Sony's PS3 Slim Carries Updated Cell Chip, 45nm Cell Processor

[PS3 News]

IBM have revealed that the new PS3 Slim carries a revised version of the Cell processor.

The electronics giant have confirmed that the Slim's new Cell is "manufactured using an advanced 45-nanometer manufacturing process" that will deliver "many performance improvements while drawing less power than earlier chips".

These chips are obviously cheaper to produce and, in part, are responsible for the smaller and more power effective Playstation SKUs.

To quote: "The new chip has been manufactured using an advanced 45-nanometer manufacturing process, an IBM spokesman said. Based on IBM's Power architecture, the chip delivers many performance improvements while drawing less power than earlier chips, IBM has said. The earlier console carried a Cell processor manufactured using the 65-nm process. IBM declined to provide the clock speed of the new Cell processor.

Chip production enhancements for the Cell could deliver some cost benefits to users, said Jon Peddie, president of Jon Peddie Research. The chips will become more power efficient and users may see some energy savings, Peddie said.

Smaller chips also cost less to produce, which may have contributed to the lower console price, Peddie said. That could also set the stage for further price drops in the future."


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[Preceptor]

A higher clock? I doubt it... seriously doubt it.

I would say the only thing they improved was the cost of manufacture that reduced a lot and the power consumption that will deliver a cooler version of the processor that will fit that tiny little cheap case the slim has. A higher clock would deliver a serious issue concerning new games being developed for slim debug ps3 and then not being able to run properly in older ps3s.

[saioke]

Originally Posted by Preceptor A higher clock? I doubt it... seriously doubt it. I would say the only thing they improved was the cost of manufacture that reduced a lot and the power consumption that will deliver a cooler version of the processor that will fit that tiny little cheap case the slim has. A higher clock would deliver a serious issue concerning new games being developed for slim debug ps3 and then not being able to run properly in older ps3s.

That's correct, the fact that regular PS3s use a lot of energy, i think they just decided to cut energy costs. it won't contain a higher clock, just a newly-engineered CPU to go along with the slim and to lower energy cost. it actually says that in the article.

[gtxboyracer]

Hang on.. isnt this the same Cell Processor they started using in the 40GB/80GB models? the only one i know that was using the 65nm chip was the original 60GB/20GB models... so technically this chip isnt so new.. but at least they are telling us that they guarantee the new Slim to also contain this chip.

[TheSparky]

Originally Posted by gtxboyracer Hang on.. isnt this the same Cell Processor they started using in the 40GB/80GB models? the only one i know that was using the 65nm chip was the original 60GB/20GB models... so technically this chip isnt so new.. but at least they are telling us that they guarantee the new Slim to also contain this chip.

The original cell was a 90nm chip. The 40/80GB models are 65nm. The Slim models are 45nm.

[snowisawesome00]

for the ps3, it means less power comsumption, less heat and a smaller cell chip, which is why they can make a slim now.

[antonzvl]

And i supose that there can not be any talk about increasing clock power - Sony need to think about older fat models also.
But remember - PS3 has never used its full-power yet. PPU (Power Processing Unit) is used on its safe-maximum. However, the number of SPUs (Synergatic Processing Unit) varies depending on game. (Max, if i remember correctly, was 5 using GTA5).

So even if they have increased processing power, it wouldn't matter for a year or two - there is no game that uses 6 or 7 SPUs yet. Another talk if Sony would have include CellX processor in PS3, which is 5 times faster then original Cell BE processor used in all PS3 models.

[hellospaceboy]

Originally Posted by antonzvl Another talk if Sony would have include CellX processor in PS3, which is 5 times faster then original Cell BE processor used in all PS3 models.

Still, from 90nm to 45nm and 350w to 250w, it isnt a bad reduction, and why would Sony include the CellX if they were trying to cut costs.

[antonzvl]

Still, from 90nm to 45nm and 350w to 250w, it isnt a bad reduction, and why would Sony include the CellX if they were trying to cut costs.

Ye, i agree that minimizing processor itself by two times is dramatical update.

What about CellX (PowerXCell), i sayed it, becouse they could have put it into new PS3, but it is expensive.
However it probably would be in PS4 - simple evolution. The processor itself is coded same way as Cell BE.