Supplemental info from Japanese articles about the Cell

[Npl]

Hmm, I dont think the PS3 could be a UMA Architecture. Theres no chance the GPU will be capable to access Cells` Memory at the same speed/latency as Cell itself. Vice verse for the VRam. (Or am I misunderstanding the meaning of "uniform memory architecture" ?)

Neither do I think the GPU will be limited to eDram. Prolly rather beeing a seperate 128/256 MB through a additional Bus (XDR or even "casual" GDDR Ram).

 

[Megadrive1988]

See that's where my brain stops understanding, i was thinking about displacement mapping. And with all this talk about the BE being able to process billions of polygons per second, if displacement maps were applied to the already many polygons at rendering stage, how would the GPU cope?

Not what bothers me is all this talk of Cell doing the Vertex processing, billions of polys a second, and GPU chugging a gazillion pixels a second, sounds thus far like PS3 will be a graphics monster but limited to the gameplay potential of a ZX Spectrum. Where's the CPU power to drive the rest of the game if it's all taken up rendering photo-real graphics? Thus far, XB2 sounds to have a more balanced distribution of power. I guess until we hear next month about PS3 in the flesh, it's too early to tell. But all this talk of Cell doing the graphics leg-work I seriously wonder what'll be left...

The Cell-CPU in PS3 will be able to transform / compute / calculate many more polygons / verices / vertex shader work than the Nvidia GPU will be able to rasterize & display. therefore, only a portion of the Cell-CPUs power / performance will be used for geometry / polygons transforms / lighting / vertex shading. there will be plenty left over to run game-code, physics, collision detection, A.I. etc.

i.e. the Cell-CPU might be able to handle 6 to 8 billion polygons a second. but the GPU might only be able handle 1 billion or so. So, alot of the CPUs power will be remaining for other things, since it will only need to provide roughly a billion (or slightly more) polygons to the GPU for rasterization / pixel shading.

 

[Dave Baumann]

Pixel shader units are also alot cheaper compare to vertex shader units.

What on earth are you basing this on?

 

[version]

gpu

 

[McFly]

gpu
http://web.axelero.hu/varga1973/GPU.JPG

Nice photoshop work.

Btw., I think I know now what they meen with more physics orientated rendering ... if the Cell will do all the polygon work, then the physics engine can be much closer connected with the polygon engine, so things like collision detection or object deforming could be much easier and especialy faster to make.

Fredi

 

[Panajev2001a]

Version,

the interview with the CELL team members seemed to exclude quite clearly a CELL based GPU for PlayStation 3/CELL WorkStation: it is an "abbandoned project".

 

[version]

Version,

the interview with the CELL team members seemed to exclude quite clearly a CELL based GPU for PlayStation 3/CELL WorkStation: it is an "abbandoned project".

who and where writed it?

 

[marconelly!]

My prediction is that the PS3 GPU is what would have been the NV5x GPU for PC desktops, tweaked for a FlexIO/CELL bus archiecture.

If NV5X is what they are also preparing next for their graphics architecture for PCs, then you're right. nVidia people have carved into everyone's brains that PS3 will use their 'next gen' GPU, that will be premiered in PS3, but soon after used in PCs also.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Version,

When you hear in the authorized personnel of the Cell processor which participates in ISSCC 2005, as for Cell based GPU development you say that it was given up after all.

http://ascii24.com/news/i/tech/article/2005/02/11/654235-000.html

 

[Panajev2001a]

My prediction is that the PS3 GPU is what would have been the NV5x GPU for PC desktops, tweaked for a FlexIO/CELL bus archiecture.

If NV5X is what they are also preparing next for their graphics architecture for PCs, then you're right. nVidia people have carved into everyone's brains that PS3 will use their 'next gen' GPU, that will be premiered in PS3, but soon after used in PCs also.

I think we will see GeForce 7 before we see PlayStation 3's GPU.

 

[V3]

Pixel shader units are also alot cheaper compare to vertex shader units.

What on earth are you basing this on?

They already have 16 in NV40. They might improve those pixel shaders, but I am doubtful they are going to redesign them to 32 in NV50.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Pixel shader units are also alot cheaper compare to vertex shader units.

What on earth are you basing this on?

They already have 16 in NV40. They might improve those pixel shaders, but I am doubtful they are going to redesign them to 32 in NV50.

Hehe, 16 Shader ALU's are enough for you ?!?

 

[London Geezer]

Pixel shader units are also alot cheaper compare to vertex shader units.

What on earth are you basing this on?

They already have 16 in NV40. They might improve those pixel shaders, but I am doubtful they are going to redesign them to 32 in NV50.

Hehe, 16 Shader ALU's are enough for you ?!?

Aren't they?

 

[Panajev2001a]

Pixel shader units are also alot cheaper compare to vertex shader units.

What on earth are you basing this on?

They already have 16 in NV40. They might improve those pixel shaders, but I am doubtful they are going to redesign them to 32 in NV50.

Hehe, 16 Shader ALU's are enough for you ?!?

Aren't they?

No, not at all.