• US Air Force buys 2,200 PS3's For it's supercomputer
    90 replies, posted
[url]http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/linux/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=221900487[/url] [quote]The U.S. Air Force is looking to buy 2,200 Sony (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 3 game consoles to built out a research supercomputer, according to an document posted on the federal government's procurement Web site. The PlayStation 3s will be used at the Air Force Research Laboratory's information directorate in Rome, N.Y., where they will be added to an existing cluster of 336 PlayStation 3s being used to conduct supercomputing research. The Air Force will use the system to "to determine the best fit for implementation of various applications," including commercial and internally developed software specific to the PS3's Cell Broadband Engine processor architecture. The research will help the Air Force decide where Cell Broadband Engine processor-derived hardware and software could be used in military systems. The Air Force has used the cluster to test a method of processing multiple radar images into higher resolution composite images (known as synthetic aperture radar image formation), high-def video processing, and "neuromorphic computing," or building computers with brain-like properties. The PlayStation 3's eight-processor Cell powers other supercomputers, including the world's second-fastest, IBM (NYSE: IBM)'s RoadRunner, at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In June, the Department of Defense awarded $2 million for this research under its High Performance Computing Modernization Program, the DOD's arm for supercomputing research, development, test, and evaluation. That follows an initial investment of $118,000 on the original cluster. Before it won the research award in 2008, the information directorate's advanced computing architectures team considered alternative configurations and the possibility of a hybrid system, but found multicore Xeon servers slower and more expensive than PS3s, and GPGPUs to be slower in some important types of calculations. The Air Force Research Laboratory's information directorate spends about $700 million annually on R&D, in areas such as collaboration, networking, cybersecurity, and computer modeling. [/quote] the ps3 must be powerful or something.
Why don't they buy an IBM supercomputer?
[QUOTE=ShitBalls;18529069]Why don't they buy an IBM supercomputer?[/QUOTE] Maybe 2000 PS3s cost less
So this is how they will build skynet
"2050 Playstations were lost during installation"
They are lying, there just going to play Call of Duty all day.
[QUOTE=Charlie Charles;18529210]They are lying, there just going to play Call of Duty all day.[/QUOTE] Some new training programme.
This shows the PS3's capabilities.
[QUOTE=runtime;18529233]Some new training programme.[/QUOTE] [img]http://images.paraorkut.com/img/funnypics/images/a/army_soldier-12931.jpg[/img]
Wtf is he trying to do that pic?
[QUOTE=Larry Daniell;18529313]wtf is he trying doing?[/QUOTE] Thats the joke.
[QUOTE=Larry Daniell;18529313]Wtf is he trying to do that pic?[/QUOTE] Turn off your computer and never come back.
[QUOTE=Larry Daniell;18529313]Wtf is he trying to do that pic?[/QUOTE] Using a arrow with a gun :downsbravo:
[QUOTE=Murkrow;18529203]"2050 Playstations were lost during installation"[/QUOTE] I don't get it.
[QUOTE=Larry Daniell;18529313]Wtf is he trying to do that pic?[/QUOTE] /thread.
[QUOTE=ShitBalls;18529069]Why don't they buy an IBM supercomputer?[/QUOTE] Since a stack of PS3s are apparently better.
[QUOTE=starpluck;18529274]This shows the PS3's capabilities.[/QUOTE] No, that shows 2,1K PS3's capabilities.
They are using so many PS3s because it costs still less than a supercomputer (of which they probably wouldn't use the full power evidently). Sony is probably crying though, nearly all consoles are sold at a price lower than the profit line, so Sony/MS gain profit through the games and accessories sold, not the consoles themselves, therefore they are loosing a lot of money with this (and with folding) because these consoles will not sell games.
At least they won't rrod while calculating.
[QUOTE=gazzy_GUI;18529525]Using a arrow with a gun :downsbravo:[/QUOTE] What arrow ?
[QUOTE=starpluck;18529274]This shows the PS3's capabilities.[/QUOTE] No, it shows the capabilities of a cluster featuring thousands of PS3 units. EDIT: Late :smithicide:
[QUOTE=acds;18529734]They are using so many PS3s because it costs still less than a supercomputer (of which they probably wouldn't use the full power evidently). Sony is probably crying though, nearly all consoles are sold at a price lower than the profit line, so Sony/MS gain profit through the games and accessories sold, not the consoles themselves, therefore they are loosing a lot of money with this (and with folding) because these consoles will not sell games.[/QUOTE] Ah, thank God for Capitalism.
[QUOTE=starpluck;18529274]This shows the PS3's capabilities.[/QUOTE] Not really, it's not a single PS3, it's 2050 of them, you could do the same with SNESs too (a lot more than 2050 in that case).
[QUOTE=acds;18529757]Not really, it's not a single PS3, it's 2050 of them, you could do the same with SNESs too (a lot more than 2050 in that case).[/QUOTE] Must be annoying to do the annual cart blowing then huh.
[QUOTE=johanz;18529735]At least they won't rrod while calculating.[/QUOTE] "Hey guys I got 2200 DVDs of Forrest gump so we can all watch! Cost a ton but I love the movie." "Uh..."
Why not just make a speciel computer for it, instead of a PS3? And hi, I am new :D
Can't they just bulk-order the parts they need? This seems really useless...
[QUOTE=kasper6;18530496]speciel[/QUOTE] You spelt troll wrong
[QUOTE=kasper6;18530496]Why not just make a speciel computer for it, instead of a PS3? And hi, I am new :D[/QUOTE] PS3 = large consumer product = mass produced in large quantities = cheap Servers = not so largely mass produced = expensive
[QUOTE=Ama-zake;18530972]PS3 = large consumer product = mass produced in large quantities = cheap Servers = not so largely mass produced = expensive[/QUOTE] So they get ripped off when they buy supercomputers? I don't get that much.
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