The Cell can do AA & Textures

Each SPE has 256KB of on-die memory allotted only to it, but instead of being used as conventional cache memory, this small area of high-speed storage is actually addressed almost like typical system RAM. The L1 cache memory found in conventional processors is highly automated, making it simple to program for but adding overhead. With the Cell processor, programmers can dictate exactly how they wish their software to use the 256KB allotment available to each SPE. This allows execution efficiency to be increased with good software design. It also allows better memory management and security from buffer overflows and other exploits.

Individual SPEs should be able to pass data to each other by storing it in specific areas of the system memory, forming a chain of processing units each performing a different operation on the data. Obviously this requires an extremely fast interface between the system RAM and the SPEs, which the Cell has in spades

It doesn't matter, Textures and the likestill need to be loaded into the RAM, which is where the PS3 falls on its face.Nagidar

Cell includes an on-die dual channel XDR memory controller, each channel being 36-bits wide (32-bits with ECC). Cell's XDR memory bus runs at 400MHz, but XDR memory transfers data at 8 times the memory bus clock - meaning that you get 3.2GHz data signaling rates. The end result is GPU-like memory bandwidth of 25.6GB/s. The memory bandwidth requirements increase tremendously as you increase the number of processor cores - with 9 total in Cell, XDR is the perfect fit. Note that the GeForce 6800GT offers 32GB/s of memory bandwidth just to its GPU, so it would not be too surprising to see the Playstation 3's GPU paired up with its own local memory as well as being able to share system memory and bandwidth.

Each SPE has 256KB of on-die memory allotted only to it, but instead of being used as conventional cache memory, this small area of high-speed storage is actually addressed almost like typical system RAM. The L1 cache memory found in conventional processors is highly automated, making it simple to program for but adding overhead. With the Cell processor, programmers can dictate exactly how they wish their software to use the 256KB allotment available to each SPE. This allows execution efficiency to be increased with good software design. It also allows better memory management and security from buffer overflows and other exploits.

Individual SPEs should be able to pass data to each other by storing it in specific areas of the system memory, forming a chain of processing units each performing a different operation on the data. Obviously this requires an extremely fast interface between the system RAM and the SPEs, which the Cell has in spades

anthonydwyer

It also breeds kittens.FrozenLiquid

Legend has it, by 2008 the cell would have cured the common cold :o

It also breeds kittens.FrozenLiquid

Didn't you hear??? They cut the kitten-compatibility on the new model.

Sorry forgot about the links lol

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1727

http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.aspx?i=2379

http://users.ece.gatech.edu/~lanterma/mpg/ece4893_xbox360_vs_ps3_4up.pdf

Isn't The Cell a bad movie featuring Jennifer Lopez ? :roll:

[QUOTE="Nagidar"]It doesn't matter, Textures and the likestill need to be loaded into the RAM, which is where the PS3 falls on its face.anthonydwyer

Cell includes an on-die dual channel XDR memory controller, each channel being 36-bits wide (32-bits with ECC). Cell's XDR memory bus runs at 400MHz, but XDR memory transfers data at 8 times the memory bus clock - meaning that you get 3.2GHz data signaling rates. The end result is GPU-like memory bandwidth of 25.6GB/s. The memory bandwidth requirements increase tremendously as you increase the number of processor cores - with 9 total in Cell, XDR is the perfect fit. Note that the GeForce 6800GT offers 32GB/s of memory bandwidth just to its GPU, so it would not be too surprising to see the Playstation 3's GPU paired up with its own local memory as well as being able to share system memory and bandwidth.

You're not understanding, not only does this stuff take up RAM, it also eats up bandwidth, and the PS3 sharing its pools of RAM creates a bottleneck.

The 360 doesn't have this problem since the eDRAM does this stuff for the GPU.

EDIT: I know what you are trying to say, proving people wrong about the whole AA and Texture thing and I understand, but that doesn't take away the fact that doing these things is harder for the PS3 than the 360.

EDIT x2: WTF is wrong with GS? Jesus, I get an error when trying to quote and when I try to edit, seriously, WTF?

