[ydl-gen] No video hardware acceleration on PS3

[Warren Nagourney]

I have found it interesting that Apple has taken to using SPEC  
numbers to rate its new machines as opposed to their former approach  
of using some "real world" applications such as Photoshop. It is no  
secret that Intel has mastered the art of getting high SPEC numbers  
(some say that they have designed their compilers and even their  
hardware around this benchmark, but that is being a little  
paranoid...) Formerly, when Apple made PPC machines, they principally  
used Photoshop scores and even ran "races" between their computers  
and PCs during their yearly  "dog and pony" shows. The Macs did much  
better than Intel-based computer because of VMX (Altivec). Well, the  
Cell can be thought of as Altivec on steroids. I wonder how well it  
would run a program like Photoshop? Pretty well, I think.

-wn

On Nov 14, 2006, at 7:29 AM, Derick Centeno wrote:

>   Norberto Quintanar wrote:
>> http://www.apple.com/macmini/
>> --- Luke Scharf <lscharf at vt.edu> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> If I were to buy a PS3 for my home, it would need a
>>> fully-functional and
>>> accelerated X-server.  But, at the $600 price-point in my living
>>> room,
>>> it's really competing with the Mac Mini.  :-)
>>>
> Individuals interpret value v. price very differently.  These are not
> the same, nor are they reasoned by individuals in similar ways at all.
> One approach in examining what value, if any, exists along with the
> price (whether it be the PS3 or other computer) is to compare computer
> processing performance of Cell v Intel, in this case a Mac mini -  
> since
> they are offered at about the same price.  One could also take the  
> time
> to compare other Intel computers selling for the same price.  A quick
> view of just what is available within the same price range may be
> revealing, here are some links:
>
> http://www1.epinions.com/PC_Laptops--reviews--intel--prices-- 
> price_range_0_600
>
> http://reviews.cnet.com/4566-3118_7-0.html
>
> http://www.mysimon.com/4566-3000_8-0.html?filter=100021_10530723_
>
> The specs for the Mac mini, as mentioned elsewhere, are here:
>
> http://www.apple.com/macmini/
>
> One of the most infuriating aspects of interpreting the technical
> information Apple provides has been comparing what they present  
> against
> standard fundamental comparisons which other vendors use. However,  
> many
> companies don't present that kind of information in a format which is
> plainly or easily discoverable.
>
> So let's use what can be found quickly.
>
> In considering this particular problem I found 2 meaningful sources,
> from amongst a flood of others, referring to the Cell:
>
> 1.  2 straightforward meaningful numbers from here:
> http://www.ps3.net/ps3-specs.php
>
> 2 numbers which caught my eye are:
> 1.8 Tera-flops floating point performance for the GPU
> 2 Tera-flops System Floating Point Performance
>
> 2.  A different report from the ISSCC:
> http://www.realworldtech.com/page.cfm?ArticleID=RWT022805234129
>
> This report is perhaps more interesting than others which have been
> referred to because it's purpose is to clarify and analyze, as opposed
> to present something impressive.  They mention what is often  
> overlooked,
> 1Tera-flop is equivalent to 1 Billion instructions per second.
>
> Let's return to Apple's Mac Mini whose floating point numbers are on
> that same page.  What is that value?  26.3
>
> Now let's be fair, Apple is comparing it's current model against it's
> older one -- and there is a significant improvement.
> That is not what interests me here.  I am interested in extracting
> information which will help me ascribe a value which can help  
> inform my
> personal view in comparing against another similarly priced computer.
>
> We have 26.3 floating point compared against 1.8 Teraflops floating
> point.  That's 1.8 Billion instructions per second for processing
> floating point based calculations.  In the fields such as advanced
> financing (Stock Market institutions), and sciences (dna processing,
> muscle and nerve innervation analysis, biochemical analyses of all
> sorts, astronomy, weather analyses, earth sciences, etc.) where  
> tiny and
> unimaginably huge values are are needed to analyze interactions and
> events accurately the access to such technology is of huge importance.
> These people have homes and families (who themselves may appreciate an
> inexpensive computer they can reliably work with utilizing advanced
> precision) , and other persons not as well established in their  
> careers
> or life who have the knowledge can certainly utilize this kind of  
> power
> and make their own contributions in these same fields as well in  
> various
> ways because of the open source concept and a free web, via this same
> inexpensive system.
>
> Although I did not discover the system wide performance numbers for
> current Intel based machines I frankly don't have that much time to
> pursue this question further.  However, I have not heard of any other
> computer system being at anywhere near 2 Teraflops for system wide
> floating point performance, except the Cell (a joint venture of Sony,
> IBM and Toshiba).
>
> There are other computers performing at the level of the Cell or
> better.  However IBM according to the NY Times, Feb. 9, 2006, "IBM
> Unveils Server Line That Uses Game Chips" by Steve Lohr, sells those
> computers starting from 20-30K ($20,000 - $30,000).  Given this added
> published fact, the value in my view is with the Cell.  For $600 there
> is the opportunity and chance to learn and acquire skills approaching
> that used in very high end systems.  In my view, that is value indeed.
>
> I personally comprehend what that value is because I have accumulated
> over 15+ years of technically advanced work experience with high end
> computer systems from IBM, Stratus and others.  I have a profound
> respect and great enjoyment in having worked with these advanced  
> systems
> and look forward to the continued availability of such powerful  
> systems
> returned to the public and commercial market at such an amazing price.
>
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