PS3 Cell faster than Core i7 965 XE

[Sethos]

( Note: The following has been through the Google Translator )

Cell Processor faster than Core i7 965 XE

H.264 Video: New Playstation 3 codec used for transcoding

A novel transcoding tool Fixstars allows for the conversion of video material on the full HD format, with the help of a Playstation 3 in real time.

The conversion of video footage in FULL HD movies at a resolution of 1920 x 1080 provides current desktops CPUs with a lengty task. This allows the transcoding of a movie sometimes half a day.

Now put the Linux Developer Fixstars a video converter called Codecsys CE-10, which was to encode movies into MPEG-4-AV (H.265) The Cell processor uses a Playstation 3 - this format will be predominantly on Blu-ray media and IP-TV via video-stream uses. The CE-10-encoder sends out from a Windows PC, the output data via Ethernet to the console, which finished the encoded data back to the PC sends back.

According to the announcement of Fixstars reached the Cell processor of the Playstation a performance of 29 FPS, that is 1.2 times real-time conversion - the cell has a similar performance as the CUDA Badaboom encoder in combination with an Nvidia Geforce GTX-285. By Comparison, Intel's current top-CPU, the core i7 965 XE, does it still at 18 FPS - normal desktop CPUs even create only about 5 FPS.

Prices Fixstars said the developer still does not know the Codecsys CE-10 will be on 22 Of June will be - More information, see the datasheet

Original Source Found through N4G.com

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

It's not surprising. A medium to high end video card can process physics much faster than a ultra high end quad-core CPU. Actually, the only thing CPUs are good for is general purpose computing. Of course, speeds for other tasks such as encoding/decoding improve with each release.

[soumyasch]

Encodes to H.265? The standard that doesn't exist yet?

And that the Cell processor - an extremely capable processor for SIMD workloads - is better at an SIMD workload than a general purpose processor is supposed to be surprising?

[cammy]

Not surprised really, the cell is unique and much more advanced than anything intel or Amd can offer.

[Ci7]

but can it run Crysis ?

i guess the cell is slower then 975XE then :shifty:

Not surprised really, the cell is unique and much more advanced than anything intel or Amd can offer.

:rolleyes:

[SIE]

Not surprised really, the cell is unique and much more advanced than anything intel or Amd can offer.

Theres nothing unique and advanced about the cell.

An i7 for example is a general purpose CPU, you can't compare the two, the cell is like a GPU without the graphics bits, TMU's, ROP's etc. I'd compare it more to a PPU

[REM2000]

i was going to say the same thing, the Cell is more akin to a GPU from nVidia or ATI than a general purpose CPU from Intel or AMD.

[ObiWanToby]

Hopefully with DX11, and the general compute shader being more common, we'll get an encoding boost on Windows.

Though I think the encoding time for h.264 today really is not that bad.

[hdood]

Not surprised really, the cell is unique and much more advanced than anything intel or Amd can offer.

Intel could release a similar coprocessor, but do you think most people would be interested in paying say a $70 premium for something they'd get very little use out of?

[carmatic]

i wonder what other niche jobs can the PS3 excel in..... first there was Folding@Home halving the scores of PS3 users because they were doing too well, then there was the whole rack of PS3's cracking the wifi encryption, as well as a few things i might have missed...

[Brandon Live Veteran]

Not surprised really, the cell is unique and much more advanced than anything intel or Amd can offer.

Hahahahahahahaha

That was hilarious. You were trying to be ironic, right?

For those who didn't get the joke...

The Cell is a vastly simpler CPU than anything Intel or AMD has produced in the last few years. Cell is basically a glorified DSP engine. Yes it's excellent at video decoding just like any dedicated video decoder or encoder would be. If you compare it in any other light it will get absolutely devestated by the Core i7.

It's like saying that an iPod is better than a Ferrari Enzo at storing and playing music. That's probably true, but it doesn't mean the iPod is "more advanced" than the Enzo. It just means that playing music is a secondary (or tertiary) feature of the Enzo whereas it's the iPod's primary purpose. Similarly, the Cell is better at video decoding but is utterly useless when it comes to more general computation, especially the sort that desktop CPUs are continually being optimized for. That's what happens when you throw out things like out-of-order execution and rely extremely heavily on programmer and compiler optimizations to make up for lack of things like branch prediction.

