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In linux you can access 6 SPEs, as the last 1 SPE is used by the Hypervisor.
The CPU originally has 8 SPEs in total, but one is disabled to allow higher yield rates when producing the CPUs (if one SPE is defective, the CPU can be used for the PS3, if all 8 are working the CPU can be used for IBMs expensive CELL based blade servers etc).
I guess its a way for Sony to cut costs, and for the factory to get more usable silicon.
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