a "custom" chip, but NV never said what they meant by custom. N2A was custom. There was always a strong possiblity that NV's proposal was the contingency plan and when the "make or break" date came they decided to go in the alternate direction.
From the looks of the GPU, from the comments from ATI, and from those under NDA mentioning we would know more about the GPU when the GF 7800 is announced shortly I think it is pretty easy to put together.
The what ifs do not seem to have panned out and the easiest explaination seems to be the right one. Which is not a bad thing because NV bring a LOT to the table for Sony. One of those things being the enthusiasm of Epic and the great UT2007 live demo at E3. Then you have all their IP, know how, developer connections, and tools.
I am not saying a PC part is bad. But the constant I can name a handful of similar issues related to PS3 tech (wont specifically mention them because it would appear I was trying to pick on you, which I am not... you know your stuff) that get pushed forward as fact and if someone disagrees they are an idiot. A number of times these have failed to materialize and/or pan out as claimed. The idea that the RSX is a totally custom GPU in development specifically for the PS3 for 2 years does not seem to be holding water. ATI mentions in one of their interviews they had worked on the R500 for 2 years up to this point. I could be wrong, but it really does look like the evidence is pointing to what NV's Pres said: That the PS3 GPU is based on their next gen GeForce, and in fact it looks like a GF chip.
Which is a good thing.
As for the original issue, my point:
Without knowing
1. If the slide is about the PS3, or just CELL in general (re: it will be in workstations also)
2. When that slide was made in relation to the NV deal and
3. If and how that slide relates to CELL <> RSX
We cannot really say how much of that specific demo applies. Just because a slide from almost a year ago mentions the interaction of CELL at a deep level with rendering and Sony showed a CELL based demo doing as much, we do not know how flexible the GPU is in this regards.
If you go back to read some of the responses to the hint it might is seems people were getting a little excited.
It would be like someone getting excited because the patents mention that the xCPU can take on some of the vertex load from the GPU, and that this may work in the Xbox 360. Seeing this materialize as more relevant.
At least in my opinion.
