Yes not only will Cell technology help progress the future of PC and videogames but it will be beneficial to every life in general. I'm looking forward to the day when we can harness such power and use it for more productive things. Hey...Don't get me wrong here I'm not speaking ill of videogame development practices or even the way they use the hardware. I'm saying that it will be a great day in history when we can use cell to it full extent. Cell is not a platform that will diminish over a small period of time. Its the future of productivity, home care,games virtually everything will benefit because of cell CPU's in do time....that snip it from a article from (official PlayStation magazine from 2005) may be coming true....it will do everything & cook you toast to boot!

I'm a 360 owner and I have a strong believe that all company's will come embrace cell technology in some form or another in the years to come. ppl may have forgotten that it was a joint contribution by IBM/Sony/Toshiba.

eventually cell is likly to be coupled

a am2 quad core with 2x cells would lead lots of processing power considering thats how the layout is in roadrunner ibms sueper computer

STI created a new architecture for the PC world, and it's advent can be seen as one of the more positive ideas that have been brought to the table, so to speak. Its influence in design will be seen in processors to succeed it, as they begin to surpass the water mark and build on the core initiatives that STI started all those years ago.

However, gaming consoles need to be efficient in their manufacturing process and the parts have to come at reasonable cost. I've gotten used to the fact that gaming is still expensive right now, and especially when these consoles launched. It could be argued that this is the way it is going to be from now on. Hopefully, we will see better pricing on the next consoles. If that means opting for cheaper parts, it can be argued that the compromise may not be worth it. But think about it twice, for the sake of costs: I just don't want to see another $600 launch.

Of course, having a console that expensive from the onset of the generation gives it plenty of lifespan. But truth be told, gaming on x360 or PS3 adds up to pretty much the same thing. What you could say about one game in either library, you could find an equal to in the other. Console aficionados don't want to see it that way, which I can understand why. But that's the way I see it myself. And technically, both consoles have the same capabilities...it can be argued to death which is superior and nothing will be gained from that argument.

I have high hopes for xbox 3, as I own an Xbox 360. If those rumors about Larrabee turn up true, x3 will be a pretty good system. DJ, I agree that both should stay with the processor line they've chosen to support. But if that were to limit the possibility of something greater to be discovered, I may not want that. One thing's for sure, they'll be packing serious power, come the next gen.

If you look up my comment history, I've not said anything negative about PS3. Maybe its supporters (mostly those who have such strong distaste for anything MS). I hold no grudges against any of them. I may not own a PS3, or have plans to buy one, but I will never see it as a bad console. I respect all PS3 owners.

PS3 has 256MB XDR dedicated to Cell + 256MB GDDR3 dedicated to RSX

total: 512MB

people say that RSX has access to both, but that's only partially true. Cell/RSX has been worked on in such a way that it could be considered a combined rendering array. So, RSX may be aided by Cell, which in turn uses that XDR pool. The memory is STILL hardwire programmed to be dedicated to their respectful processors.

x360 has 512MB GDDR3 shared between Xenon and Xenos + 10MB EDRAM dedicated to Xenos

total: 522MB

the 360 uses 10MB for its framebuffer, all other game data (textures, levels, sounds) are loaded into the shared memory. The framebuffer gives Xenos the bandwidth it needs to render scenes in tiles. The ideal resolution most 360 games aim for is 1280x720 with 4xMSAA. That can be later upscaled to 1080 via HANA.

It is PARAMOUNT to know that these specs do not guarantee that games will be rendered at the resolutions people quote. Developers make compromises in order to fit their entire game work load. Some have chose to run with less AA samples, others might drop to sub HD. Some might run a few pixels less than standard resolutions (like 1280x708 etc). Some might get stretched and pulled through up/down scaling.

Another benefit of the Cell processor is actually helping the medical and science community. If anything, the PS3 is a cheap supercomputer. It's good to see the PS3 help make progress.