iSuppli calls Sony's Playstation 3 'a great bargain'

[Gizmo]

"iSuppli Corp.’s dissection reveals the PlayStation 3 is an engineering masterpiece that sets a new high mark for computing price/performance"

Umm......yes, but remember the part where it costs $600?

"With the PlayStation 3, you are getting the performance of a supercomputer at the price of an entry-level PC"

Well, sure, but remember the part where it is a GAME console that costs $600? If I wanted a PC, I'd be BUYING a PC!

Read more on the Front Page:
http://www.aoaforums.com/frontpage/content/view/1402/2/

[skool h8r]

Yes, don't these feature the IBM + Sony Cell chips? As for them being as powerful as a supercomputer, why don't i just buy one and rip it apart for bits? Jeez, i'd rather have a PC anyday. My PC can probably be quieter and cooler than a PS3 and it's bananaphone controller anyday.

[danrok]

Even at that price there are going to be shortages for some time yet. They could have sold the first million at $1000 I reckon.

[danrok]

Originally Posted by skool h8r

Yes, don't these feature the IBM + Sony Cell chips? As for them being as powerful as a supercomputer, why don't i just buy one and rip it apart for bits? Jeez, i'd rather have a PC anyday. My PC can probably be quieter and cooler than a PS3 and it's bananaphone controller anyday.

The PS3 is a computer, you can fit a keyboard and mouse and install Linux on it.

[Pitch]

They are better of competing with dell to be honest.

[Samuknow]

Simply Amazing

[raphael2040]

Originally Posted by danrok

The PS3 is a computer, you can fit a keyboard and mouse and install Linux on it.

Yeah, this is what many people fail to understand.

All of the processing power is dedicated to gaming. That is what's it's there for.

It's a PC, yes, but with 100% of resources towards games.

And, nice post Gizmo. You're sorta right. =O

[Favu]

is it possible to get a faster PC for the same money? If not then PS3 clusters and such might make sense, but the upgrade limits such as only having one HDD and one NIC etc and the low GFX power mean that it isn't really as good as a PC for gaming or for use as a server.

However if someone wanted a small linux workstation then it might just make sense.

However, if you where to just use it as a games console then it is rediculously expensive.

[Pitch]

At $37.50, this power supply costs about twice as much as an average unit found in a PC.

Orly...

[Samuknow]

Originally Posted by Favu

is it possible to get a faster PC for the same money? If not then PS3 clusters and such might make sense, but the upgrade limits such as only having one HDD and one NIC etc and the low GFX power mean that it isn't really as good as a PC for gaming or for use as a server.

However if someone wanted a small linux workstation then it might just make sense.

However, if you where to just use it as a games console then it is ridiculously expensive.

The thing is, all of the games will be written directly for this hardware. For this fact alone it will blow any gaming PC to date out of the water. That is what makes consoles so good. Plus this thing is just ridiculous...

[Gizmo]

Originally Posted by Favu

is it possible to get a faster PC for the same money? If not then PS3 clusters and such might make sense, but the upgrade limits such as only having one HDD and one NIC etc and the low GFX power mean that it isn't really as good as a PC for gaming or for use as a server.

Actually, as I understand it the GFX power is quite substantial, rivaling all but the high-end (like $300+) graphics cards.

Compared to what you can get PC-wise for $600, it really is a pretty good deal, from what I understand. But it isn't being marketed as a $600 PC, it is being marketed as a $600 game console.

[Samuknow]

Originally Posted by gizmo

Actually, as I understand it the GFX power is quite substantial, rivaling all but the high-end (like $300+) graphics cards.

Compared to what you can get PC-wise for $600, it really is a pretty good deal, from what I understand. But it isn't being marketed as a $600 PC, it is being marketed as a $600 game console.

On that note. Does it have PC capabilities? I know there were, dare I say it, work around, to put linux on the first xbox. Will this be possible with the PS3?

[Favu]

From what I hear the PS3 supports linux quite nicely

@ Gizmo, I was told that the PS3's GFX chip is a cut down 7xxx series chip, so it is, compared to what PCs have available, not that fast anymore. However, my informant could well be mistaken

[Pitch]

RSX, is G70 but with only a 128bit memory interface and less memory.

[danrok]

This is the Linux distro:
http://www.aoaforums.com/frontpage/content/view/1306/2/

The good thing about it is that you have a choice between a one-click install, or custom install if you know your Linux.

I put some details together on the PS3 here:
http://www.aoaforums.com/frontpage/c.../1279/32/1/16/

Could probably do with an update now! I think you can easily install any HDD yourself.

[skool h8r]

At $37.50, this power supply costs about twice as much as an average unit found in a PC.

No Wai!

Right, so my 580W Hiper Modular ATX 2.2 PSU Only cost £9.37 ($18.75 US Approx)? Where the hell do they shop? Does this mean i can get an Opty X2 for £20?! That's even cheaper than ebuyer. It's even cheaper than Ebay!

[Gizmo]

Originally Posted by Favu

@ Gizmo, I was told that the PS3's GFX chip is a cut down 7xxx series chip, so it is, compared to what PCs have available, not that fast anymore. However, my informant could well be mistaken

Fair enough. However, bear in mind that you are comparing a PC oriented architecture to a purpose-built gaming machine. Also bear in mind that the RSX has a huge amount of processing assist from the SPEs in the cell processor. This ain't your typical G70-based (or G47-based) graphics card design; the GPU might be very powerful from a PC standpoint, but on the PS3 it is backed up by several other very powerful cores. In other words, where it is almost a necessity in the PC world to do physics calculations on the GPU or some kind of dedicated hardware, there's a whole lot of stuff that can be done on the SPEs on the PS3, thus freeing the GPU to handle the stuff it really needs to do.

At least, that's the theory as I understand it. I COULD be all wet.

But I still think $500-$600 for a game console is WAY too much. I'm having a hard enough time with the XBox 360's $300-$400 price tag.