Sony to Outsource Cell & Use 45nm Chips

I just mentioned that there wasn' t alot of good news for Sony, however I' m not sure how they could bungle this one.

Our basic understanding is that we probably won' t need to do everything by ourselves for next-generation chips."

Nakagawa also said that Sony plans to start producing 45nm chips " in late 2008 or early 2009" . At present, Cell chips use 90nm circuitry and producing begins on 65nm chips; change to 45nm would help to cut production costs. However, manufacturers would need to buy new machinery to make the smaller chips.

" We are going to study carefully whether we should carry out all the capital investment and produce [the 45nm chips] in-house," Nakagawa said.

Reducing the cost of the chips will be key to improving Sony' s financial figures - the company plans to raise its operating margin from 0.7 per cent to 5 per cent in the year beginning in April. Lower costs could also make it easier for the company to cut the price of the PlayStation 3, which will cost GBP 425 / EUR 599 when it launches in Europe next month.

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So, are there any advantages to 45nm chips other than price? Do they produce less heat, transfer faster, take up less room?

Sony is currently using a 90nm so a 45nm proccess will make a big difference. It means that the transistors are half the size, making CELL and RSX much smaller, smaller means a lower voltage and less electricity means a much cooler chip. In a console a cooler chip means zippier performance and longer life span. Nothing radical because the chip won' t be overclocked but when a chip heats up it slows down a bit.

I read somewhere that when someone modded their 360 with a better cooling system they noticed less lag, which means the 360 is slowing down due to it being too hot. This is probably less true with the PS3 but still 90 to 45 is significant, in the very least the console should be more quiet.

With CPUs the development proccess is everything, its the reason Intel will mop the floor with AMD in the next few years simply because AMD can' t make the changes to smaller development proccesses as fast as Intel since Intel is about ten time bigger then AMD. AMD is at 65nm while Intel already reached 45nm, by the time AMD has 45nm Intel will be at 32nm.

In the CPU world in PCs a smaller development proccess means higher clocks and the ability to fit more cores on a die. Or in the very least power and heat savings.

I was excited about the 360 going 65nm but the ps3 going 45mn is kickass, not to mention the cost savings by outsourcing.

would this also make it cheep quality?

hmmmm, now I gotta figure out how to break my ps3 and get it replaced with a new one by Best Buy in 2 years.

Don' t bother there is nothing wrong with the current PS3, Sony actually has adequate cooling. The 360 needs it a lot more along with bug fixes with the hardware.

So, are there any advantages to 45nm chips other than price? Do they produce less heat, transfer faster, take up less room?

They run cold & cheap, if you can afford to get the manufacturing machinery in the first place.

hmmmm, now I gotta figure out how to break my ps3 and get it replaced with a new one by Best Buy in 2 years.

Let it run in an entertainment unit overnight. Figured that one out with my first Playstation. That thing was sexy blue too.

Yah, my friends have done that to their ps2' s as well. I did it to one of mine, the other I busted after modding it and using it that way for a year. I' m on my 3rd now, but it should last, I don' t even use it now, the ps3 has a 4 year Best Buy warranty, so I figure i may as well use the hell out of it.

All I did was rent ps2' s and switch the serial number stickers though. They never caught on to the fact that I might be giving them back my broken ps2' s, and that theirs worked fine.

I did it to one of mine, the other I busted after modding it

What were you tryign to do? Solder a stealth chip, or did you really screw up on a flip-top mod?

I tried soldering a stealth chip, and in the process screwed something else up.

Those can go really wrong, really quick.

...PSThree in a few years maybe?

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A PSThree would be cool, because it' d chip down the price of the original.

I' d never buy one though, the bigger units are always more reliable. Slim electronics of every variety tend to have much more issues. I' ve had the same launch PS2 since 2002 (bought it used), & it' s never given me huge problems. Gone through a slim & a half though. (1 totally overheated, the other is contemplating suicide.)

Lets take things step by step shall we?
First theres the shift to 65nm which they are doing now according to the article.I read somewhere before that these consoles will be shipped last of 2007/beginning 2008.
I think that will mark the first price cut for the PS3. What do you think?