from what I can gather, it uses current transistor technology (90nm Silicon-On-Insulator). And it will be almost twice as big a chip than current P4, and run at higher speed.
Translation? A ton of heat... and I mean loads and loads... Unless they found a magical way to make it run on a lower voltage (which seems unlikely since they use the same transistors as intel and amd).
Also, the size and speed (which should cause some pretty low yield), and the fact that its based on a RAMBUS memory architecture should make it pretty expensive....
All of this kinda conflicts with the idea of using it in the PS3... unless the ps3 winds up costing 600$+
What I do like about it is, in theory, its a new way to process thing, which is the only way to get more than incremental increase in performance over the previous chip. It also can mean falling flat on your face... but Id be surprised if it does with the backing it has...
But dont forget, nothing is as good as the press release is trying to make it sound... (i.e. I could easily see the PS3 cell chip running at 2ghz instead of 4 to improve yields and reduce cost and heat.)
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02-08-2005
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