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Former Member
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confused Using PS3 power

I've read recently on some of the websites that Folding@home has started using PS3 machines to calculate the needed data. It increased the processing power dramatically. Will we be doing it here somewhere in the near future?
[Nov 8, 2007 7:56:19 PM]   Link   Report threatening or abusive post: please login first  Go to top 
Sekerob
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Re: Using PS3 power

This PS3 question is put onto this forum about twice a week and the answer is not changing, unless a fitting science comes along. Thus, please refer to the Help article regarding Game consoles.

http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/help/viewSearch.do?searchString=gamer
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[Nov 8, 2007 7:59:37 PM]   Link   Report threatening or abusive post: please login first  Go to top 
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Re: Using PS3 power

This PS3 question is put onto this forum about twice a week and the answer is not changing, unless a fitting science comes along. Thus, please refer to the Help article regarding Game consoles.

http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/help/viewSearch.do?searchString=gamer



Why would you need a small footpint on a PS3? I have an un used 80 Gig HD on that bad boy.
[Dec 17, 2007 3:56:10 AM]   Link   Report threatening or abusive post: please login first  Go to top 
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Re: Using PS3 power

http://www.ps3grid.net/

I'll try this next week and I'll let you know how it goes.

Brandon
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KLiK
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Re: Using PS3 power

i just wonder if that would work on WCG?

i'll also try it out next week...
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Sekerob
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Re: Using PS3 power

No, BOINC is portable to many platforms including PS3, but the sciences are not. As what the Help info says, they need to be custom designed, in this case for the cell CPU within the PS3.
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chelloocom.xahmol
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Re: Using PS3 power

I understand that specific code needs to be developed to use the cell processors and that it takes capacity and time to do so. It is of course all a cost/benefit thing.

But see what the PS3 did for F@H: of the total 1391 teraflop output at F@H, 1091 comes from the PS3 !

So the potential benefit could be huge, which in my opinion could provide a solid business case to create custom designed sciences.

Also look at the publicity angle: the fact that F@H is a default option in every PS3 sold (the download link is already in the menu of every unit sold) has introduced F@H to numbers of people that previously never heard of F@H.
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Re: Using PS3 power

That is a lie misleading. They still haven't published the way they calculate their figures, and I'm afraid that that's because they are inflated. What they have said doesn't bode well - it's all estimation and fiddle-factors.

flops can be calculated in lots of different ways - and they just picked the method that yielded the biggest numbers (probably due to pressure from Sony). The result is that the numbers from the Folding@Home project can't be compared meaningfully to anything else - they exist in their own bubble of meaninglessness.

Consoles do have potential, of course. But the console manufacturers have been spinning lies about performance for so long it seems to be a habit.

Seriously, though - if the chip in a PS3 were really as good as they claim, they would be in every desktop by now. The reality is that cell CPUs are very specialised, and only good at certain operations. They are useless for general purpose computing.

The next generation of general purpose cell processors - now that will be fun.
[Dec 17, 2007 12:23:33 PM]   Link   Report threatening or abusive post: please login first  Go to top 
KLiK
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Re: Using PS3 power

No, BOINC is portable to many platforms including PS3, but the sciences are not. As what the Help info says, they need to be custom designed, in this case for the cell CPU within the PS3.

so what you are saying that the science from WCG would work on Linux PC, Mac OS PC & Win PC...and also the XBOX, 'cause it's the PC version of processor...

but it won't work on Cell, 'cause the science is not written for Cell? why is it than that BOINC is the platform that detects the processor(s)?
and isn't the science universal?
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[Dec 17, 2007 12:49:22 PM]   Link   Report threatening or abusive post: please login first  Go to top 
chelloocom.xahmol
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Re: Using PS3 power

Of course this could be Sony propaganda as you say (I am far from a technical expert so have nothing to counter that), but they say that they acknowledge that the cell prpbably is not that big a leap forward for generic use, but that it is for the specific type of calculations DC projects tend to use.
So you are probably right that they are less of a step forward for general purpose computing, but they might be for scientific calculations like WCG.

The same is true for GPU clients. The same statistics show that only 655 GPU clients (all the newer highend ATI cards) generate just below the same amount of flops as 26.000 Linux users. Again: GPU cores are not that relevant for generic computing, but are highly effective for specialised calculations. Or is this ATI propaganda?

By the way: the F@H project is the first to acknowledge that consoles/GPU clients can not completely replace the traditional clients, as indeed only a subset of problems can be tackled by these clients. But at that specific subset they say console/GPU clients are ridiculously effective.

What is also true that in both cases the PR effect has been dramatic for both Sony, ATI and F@H. Even in case it would not be a performance boost per client, alone this effect might already be very worthwhile from a cost/benefit point of view. Just imagine e.g. a XBOX360 WCG client supported by Microsoft so Microsoft can evidence its claim that the PS3 does not outperform the XBOX360. That would be a huge PR stunt.

As for why the cell is not in every desktop: think the biggest reason here is compatibility. IBM is planning though (or already has, am not certain) to implement the Cell in mainframe computers and super computers.
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[Edit 3 times, last edit by chelloocom.xahmol at Dec 17, 2007 1:02:17 PM]
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