nub question about XBOx 360, PS3 CPU vs PC CPU

[theteamaqua]

i do know that the dual core CPU we have have 2 general purpose core, and the CPU Consoles have only have 1 and many other specialize cores, well XBOx 360 has 3 i think, and PS3 has 7 SPEs and 1 General purpose core

and both PS3 and XBox 360 r running at 3.2Ghz

can we compare their CPU with PC CPU like we did with AMD K8 vs Intel Core??

i just want to know what they r capable of,

i know that:

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=31631

quote:
"One reason for failing to deliver the performance promises on both sides is the fact that both Microsoft and Sony products utilize 128-bit memory interfaces for the GPU, which cuts available bandwidth to half othat available on high-end products from the PC world.

Instead of a memory bandwidth of 44.8 GB/s, the Xbox 360 features only half of the number and, in practice, the Xenos GPU is working on levels of graphics cards somewhere around the year before the last one.

The PS3 is a bit more complicated with a TurboCache feature with the system memory, but we'll just focus on the GPU capabilities. The RSX has a memory clocked at 1400MHz but, again, you'll be just as stuck as with the Xenos GPU - cruising around at 22GB/s.

CPUs are also a whole other story. "

"CPU is a whole other sotry" , that is what i wanna know!!!

 

[dguy6789]

This is a complex question, probably far more so than what would meet the eye at first glance.

The Xbox 360 CPU is a triple core 3.2Ghz IBM based processor with each core capable of handling two threads of data at the same time. This means that the Xbox 360 cpu is capable of running 6 threads in parallel.

The PS3 CPU is a single core 3.2Ghz cpu of the same model as one of the cores of the Xbox 360(without the two threaded ability), and then it has 7SPE based co processors.

In terms of pure gaming power, the Xbox 360 has without a doubt the faster processor. Most(if not all) developers for PS3 games have stated that the 7SPEs are terrible at running game code, and are hard to program for just to get game code running on them acceptably. Even with that programming, performance is not increased by much. The Xbox 360, on the other hand, has three cores that are identical. Each core is capable of running any form of code that they put on. So having code run on each core is easy with no requirements to alter it. The only problem they have is effectively making code run in parallel with good performance increases, this is the same problem with current dual core pcs and games. Some developers have overcome this and have shown massive performance gains, such as those found in Quake 4.

Keep in mind, we are speaking of a gaming environment. If Cell were running software that would take full advantage of the core and 7 SPEs, it would be faster than software taking advantage of all six threads on the Xbox 360 CPU.

Quite simply, Cell would be faster than the Xbox 360 cpu in some specific applications, but not in games. (Think of comparing the P4 to Athlon 64. Athlon 64 beats it in games, but there are some scenarios with other software where the P4 wins)


Comparing the console CPUs to PCs would be very, very difficult, as they run completely different data sets. I believe it is RISC vs x86, however I am not certain on that. If I were to take my best estimate, I would say that each core on the Xbox 360 would be as fast as a 1.6-1.8Ghz Athlon 64. The nice thing is, if fully programmed for it, it would be like 6 1.8Ghz Athlon 64s in a game in the best case scenario.

I hope this helps a bit. If you would like information on the comparison between GPUs and memory architectures, I could also tell you about that.

 

[Cooler]

The Xbox 360 CPU and The PS3 CPU are not out of order cpus which makes them inherently slower then PC counterparts. Out of order design means instructions can be performed in a different order depending on what rescores are available in the cpu, thus allowing executing more then one function at a time. The newer Conroe CPU has done this even further for allowing CPU load command order to change order as well. Before this load commands could only be reorder with store and other math functions. Both AMD and Intel have very wide cores with more then one execution unit for integers and floats. This site had great Article on power of the systems CPU and gpu but I think it was deleted as it made Sony very upset. It basically said that the Cell CPU was way too hard to program and therefore xbox360s CPU would perform better.(The Cell CPU coast a lot more to create then the Xbox360 and it also has yield problems) It also said that both Microsoft and Sony would have been better off performance wise with a P-D from Intel or X2 from AMD. The only praise in the article was xenos GPU as it is indeed revolutionary with its unfired shader.

 

[Dribble]

I remember reading each 3.2 ghz XBOX360 core is about the same as a 1.6 gig P4 With HT (i.e. not very fast at all). The current A64 X2's and even P4D's are quite a bit quicker.

 

[DeathReborn]

Originally posted by: dguy6789The Xbox 360 CPU is a triple core 3.2Ghz IBM based processor with each core capable of handling two threads of data at the same time. This means that the Xbox 360 cpu is capable of running 6 threads in parallel.

The PS3 CPU is a single core 3.2Ghz cpu of the same model as one of the cores of the Xbox 360(without the two threaded ability), and then it has 7SPE based co processors.

The PPC Core in the Cell is indeed dual threaded. More info here:-

http://www.devhardware.com/c/a/Computer...-the-Future-of-Processor-Architecture/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_processor
http://www.blachford.info/computer/Cell/Cell0_v2.html

 

[dguy6789]

Originally posted by: DeathReborn

Originally posted by: dguy6789The Xbox 360 CPU is a triple core 3.2Ghz IBM based processor with each core capable of handling two threads of data at the same time. This means that the Xbox 360 cpu is capable of running 6 threads in parallel.

The PS3 CPU is a single core 3.2Ghz cpu of the same model as one of the cores of the Xbox 360(without the two threaded ability), and then it has 7SPE based co processors.

The PPC Core in the Cell is indeed dual threaded. More info here:-

http://www.devhardware.com/c/a/Computer...-the-Future-of-Processor-Architecture/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_processor
http://www.blachford.info/computer/Cell/Cell0_v2.html

I see. Thank you for the clarification. This makes the PS3 look even more attractive.(Still not enough to justify $600 in my opinion though)

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: dguy6789

Originally posted by: DeathReborn

Originally posted by: dguy6789The Xbox 360 CPU is a triple core 3.2Ghz IBM based processor with each core capable of handling two threads of data at the same time. This means that the Xbox 360 cpu is capable of running 6 threads in parallel.

The PS3 CPU is a single core 3.2Ghz cpu of the same model as one of the cores of the Xbox 360(without the two threaded ability), and then it has 7SPE based co processors.

The PPC Core in the Cell is indeed dual threaded. More info here:-

http://www.devhardware.com/c/a/Computer...-the-Future-of-Processor-Architecture/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_processor
http://www.blachford.info/computer/Cell/Cell0_v2.html

I see. Thank you for the clarification. This makes the PS3 look even more attractive.(Still not enough to justify $600 in my opinion though)

Assuming the developers can code on an assymmetric multiprocessing multithreaded unit without having their heads explode. Making an ARM920T/940T dual system play nice is hard enough.

- M4H