Linux test shows PS3 beat by a Power Mac G5

General-purpose code seems to slow down the Cell performance a bit, as it would appear on a recent Geekbench test. Primate Labs ran a few benchmarks under Linux and the results show the PS3 being beat by a Power Mac G5 1.6GHz in all tests except memory performance. We have to keep in mind, the tests only prove the Cell is not a wonderful "general-purpose" CPU. And lest anyone forget, the purpose of the PS3 is to play games!

[snoop_dizzle]

what?

lol

No worries, the PS3 will shine :)

[drtysouf21]

CHECK YOUR PS3'S

[ironwolf]

Everyone knows the PS3 is a super computer!

(Snort)

[no_more_heroes]

they were saying that the ps3 and 360 are close in overall stats.

[brianodom]

Go Gunners

[dantesparda]

I have been saying this for a while now, that the Cell processor and the Xenon processor (in the 360) are inferior to the PC CPU's but you fanboys wont listen, because nothing is more powerful than you beloved system. I told you's that a "In-line" CPU would perform at about half the speed of a "OoOE" (Out-of-Order Execution) processor, but "nooo!!" you's wouldnt listen, because Sony said so or MS said. And if that wasnt bad enough (the in-line architecture) there are other factors with these processors that make them inferior to the PC CPUs, like for example the 512KB L2 cache on the PS3, very little, or the half-speed (thats right folks, "HALF-speed L2 cache on the 360 CPU, the Xenon.) That means it's asynchronous, that creates mad latencies. Also 1MB L2 cache for 3-cores is not enough, and this DMA like 256KB memory on the SPEs/SPUs on the PS3, i dont even know how that architecture works out, but i imagine, that it must suck too. They should had just made them straight up "caches"

Dont get me wrong, i am not saying that these processors cant outperform the PC in certain programs/tasks (like Folding@Home for example). But overall they are inferior CPUs to the PC's. Accept it people! Cell is really only good for certain tasks, not "General-Purpose" computing

[gta_cb]

the thing that made me laugh is it was in the PS3fanboy website lol!

[DADO]

How can they run the test on the PS3? Yellow Linux only uses 2 SPEs out of 8.

[ITR]

Sony has the advantage if it had two cores running.
That G5 processor has only one.

A better test would've been maybe a dual 2.0Ghz G5 and some optimized code for the Cell.

The old 1.6Ghz G5 was the entry level processor for the PowerMac back in June 2003 and got axed in June 2004.
It only came with 256megs of RAM and maxed out at 4GB of RAM.

[pLaystation]

Not to mention no access to rsx and only access to 256MB RAM. (Through linux that is.)

[Xi]

what makes you think that they aren't using the entire system? linux is flexible enough for someone to get it working on all cores.

[CaliGamer]

Listen to Xi, I think he has a PhD in computer Engineering, by his tone he does sound credible in his skepticism about your comment pLaystation. His comments are constantly enlightening and accurate.

[pLaystation]

ROFL. What are you guys? brothers? No you're two accounts made by a single person. Do you have any proof that linux has access to the entire system? No, you dont thats because it doesnt. Why do you think they (modders, homebrew) made a petition to allow Sony to do this (allow access to the other 256MB RAM and RSX).

[nix]

caligamer was being sarcastic... you obviously don't know Xi because you're new here... in a week's time, you'll know who's who? chill! q:

[DrWan]

if u want to know aout computing power..just look at comparison between Folding@HOme and PC...codes have been optimized and the result is 30'x faster than General Purpose pc...

[Bebedora]

I have a 2 year old PC, and my PC does 1 frame/29 sec. A ps3 does 1 frame/0,075 sec. That is 29/0,075 times as fast, or ~ 380 times faster.

[StateofMind]

If its CPU was as beneficial to its general performance as it is to its gaming capabilities, it would be a supercomputer. That's a pretty absurd (fanboy) notion, so all this article really does is state the obvious.