I originaly posted it on a call of duty 4forum, people where arguing about the cell not being able to do AA or textures because it requires memory, but the tread was old and i thought it may be a good stand alone topic to discuss, I think the real question is why do half the people on gamespot post what they post?

[QUOTE="anthonydwyer"]

[QUOTE="Nagidar"]It doesn't matter, Textures and the likestill need to be loaded into the RAM, which is where the PS3 falls on its face.Nagidar

Cell includes an on-die dual channel XDR memory controller, each channel being 36-bits wide (32-bits with ECC). Cell's XDR memory bus runs at 400MHz, but XDR memory transfers data at 8 times the memory bus clock - meaning that you get 3.2GHz data signaling rates. The end result is GPU-like memory bandwidth of 25.6GB/s. The memory bandwidth requirements increase tremendously as you increase the number of processor cores - with 9 total in Cell, XDR is the perfect fit. Note that the GeForce 6800GT offers 32GB/s of memory bandwidth just to its GPU, so it would not be too surprising to see the Playstation 3's GPU paired up with its own local memory as well as being able to share system memory and bandwidth.

You're not understanding, not only does this stuff take up RAM, it also eats up bandwidth, and the PS3 sharing its pools of RAM creates a bottleneck.

The 360 doesn't have this problem since the eDRAM does this stuff for the GPU.

where do i say any different? you may be right i dont know, But it does show that the cell can do AA and textures

I would hope it could do textures with AA lol, since Textures on just about on anything.

PS3 is simply at a raw disadvantage when it comes to AA. Not only is it storied thru the frame buffer (EDRAM), but Xenos has twice the fillrate when it comes to AA bandwidth. 16GPixels vs 8Gpixels on the RSX.

Nvidia has implemented a fixed-function texture mapping architecture and claims the chip will be the most advanced GPU implemented to date. It will have even power than two of its GeForce 6800 GPUs. Packing over 300 million transisitors, the RSX will be implemented in a 90-nm 8-level metal process. Supporting the RSX GPU will be 512 Mbytes of render memory. The RSX GPU combined with the Cell Processor will deliver a compute throughput of 2 TeraFLOPS.

I think people may have Misunderstood (my fault)

I know you need A GPU to do textures and AA but i am pointing out that the cell can make up for the lack of GDRAM on the 360

that my be more clearer

[QUOTE="FrozenLiquid"]It also breeds kittens.Meu2k7

Legend has it, by 2008 the cell would have cured the common cold :o

I've heard that the Cell has a solution for poverty, crime and war. Unfortunately, that part of the cell hasn't been unlocked yet.

This is what I should have posted but for some reason i cannot edit the message above

Each SPE has 256KB of on-die memory allotted only to it, but instead of being used as conventional cache memory, this small area of high-speed storage is actually addressed almost like typical system RAM. The L1 cache memory found in conventional processors is highly automated, making it simple to program for but adding overhead. With the Cell processor, programmers can dictate exactly how they wish their software to use the 256KB allotment available to each SPE. This allows execution efficiency to be increased with good software design. It also allows better memory management and security from buffer overflows and other exploits.

Individual SPEs should be able to pass data to each other by storing it in specific areas of the system memory, forming a chain of processing units each performing a different operation on the data. Obviously this requires an extremely fast interface between the system RAM and the SPEs, which the Cell has in spades

I know you need A GPU to do textures and AA but I am pointing out by combining the cell with the ps3 gpu that the cell can make up for the lack of GDRAM on the 360

[QUOTE="FrozenLiquid"]It also breeds kittens.Meu2k7

Legend has it, by 2008 the cell would have cured the common cold :o

Legend has it, by 2008 the Xbox360 would repair itself after the red light of death occurs :o

http://www.blachford.info/computer/Cell/Cell3_v2.html

"It might surprise you to learn that almost everything in that list can be accelerated to some degree by the SPEs - even the OS itself can benefit in several areas. Anything which uses graphics, video or audio are good targets as they work on chunks of data and are in many cases parallelisable and vectorisable. Text rendering and anti-aliasing can be done in an SPE, as can searching. Even if operations are not vectorisable scalar operations ran across different SPEs will still be of use. Sorting and encryption are also potential targets."

