Is Sony Planning to Use Intel Chips for Future PlayStations?

[Logan Westbrook]

Is Sony Planning to Use Intel Chips for Future PlayStations?

Industry sources are suggesting that Sony was considering using Intel's Larrabee chipset for the PS4.

Hiroshige Goto, of Japanese site PC Watch, has claimed that Sony was considering using Intel's proposed Larrabee combined graphics and processor chipset to power the next PlayStation.

Citing a number of unnamed sources, Larrabee failed to deliver the raw power that Sony were looking for for the PlayStation 4, but according to an anonymous SCE exec, there is every chance that Larrabee could make it into the PS5 and the PS6.

All of this means that a new iteration of the PlayStation is a long way off, as the decision on processor architecture is probably the most fundamental one that needs to be made.

Whether Sony decides to go with an improved version of the existing Cell processor, or if it will use a more traditional structure for its next console remains to be seen, but if these rumors are to be believed, Sony is again going to escalate the console war, rather than move laterally as Nintendo did with the Wii.

Source: Joystiq [http://www.joystiq.com/2009/12/28/ps4-larrabee-sony-will-reconsider-for-ps5/]


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[Swaki]

Larrabee failed to deliver the raw power that Sony were looking for for the PlayStation 4, but according to an anonymous SCE exec, there is every chance that Larrabee could make it into the PS5 and the PS6.

how come it isn't powerful enough for ps4 but its good enough for ps6?

i was hoping for a lazer power driven play station by then.

 

[Icecoldcynic]

Larrabee failed to deliver the raw power that Sony were looking for for the PlayStation 4, but according to an anonymous SCE exec, there is every chance that Larrabee could make it into the PS5 and the PS6.

how come it isn't powerful enough for ps4 but its good enough for ps6?

Thats exactly what I was thinking. I would imagine they are referring to future iterations of it being available for PS5 or 6.

 

[PandyBear]

This is all well and good. but its gonna be pretty pointless if they dont fix the damn developing tools for their games. we always seem to get the short end of the stick with half arsed inferior versions of multi platform games. which developers then blame on sony's developing tools. so all this power then goes to waste doesnt it :facepalm:

 

[MrDarkling]

Larrabee failed to deliver the raw power that Sony were looking for for the PlayStation 4, but according to an anonymous SCE exec, there is every chance that Larrabee could make it into the PS5 and the PS6.

how come it isn't powerful enough for ps4 but its good enough for ps6?

i was hoping for a lazer power driven play station by then.

Yeh also what I thought.
This doesn't make any sense...

 

[cleverlymadeup]

Larrabee failed to deliver the raw power that Sony were looking for for the PlayStation 4, but according to an anonymous SCE exec, there is every chance that Larrabee could make it into the PS5 and the PS6.

how come it isn't powerful enough for ps4 but its good enough for ps6?

you do realize that they refine and speed up chips as time goes on right?

Larrabee is relatively new and doesn't have a lot of the performance that is needed. there's a few issues they have to work out and they are doing that

 

[Swaki]

Larrabee failed to deliver the raw power that Sony were looking for for the PlayStation 4, but according to an anonymous SCE exec, there is every chance that Larrabee could make it into the PS5 and the PS6.

how come it isn't powerful enough for ps4 but its good enough for ps6?

you do realize that they refine and speed up chips as time goes on right?

Larrabee is relatively new and doesn't have a lot of the performance that is needed. there's a few issues they have to work out and they are doing that

actually i thought that they made newer chips each time, also i thought that they would try to introduce more lasers, and finally i thought that they wouldn't sell a product that wont be able to live up to its potential for another 4-10 years.

i don't know which one is the bigger disappointment.

 

[pneuma08]

Larrabee failed to deliver the raw power that Sony were looking for for the PlayStation 4, but according to an anonymous SCE exec, there is every chance that Larrabee could make it into the PS5 and the PS6.

how come it isn't powerful enough for ps4 but its good enough for ps6?

i was hoping for a lazer power driven play station by then.

Stab in the dark here, but they could be referring to its stability or potential, or perhaps running it in parallel (which could be infeasible today for a variety of reasons). But probably they're referring to the tech and not the build.

