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View Full Version : Eight PS3 'Supercomputer' Ponders Gravity Waves


wraggster
October 17th, 2007, 21:58
Jamie found a story about a inexpensive supercomputer being used by an astrophysicist to research gravity waves. The interesting bit is that the system is built using 8 PS3s. Since nobody is actually playing games on the system, it makes sense to use them for research projects like this, but I really wonder now what is defining 'Supercomputer'... I mean, a hundred PS3s sure, but 8? I think we are de-valuing the meaning of the word 'super' :)

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/news/2007/10/ps3_supercomputer
freitax
October 17th, 2007, 22:51
"Since nobody is actually playing games on the system, it makes sense to use them for research projects like this,..." I almost died laughing with this "super"joke or maybe I'm de-valuing the meaning of the word "super" or maybe I'm also de-valuing the meaning of the word "joke".
Gizmo356
October 17th, 2007, 23:08
I hate this thread it makes my fingers hurt
Basil Zero
October 18th, 2007, 01:25
And.....well thats not the reason why people arent buying the system, its mostly because of the price, but hey at least the PS3 is seen as a "Useful" system xD
mike03$$$
October 18th, 2007, 01:34
i think they sould turn this into something similar to F@H
cataphrax
October 18th, 2007, 02:46
In no way are they devaluing the word supercomputer. All opinions of the PS3 aside, it's a powerful machine:

CPU: 8 3.2ghz processors (one is not used, it's there for redundancy)
GPU: RSX @550MHz
1.8 TFLOPS floating point performance
Full HD (up to 1080p) x 2 channels
Multi-way programmable parallel floating point shader pipelines
Memory: 256MB XDR Main RAM @3.2GHz 256MB GDDR3 VRAM @700MHz
System Bandwidth:
Main RAM 25.6GB/s
VRAM 22.4GB/s
RSX 20GB/s (write) + 15GB/s (read)
SB< 2.5GB/s (write) + 2.5GB/s (read)

Eight PS3's would end up looking like this in terms of memory and cpu:
CPU: 64 3.2ghz processors (including the redundant ones)
Memory: 2GB XDR Main Ram @3.2GHz 256MB GDDR3 VRAM @700MHz

Thats seems powerful enough to me to qualify as a supercomputer.
jamotto
October 18th, 2007, 03:24
The PS3 is many things, but it is no supercomputer.
Basil Zero
October 18th, 2007, 05:34
The PS3 is many things, but it is no supercomputer.

Not as one unit, but when you have multiple units together, than yes it might be possible.
Cap'n 1time
October 18th, 2007, 16:39
I wonder if the clustering software will be released as an open source linux distro (assuming its just a normal ps3 using linux).
mcdougall57
October 18th, 2007, 17:15
a super computer is classed as a computer built with millions of pounds and contains hundreds of processors
Cap'n 1time
October 18th, 2007, 20:48
a super computer is classed as a computer built with millions of pounds and contains hundreds of processors
A super computer is not defined by how much it costs (or weighs if that is what you were talking about), nor does it necessarily have to have hundreds of processors (though clustering is the easiest and cheapest way to go about it). I dont know exactly at what point a cluster becomes a super computer, but more than likely it has more to do with how many FLOPS (Floating Point Operations Per Second) it can work with. From my short google surf I see that the PS3 is capable of calculating at 2 Terra FLOPS. 8 * 2 is 16 TFLOPS. Does this kick your computers ass? Yes. If you clustered 2 of your computers would it kick your ass? Yes. If you clusted 4 of your computers would this kick your ass? Yes. 8? Most likely. 10? Still highly possible.

While this doesnt push out the whopping 180+ TFLOPS some of IBM's super computers can, It is remarkably powerful and cheap. This does not devalue the word "super" at all.
jamotto
October 19th, 2007, 07:10
Not as one unit, but when you have multiple units together, than yes it might be possible.

It would take 140+ units to equal a IBM Blue Gene/L supercomputer. They would have to do something like Folding@home, as wiring that many PS3's together is not feasible.
Cap'n 1time
October 19th, 2007, 18:01
It would take 140+ units to equal a IBM Blue Gene/L supercomputer. They would have to do something like Folding@home, as wiring that many PS3's together is not feasible.

I don't see why it wouldnt be. Hardware could be modified and alternative cooling methods could be applied. Folding@Home works pretty much works the same way...
acn010
October 19th, 2007, 18:17
lol
in the end, the ps3 is a computer
freitax
October 25th, 2007, 03:05
lol
in the end, the ps3 is a computer


Yes it is, just like an xbox360 is.
Shadowblind
October 25th, 2007, 03:30
Like I said before, the PS3 has insane potential. Didn't I hear somewhere that the ARMY is using the PS3 for a defense grid or research program :)

Thats what I like about the 360 too. Supercomputers litter the video game world!