4 ms·
Yes, and the place they mention is 34th slot in Top500 ~ 190TFlops So, suppose a bespoke 190TFlop beast would normally cost $20M - at a bargain $0.10 for one f
by binarymax 16y ago
Yes, and the place they mention is 34th slot in Top500 ~ 190TFlops
So, suppose a bespoke 190TFlop beast would normally cost $20M - at a bargain $0.10 for one flops!(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FLOPS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FLOPS -Costs of computing)
Looks like with their setup they are getting $0.01 each flops.
- jessriedel 16y agoSo you're saying that the fact that the PS3 is sold at a loss has very little to do with the cheapness of this supercomputer? I still have trouble believing economically that Sony gets it's processors ten times cheaper than normal. Why couldn't the Air Force just buy the processors from whoever makes them for Sony? Yes, Sony probably has a discount from the processor manufacturer for buying in bulk, but a factor of 10 doesn't seem possible.
- binarymax 16y agoSony makes the processors :) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_(microprocessor) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_(microprocessor)
- moxiemk1 16y agoI'm quite sure that IBM actually makes the processors, at the plant in East Fishkill, NY. In the history section of that Wikipedia Article, IBM manufacturing the chips is referenced several times, but never Sony.
- metageek 16y agoYeah, but they codeveloped them with Sony, so Sony presumably gets a really low price.
- jessriedel 16y agoThis doesn't answer my question. Even if Sony did make the chips all by themselves (which seems dubious from comments below), then they own some sort of magic capital or intellectual property which lets them produce such processors way cheaper than every other company on the planet. What is this magic thing?
- alecco 16y agoTFlops are a very bad metric for computers. A rocket car isn't better than a Ferrari. A monster truck isn't better than a 4x4. Computers and cars have very complex specs.