Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Gear-Fi: Non-Audio Gear and Gadgets › US Air Force buys 2200 Playstation 3's for supercomputer
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

US Air Force buys 2200 Playstation 3's for supercomputer

post #1 of 36
11/28/09 at 7:50am
Thread Starter 
The US Air Force is buying up 2200 Playstation 3's for “architectural studies”, utilizing Sony's cell processor with it's capabilities to process 150 gigaflops. These 2200 will be added to the existing 336 PS3 supercomputer they already have set up.

US Air Force Orders 2,200 PS3’s For Clustered Supercomputer | Sony Insider
US Air Force orders 2200 Sony PS3s • Register Hardware
US Air Force orders 2,200 PS3s - News at GameSpot
Reply
post #2 of 36
11/28/09 at 8:13am
The big question here would be, "Can I have the supercomputer when they're done?"
Reply
post #3 of 36
11/28/09 at 8:36am
Thread Starter 
They're busy playing Warhawk and Modern Warfare 2, so probably not. PS3. It gives you wings!!!
Reply
post #4 of 36
11/28/09 at 9:13am
I bet all those PS3s get them flying...
Reply
post #5 of 36
11/28/09 at 11:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by fenixdown110 View Post
They're busy playing Warhawk and Modern Warfare 2, so probably not. PS3. It gives you wings!!!
Well, they gotta train somehow!
Reply
post #6 of 36
11/28/09 at 12:16pm
That's one sweet computer to play some F16 simulation on
Reply
post #7 of 36
11/28/09 at 2:45pm
I'm jealous
Reply
post #8 of 36
11/29/09 at 6:36am
Well the Marines bought 4400 PS 3s and they are all being powered by one Marine on a treadmill... lol
Reply
post #9 of 36
11/29/09 at 10:52am
From the picture, I can only see five, where are the other 2195 of them?

Quote:
Originally Posted by fenixdown110 View Post
The US Air Force is buying up 2200 Playstation 3's for “architectural studies”, utilizing Sony's cell processor with it's capabilities to process 150 gigaflops. These 2200 will be added to the existing 336 PS3 supercomputer they already have set up.

US Air Force Orders 2,200 PS3’s For Clustered Supercomputer | Sony Insider
US Air Force orders 2200 Sony PS3s • Register Hardware
US Air Force orders 2,200 PS3s - News at GameSpot
Reply
post #10 of 36
11/29/09 at 8:22pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dj_mocok View Post
From the picture, I can only see five, where are the other 2195 of them?
It's probably 8 on that rack since it's 4 per shelf. I'm sure that's just one rack. It's probably an entire warehouse full of these racks.
Reply
post #11 of 36
11/29/09 at 8:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Captfantastic View Post
Well the Marines bought 4400 PS 3s and they are all being powered by one Marine on a treadmill... lol
See, the Navy found something any Marine can do.
Reply
post #12 of 36
11/29/09 at 9:24pm
This reminds me of that old polish joke where the polish army buys 2000 septic tanks.

Are ps3's that cost effective that they choose them over a set of AMD boxes? Seems like they are paying for more than what they want (blu-ray, HDD, etc).
Reply
post #13 of 36
11/29/09 at 9:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by smrtby123 View Post
This reminds me of that old polish joke where the polish army buys 2000 septic tanks.

Are ps3's that cost effective that they choose them over a set of AMD boxes? Seems like they are paying for more than what they want (blu-ray, HDD, etc).
Quote:
With respect to cell processors, a single 1U server configured with two 3.2GHz cell processors can cost up to $8K while two Sony PS3s cost approximately $600. Though a single 3.2 GHz cell processor can deliver over 200 GFLOPS, whereas the Sony PS3 configuration delivers approximately 150 GFLOPS, the approximately tenfold cost difference per GFLOP makes the Sony PS3 the only viable technology for HPC applications.
For the purpose an AMD box wouldn't get nearly as much performance per dollar.
Reply
post #14 of 36
11/29/09 at 10:46pm
I am in the Navy and this makes me sick. Leave it to the air force to have that kind of money while meanwhile in the Navy we can't have nice things or facilities like the Air Force, and meanwhile the Army and Marines are dying overseas. Ehh whatya gonna do? I bet those airmen have some sick COD parties.
Reply
post #15 of 36
11/29/09 at 11:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nebby View Post
With respect to cell processors, a single 1U server configured with two 3.2GHz cell processors can cost up to $8K while two Sony PS3s cost approximately $600. Though a single 3.2 GHz cell processor can deliver over 200 GFLOPS, whereas the Sony PS3 configuration delivers approximately 150 GFLOPS, the approximately tenfold cost difference per GFLOP makes the Sony PS3 the only viable technology for HPC applications.
Wow that is quite a difference. I guess they make out well with the Sony hardware subsidy. I am sure Sony is not happy they won't sell 2200 sets of games this xmas.

If this is the case I am surprised that we haven't seen more of this. I would be interested in seeing how a PS3 stack compares with a set of Nvidia Telsas.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Gear-Fi: Non-Audio Gear and Gadgets › US Air Force buys 2200 Playstation 3's for supercomputer