PS3 a Bargain: Worth $840, Powerful as a Supercomputer

[wraggster]

Via Gizmodo (http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/ps3-a-bargain-worth-840-powerful-as-a-supercomputer-215203.php)

ISuppli took apart the PS3, sourced all the components and found it to have some serious engineering mojo.


With the PlayStation 3, you are getting the performance of a supercomputer at the price of an entry-level PC
The premium model costs $840.35 to make (Which sells at a loss for $600.)

The Xbox 360 on the other hand, costs $323 to make, these days. So, what we're trying to get at here is that the PS3 is a good deal. A lot of bang for the buck. A Bargain.
A wonderful surprise, for us, and for Sony. Good job, guys!

But I suppose we could have figured it out for ourselves if we'd considered how much the PS3 costs per pound. Fat ass.

Did you know the WiFi module is only $15 bucks? Hit the jump to see the price per component for everything else.

The Breakdown Via the Comments

[Nafogel]

wow, i seriously thought they were over charging, but i'm surprised. too bad i don't have an extra 600 bucks to fork over, i guess i'll have to wait and see how christmas goes....

[geise69]

I DO plan on getting a PS3, just not right now. I knew before it was released that it was going to cost less than it did to manufacture. However, 600 bucks is still to high of a price for me to fork over to play video games. I'm as hardcore as they come but I'd rather put that money to pay my mortgage. It's nice to know it's worth more than you pay for it though.

[briyan]

i feel so stupid now, being a Sonyphite and I gave up on the week before it launched to grab a 360 instead. now i'm contemplating returning this back to the store or just to wait till the Sony exclusives (MGS4, Final Fantasy XIII, etc.) come out before I ship this cheapo console back to the dump. I tried out the PS3 at Walmart last night and man was I impressed. The XMB was flawless in execution. easily accessible much like the PSP's, even the games, I tried out MotoStorm..the graphics were sharp and really good-looking compared to the 360's (i think specially for a launch title) although it did hiccup a bit here and there, i guess this was due to the fact that it was only a demo. NBA'07 was OK. The graphics really stood out (and it was only in 720p compared to the 1080p it can deliver) although the gameplay was not on par with NBA 2K7 which i happened to just buy last night for the heck of it. And it's become the other game I play besides Gears of War. OK so enough ranting, I'll sell my XBOX360 to anybody willing to take it and end up buying Sony's "outlet store" bargain of a superconsole. I should have waited..but i guess i'll end up waiting to get my hands on it and some of the games I want for it..i'm sure it'll all add up and be quite worth it in the end.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Gentlemen ... hardware means nothing without software.

Historically speaking, the "best hardware" rarely wins the battle. Sotware and audience does.

[paul1991]

It is probably a Sony lie to think you are getting a deal. They probably buy the parts in bulk for half of that.

[porchemasi]

even so the 60gb is $100 + tax is worth the money since u cant upgrade technically besides teh ehardrive for $200

[Adrenalin]

It is probably a Sony lie to think you are getting a deal. They probably buy the parts in bulk for half of that.

i agree, to lose 250-300 bucks per console is stupid. there would be no reason to release it in that case. this isn't factoring in other expenses too such as marketing etc, which shouldbe bigger expense.

this also suggest that you getting a bigger bang for your buck with the 20GB model which is pretty stupid.

[Video_freak]

You can't use it as a computer though... :(

[ICE]

it may be a good price for a super computer but its not a super computer, its a game system and is a very over priced one.

[NoQuarter]

What are you talking about video freak?You can put yellow dog linux on it.

[Smurph]

Gentlemen ... hardware means nothing without software.

Historically speaking, the "best hardware" rarely wins the battle. Sotware and audience does.

Listen to this man.


What are you talking about video freak?You can put yellow dog linux on it.

Yellow Dog sucks.

[kando]

this is pretty amazing, i truely thought sony was makin a fortune on each unit sold.

"other components and manufacturing" wonder what that is :o

but yea, those are retail prices of the parts. sony is getting the parts cheaper, obviously.

either that or making their own :P

[ACID]

Thats one thing people never reallise. They dont over charge for platforms they normally loose money. But the software is what brings in the real money. So thats why they get mad with pirates

[Video_freak]

Sorry, let me clarify. I meant something like running Windows or something like that on it...

[rdetagle]

Linux can run on PS3, saw the download on (much-hated) PS2NFO.com (now PS3News). Also since they announced it's open-platform, just wait awhile and windows will be available for it.

I'm sure that Sony gets the parts in bulk, so it's much cheaper than the retail prices, but I'm also sure they lose money on each console. Most money is made off of software.

The performance of the PS3 is definitely super-computer worthy, but it'll take time for all the features to become available. I bet Sony's planning the PS3 for long-term, by 2010 it'll be in every home, used for everything like the PC is now.

[NoQuarter]

I've personally never used yellowdog before so I wouldn't know...
But other distros will make versions of PS3 linux.
I personally use slackware on 2 of my computers and xebian on the xbox.
What do you want to do with windows that you wont be able to do with linux video freak?
I'm pretty sure since all of the hardware will probably be supported by linux in the ps3 we'll be able to use some of the cooler stuff such as xgl and the 3d desktop on the ps3.Not to mention run emus full speed given time.

[kando]

Linux can run on PS3, saw the download on (much-hated) PS2NFO.com (now PS3News). Also since they announced it's open-platform, just wait awhile and windows will be available for it.

linux is free. windows is not.

if windows WAS released for the ps3, it would cost at least $200 usd more.

[NoQuarter]

I'm pretty sure we'll be able to do stuff like this:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjII1Ld47zc

[kando]

I'm pretty sure we'll be able to do stuff like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjII1Ld47zc

WOW i've never seen anything like that before! :eek:

I WANT :eek: :eek:

[NoQuarter]

If your graphics card is supported, you can do that on your PC.I hope we'll have full support for the 3d desktop on the PS3.It's really just a matter of fully supported hardware though.I can't do it on my laptop yet because of my IGP chipset :(
Now tell me,What's vista got on that?!

[F9zDark]

89 bucks for the Cell?? Doesn't seem right, but ok...

[pdotb]

On the PS3, the Linux drivers explicitly don't support the 3D hardware, just a 2D framebuffer context (according to docs at www.powerdeveloper.org).

You may know more? Is that access at the level of OpenGL or even CG that either I'm not aware of or maybe hasn't been publically released yet?

I'd love to see XGL on PS3 (though its RAM is very limited). I'll watch with great interest...