The Cell also heals cancer, so if you don't buy a Ps3, you want people with cancer to die:|

LOL this is a quote from some fanboy made like 3 months ago. I hope he was joking:lol: If only I book-marked it:(

sorry for some reason i can not edit but the above clearly states in my last post that the SPEs of the Cell can Anit-Alias

I don't care on what it can do, so far the developers have made worst looking games on the PS3.

And that is fact.

Im Assuming theteam IW and the team behind killzone2 have used the cells SPUs to AAanthonydwyer

Yea i think they did

By The way good explanation on how the PS3 does its AA and Textures

I don't care on what it can do, so far the developers have made worst looking games on the PS3.

And that is fact.

0starter0

That is a fact but only because all of the games todate have been 360 ports

However when a multi-platform game is developed simultaneously like call of duty 4 the ps3 begins to shine

[QUOTE="anthonydwyer"]Im Assuming theteam IW and the team behind killzone2 have used the cells SPUs to AAsam890

Yea i think they did

By The way good explanation on how the PS3 does its AA and Textures

i cannot take credit mate just a simple copy and paste im afraid lol, ive provided all the links for the originals if you want a look. but nice to see someonerecognize that the ps3 is capable of these things.

The one thing i can say on a cod4 threat, people was arguing and putting the ps3 down saying it cannot do these things and that the ps3 was rubbish and there was no proof to say the cell could do these things, But know ive provided proof from several sites, it no longers matters you gotta love system wars lol

It has all this fancy technology in it yet the games look no better than the 360.wiganath

its already been stated why. because most of the multi-platform games have been 360 ports, Until now

ps3 is by far more powerful then 360deadmeat59

Not by far though; and power is no good if it can't be used properly.

[QUOTE="FrozenLiquid"]It also breeds kittens.The_Crucible

Didn't you hear??? They cut the kitten-compatibility on the new model.

WTF why would they do that?

[QUOTE="Meu2k7"]

[QUOTE="FrozenLiquid"]It also breeds kittens.kelkimble2k4

Legend has it, by 2008 the cell would have cured the common cold :o

Legend has it, by 2008 the Xbox360 would repair itself after the red light of death occurs :o

Then again I've had mine for 11 months no problems. Though two times the door got closed on my entertainment set and it felt like it was going to melt, but that was after 6 hours of play that day.

That's not the PS3 cell. The POS3 cell was weakened and modified to reduce costs.farrell2k

proof please

[QUOTE="The_Crucible"]

[QUOTE="FrozenLiquid"]It also breeds kittens.sirk1264

Didn't you hear??? They cut the kitten-compatibility on the new model.

WTF why would they do that?

to force people to buy their new kittens at a higher price.

i have no idea what you just said. lol

but what is really important is that games would not just look better but will also play better

[QUOTE="farrell2k"]That's not the PS3 cell. The POS3 cell was weakened and modified to reduce costs.anthonydwyer

proof please

Now that I look at those links, he's right, THAT Cell is the OoO Microprocessor, the one in the PS3 is an IO processor and 2 of the SPE's are reserved, 1 for the OS and 1 cannot be used.

[QUOTE="sirk1264"][QUOTE="The_Crucible"]

[QUOTE="FrozenLiquid"]It also breeds kittens.marklarmer

Didn't you hear??? They cut the kitten-compatibility on the new model.

That makes me mad.

WTF why would they do that?

to force people to buy their new kittens at a higher price.

That makes me mad:evil:

So to recap the ps3s cellcan do full AA and Textures

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1727

Each 'Synergistic Processing Elements' (SPE) is a powerful processor in its own right, focused on one thing: churning through single precision and double precision mathematical calculations. As each SPE component is a subordinate part of the whole Cell processor, they can dispense with a lot of the complex instruction queuing logic that a typical modern single processor computer needs. Each SPE gets its orders from the 64-bit Power PC unit which handles the scheduling and parceling of data out to the SPEs. Instead the focus is on speed.