[sajj316]

"Cell-specific optimizations are going to be implemented in a future Geekbench test, so once round 2 comes along, we'll get a taste of what's really cooking underneath the hood of our favorite console. Fire when ready"!

When was the PS3 ever touted as a 'general purpose computer'?

[Xi]

when krazy ken said it was.

[QuackPot]

Sony did back off a bit with Linux. They were suggesting that they would preload Linux. They should have simple developed their own distribution of Linux that was optimized for the Ps3 and had it preloaded on all SKUs.

Then the Ps3 would have been a serious gaming machine and mini-PC.

[warfed]

lol DUH!!!... i run kubuntu on my ps3 it only uses the PPU... not a single spu is shown and if the ppu alone can compare to a low G5 or a high G4 that's pretty damn good

**edit for below,
the code he is running is general purpose and not optimized, it's stated in the article. So obviously they are not using all SPUs

[Xi]

they're using all spes.

"I thought I’d share some preliminary results that show how the Playstation 3 (and the Cell processor) performs when running code that’s not optimized for the Cell processor."

edit for below.
hmmm, you don't say... think this guy knows that? I'm pretty sure he accounted for that in his test. I'm pretty sure he has the linux running over all blades.

[warfed]

Actually when you type "cat /proc/cpuinfo" into the console only 2 processors are shown. The reason for seeing 2 CPUs is that the Linux kernel sees only the PowerPC (PPE) which has 2 hardware threads (2 register blocks), similar to Intel's hyperthreading.

It appears as 2 CPUs, but each hardware thread has to share the resources of the PPE - the means that if one HW thread is using the floating point unit, the other thread is blocked.

However, if one thread is using the FPU, the other can use the load/store unit at the same time.

The current Linux kernels do not recognize the SPEs as CPUs. You can, however, write applications that use the SPEs.

I doubt that the Linux kernel will ever see the SPEs as regular CPUs because programming for them is highly specialized and your regular (branchy) programs will not run on them very well and you have no direct load/store.

IBMs octopiler, among other things they are working on may change this.

[Sssamba]

No shyt the Linux OS in the PS3 is outshined by a top of the line Mac, only half the RAM is dedicated to the Linux OS in the PS3. It doesn't make any difference though, the PS3 YDL serves its purpose at a more than reasonable performance rate. It's not like you're going to be running Maya 8 or Photoshop CS 3 on the thing, sheesh.

[ITR]

The 1.6 was the bargain basement G5.
It also only came with 256megs of RAM.(2003)

Top of the line was the dual 2.0Ghz G5 which came with 512megs of RAM. (2003)

[Lord Anubis]

silly test, even the site acknowledges the benchmark is not optimized for cell architecture.

[DADO]

This is the cell design
http://www.blachford.info/c...

[bootsielon]

than the cell processor in my PS3. You see? The cell isn't that fast.

In other news, a Mathematician just got beaten to death by WWF's the undertaker. How could that have happened? I mean, the mathematician was so overhyped to be the best at calculus and arithmetic, how could he have LOST to the undertaker?

[razer]

Great comment! Even developers say the power the cell is impressive.

But I still find this funny! Mac beating the "almighty cell".. Classic..

Spin PS3Tards Spin!

[SaturnTo]

Wow a "Out of Order Processor" out performing a "In Order Processor" go figure. Console CPU's are stripped down versions streamlined to do a certain task very well. In the case of the PS3, 360 or Wii it's to play games. Not Run Linx like a PC. Thats what PC's are for. Why? Cost!The CPU would cost a lot more to make if it were Out of Order, and that wouldn't benefit the main purpose. Gaming! But they bring it on themselves when they claim their processors are super computers. LOL

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

But for games its just usless and hard to develop for. Isn't that what all the devs have been saying all this time? Sony should have went the same route as the 360 and the Wii (Core) and maybe they could have kept the price down and could have added stuff like more (MEMORY) I can see why the guy that created the PS3 got fired he didn't think ahead and rushed the PS3 out, the PS3 should have been released in 2008 and then poeple might have been ready for it.

novaIS350 answer this one question. What are the two biggest requirements in high end PC gaming?