In any event, I hope they move away from their Cell processor, that hasn't been good for them in the least.

 

[Simalacrum]

Talks about the PS4 already? Really? Considering the 10 year life cycle, and the fact that the PS3 is only 3 years old, I'm suprised that Sony are considering anything about the PS4 already at all.

 

[Batfred]

Talks about the PS4 already? Really? Considering the 10 year life cycle, and the fact that the PS3 is only 3 years old, I'm suprised that Sony are considering anything about the PS4 already at all.

Please let it be many years till the PS4 comes out. How the hell am I going to justify that one to the missus?!

 

[ratix2]

Whether Sony decides to go with an improved version of the existing Cell processor

thats doubtful seeing as ibm has offically CANNED any future iterations of the cell processor.

secondly, to all those wondering why its not good enough for the ps4 but is for the ps6, intel canned larabee as well because of low performance numbers in comparison to newere gpus from nvidia and ati, as well as the chip was very far behind schedule as well. intel has since gone back to the drawing board with larabee. reason is, it wont likely be available for use in the ps4, but MAY be available for the ps5 or ps6.

 

[Asehujiko]

Talks about the PS4 already? Really? Considering the 10 year life cycle, and the fact that the PS3 is only 3 years old, I'm suprised that Sony are considering anything about the PS4 already at all.

It's to prevent them competing with their own Vaio laptops by making it outdated by the time it comes out just like with the current generation. They figure console gamers are going to buy it anyway even if they just sell them the same system with more shiny paint and a control scheme stolen from a company too poor to afford patent lawsuits, ie, the wii.

 

[BloodSquirrel]

Talks about the PS4 already? Really? Considering the 10 year life cycle, and the fact that the PS3 is only 3 years old, I'm suprised that Sony are considering anything about the PS4 already at all.

Well, first off, the 10 year life cycle was an obvious lie. The life cycle of any system is going to be dictated by how well it performs and what it's competitors are up to, not arbitrarily set before the system is even launched. They were never going to wait 10 years to launch the PS4, and if the PS4 is wildly successful and the PS3 is still impossible to sell at a profit, they'll drop it like baby Sloth.

Second off, the truth is that the console companies were thinking about the next generation before the current consoles even hit shelves. If they want the console to be out in another 3 years, they need to start laying technical groundwork now. The only component on the consoles that's even going to be close to cutting edge is going to be the graphics cards, so they've already got a good idea of what the specs will be like.

 

[bluntednz]

"Too poor to afford patent lawsuits" doesn't seem very true at all. Not as big a company as sony - but they make a profit on all thier consoles and have a lot of cash in reserve.

Nintendo had a pretty big warchest pre-wii. in the tens of billions. I doubt its gotten any smaller - especially considering they deposited 11 *billion* USD. into it last year according to financial statements.

 

[MurderousToaster]

I think Microsoft need to go with AMD, so that the Processor War can ascend into the Console War too.

 

[Frizzle]

"Too poor to afford patent lawsuits" doesn't seem very true at all. Not as big a company as sony - but they make a profit on all thier consoles and have a lot of cash in reserve.

Nintendo had a pretty big warchest pre-wii. in the tens of billions. I doubt its gotten any smaller - especially considering they deposited 11 *billion* USD. into it last year according to financial statements.

I think he meant that Nintendo stole designs from a smaller company that was too poor to sue Nintendo.
Everyone knows that Nintendo could buy Mars.

 

[Jared]

Talks about the PS4 already? Really? Considering the 10 year life cycle, and the fact that the PS3 is only 3 years old, I'm suprised that Sony are considering anything about the PS4 already at all.

They barely making anything on the the 3rd one...and thinking of 4th...jeez

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

Talks about the PS4 already? Really? Considering the 10 year life cycle, and the fact that the PS3 is only 3 years old, I'm suprised that Sony are considering anything about the PS4 already at all.

To be honest, every Sony console has had a 10 year life cycle, but it doesn't stop them from releasing newer consoles alongside the older models.

 

[Guy32]

A PS6 is just so incomprehensible to me. Now that consoles are receiving updates they should last even longer than their predecessors. That could very well be 50 years into the future.