Each SPE has 256KB of on-die memory allotted only to it, but instead of being used as conventional cache memory, this small area of high-speed storage is actually addressed almost like typical system RAM. The L1 cache memory found in conventional processors is highly automated, making it simple to program for but adding overhead. With the Cell processor, programmers can dictate exactly how they wish their software to use the 256KB allotment available to each SPE. This allows execution efficiency to be increased with good software design. It also allows better memory management and security from buffer overflows and other exploits.

Individual SPEs should be able to pass data to each other by storing it in specific areas of the system memory, forming a chain of processing units each performing a different operation on the data. Obviously this requires an extremely fast interface between the system RAM and the SPEs, which the Cell has in spades... More on this later.

http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.aspx?i=2379

The Cell includes an on-die dual channel XDR memory controller, each channel being 36-bits wide (32-bits with ECC). Cell's XDR memory bus runs at 400MHz, but XDR memory transfers data at 8 times the memory bus clock - meaning that you get 3.2GHz data signaling rates. The end result is GPU-like memory bandwidth of 25.6GB/s. The memory bandwidth requirements increase tremendously as you increase the number of processor cores - with 9 total in Cell, XDR is the perfect fit. Note that the GeForce 6800GT offers 32GB/s of memory bandwidth just to its GPU, so it would not be too surprising to see the Playstation 3's GPU paired up with its own local memory as well as being able to share system memory and bandwidth.

http://www.blachford.info/computer/Cell/Cell3_v2.html

It might surprise you to learn that almost everything in that list can be accelerated to some degree by the SPEs - even the OS itself can benefit in several areas. Anything which uses graphics, video or audio are good targets as they work on chunks of data and are in many cases parallelisable and vectorisable. Text rendering and anti-aliasing can be done in an SPE, as can searching. Even if operations are not vectorisable scalar operations ran across different SPEs will still be of use. Sorting and encryption are also potential targets.

Call of Duty 3 Runs at full AA and at 60fps the same as the 360

http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2007/08/14/call-of-duty-4-on-the-ps3-run-at-60fps-with-full-aa/

On the official Call of Duty 4 message boards, one of the developers behind the sexy looking FPS has recently shot-down the rumor that COD4 on the PS3 would run at a sad Madden-like 30FPS with little to no anti-aliasing, versus the 360 version which has already been confirmed to run at 60FPS with AA.

According to the dev, "Same level of AA between 360/PS3, both @ 60fps. Hate on the PS3 all you want guys, but we've done did it up right for the Sony lovers. Nothing has been 360 footage yet touted as PS3, you crack-heads! I'm not sure whats up with what you guys might have seen at E3, but we do have AA on the PS3."

It's awesome to see Infinity Ward pulling out all the stops and not picking the lazy way out like EA did with their sports games. Plus, they mention that the PS3 will be getting some special COD4 flavored love and that we'll hear about it soon. Hopefully it's something more than lame Sixaxis support, but at this point PS3 fans would be happy just to get a freaking demo or something ...

And the PS3 version of COD4 has a bit more graphical love then the 360 counterpart

http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=21738

Infinity Ward: There was no base console for dev, COD 4 on PS3 excels over Xbox 360

According to a gaming website, Infinity Ward relayed to them that there was not one console platform being used as a base in the development of COD 4, instead all development occurred simultaneously across all three platforms. However, the PS3 version reportedly triumps over the Xbox 360 version when it comes to textures, lighting and sresolutions.

quote:
Still, as strong as Call of Duty 4 is shaping up to be in the gameplay department, the most immediately impressive aspect is by far its graphics. The PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions all look surprisingly similar, but that's not due to one platform being the lead; Infinity Ward personally assured us that development occurred simultaneously on all three platforms, and that there wasn't a base system. With that said, the console similarities end when it comes to textures, lighting and resolutions, because those three areas make the PlayStation 3 version definitely excel over the Xbox 360 SKU. Regardless, every console owner will proudly use Call of Duty 4 to showcase their high-definition TV, because COD4 is by far the best-looking console game you will see this year.