For reference, a Core i7 chip has 734 million transistors on a 45nm production process (sooner dropping to 32nm), where the PS3's Cell chip has about 234 million (most of which are the SPEs, which are inadequate or inefficient for most general computing tasks).

[bob_c_b]

It's a shame what a schill you have turned in to Brandon. :laugh:

[sorlag]

Hey, my routers chip is faster than my mp3 player chip, and they all beat my toaster! :cool:

[Windows7even]

It's a shame what a schill you have turned in to Brandon. :laugh:

he just telling the truth man..apples to oranges comparison is no good

[cammy]

I didn't make the thread man.

I`m relatively new to computing, so whats the point in these people wasting time and money comparing the two?

And why do Sony and MS waste money developing chips with IBM, when they could just put a regular intel chip into their systems?

The PS3 can be used as a linux PC and the ps3 can do a whole variety of things, it can game, play music, surf the web, play video, video in HD, be used as a server, be used for fodling@home.

What things do a core i7 do that's better than the cell? these people have just proven its quicker.

And why would intel waste their time like this? everyone uses their pc to watch videos and listen to music, what more will people be doing? decoding video? what a bit like what a Cell can do better than a core i7?

You tell me what a core i7 can do that the Cell cant please.

:)

[Defiantly]

A Ferrari is MUCH faster than my minivan. But, A Ferrarri cost to much to buy, isn't compatable with many of the roads I like to drive, has some really stupidly designed features like it's tiny stering wheel and I can't take it to my local shop because hardly anyone knows how to fix the damn thing.

I'll stick with my Mini-Van. :-)

[Fred Derf Veteran]

You tell me what a core i7 can do that the Cell cant please.

Well, the Captain Obvious answer would be to say "executing x86-compatible software at full speed".

[Ci7]

Well, the Captain Obvious answer would be to say "executing x86-compatible software at full speed".

+1

[McSmiggins]

DPAD's PS3 - 360 "End all Arguements" Article

This is probably the best article I've ever read comparing 360/PS3/PC CPU/GPU etc. It's three years old, and most of it is off topic for this discussion, but the CPU part of the article is very relevant here. (Particularly page 3)

Not trying to take it away from the Cell, it's a floating point powerhouse, but you wouldn't use it in a desktop really.

[bob_c_b]

he just telling the truth man..apples to oranges comparison is no good

That might be true, but he never sticks his head around the Sony corner accept to say something negative. I know he works for MS, but give it a rest.

[soonerproud]

That might be true, but he never sticks his head around the Sony corner accept to say something negative. I know he works for MS, but give it a rest.

Some of us see it different and value his opinion because quite frankly he knows what he is talking about. If you don't like the way he answers question, then just disregard his post and move on. The rest of us will continue to value his opinon and learn something in the process.

[bob_c_b]

Some of us see it different and value his opinion because quite frankly he knows what he is talking about. If you don't like the way he answers question, then just disregard his post and move on. The rest of us will continue to value his opinon and learn something in the process.

:rolleyes:

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

*looks at title, looks at replies* :pinch:

We already know the cell is good at number crunching and physics based calculations, this isn't that surprising.

I encode my own Blu Rays so if this is fast enough to justify doing it through the PS3 and then transferring back to the PC I might buy into it. An encode on my PC right now is anywhere between 14-24 hours+ depending on the quality settings I use.

That's also a main point to consider, how flexible is this software and what quality will it produce.

[The Teej]

Generally speaking, in this day and age, video encoding not taking advantage of GPU acceleration, regardless of how good the CPU is, is just silly. Considering the Cell is many-core-esque, like the GPU, it's expected to fly better for this type of operation. However, encoders which makes use of the CPU and the GPU for the PC will absolutely floor the Cell. Having encoders run purely on the i7 isn't typically a fair real world scenario.