Exactly so shut up. (wonder if you actually have enough balls to answer it)

Dont get all hissy and pissy with me because the PS3 is a joke, direct that sh!t toward Sony they are the ones to blame not me.

unixphreak1911 dude your whole comment just make you sound scared.

[novaIS350]

More memory? A sphincter says what? Ken Kutaragi fired? You must be an industry insider..oh you're not. Well here, let me shine a little light into your fanboy cave. Kutaragi is now head of Cellius Games. Notice the root word, Cell. As for the ram comment, I'm not going to even comment on that, cause you obviously have no clue as to what you are talking about.

[hfaze]

http://www.n4g.com/industry...

So Kojima is just a crackpot that doesn't know what he's talking about?

http://www.maxconsole.net/?...

And the developers at Ninja Theory are morons that can't code?

http://www.gamepro.com/news...

And Factor 5... Boy they must be retards for saying that the Cell CPU is good for gaming...

We should all just bow down to 'ol BillyG and worship the gaming messiah that is the 360, eh?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

Perhaps we should edit that page and put your picture into the article... ;-)

[VirtualGamer]

That performance for basic office type applications is perfectly fine and most likely all anyone who is running Linux on the PS3 would be using in the first place.

To all the Xbox 360 fans talking crap let me ask you one question. What OS and bench scores does your 360 get?

Now I am going to guess that you will come back with a witty reply of something like "I bought my 360 to play games some thing you wish the PS3 did." Well the PS3 plays games just fine. Don't believe me? Ok how about a 3rd party developer?

It's great. Working on PS3 has allowed us to create vastly superior environments that verge on photorealism - full-screen effects, High Dynamic Range (HDR) and obscenely complex shaders. Its more challenging than ever before, but the power is greater than anything else that's out there.

http://kotaku.com/gaming/fr...

[Merovee]

This guy is even using Fedora Core 6. so let me get this straight.

A Baseline for Geekbench 2 is:
PowerMac G5
1.6 Ghz general purpose PPC
1Gb ram
OSX (PPC optimized)

Going up against
Playstation 3
Cell processor (in order PPC w/no SPE utilization.)
256 Mb CPU ram
Fedora Core 6 (access only to PPE)

And the Mac won..... how very scientific lols.

What impressed me is that the PS3 really didn't do poorly at all considering it has 1/4 the available ram and in the memory access test even WASTED the G5 by about 1.5X. Remember kids Baseline is 1000, PS3 has far less memory, Cell isn't even being fully used, It's an "in - order" processor running out of order code, and yet despite not having an optimized OS still benched at 80%+ for most tests and 145%+ for memory access...... I'm quite impressed.

[alsef07]

Another reason to buy a ps3, but they forget about the most important, and you all know wut it is, 1,2 3, GAMES!!! all that power. bla bla bla, ur not gonna add windows to ur ps3, its suppose to be a videogame system, when is sony gonna get that even if your consoles its like a computer, it wont be, because its a videogame console, so it needs GAMES!

[drtysouf21]

CHECK YOUR PS3'S

[Funky Town_TX]

MAC faster than 360 half you guys would agree. There would be no explanation other than the 360 is junk. YOU GUYS SUCK. FANBOY TROLLS THAT NEED TO JOIN A I'M A SONY SHEEP CLUB. This is what gaming has come to. I did not get a PS2 because of the week a$$ power it had. Now I just get systems for games. I like graphics, but it's only part of the big picture. I suggest you guys do the same if you are gamers. If you like Sony because of the games then cool. If power was the only reason to get a console then you would not have purchased a PS2. Stop trolling and start gaming.

[BIadestarX]

Here is my question then. Asumming that all Sony fans are correct and the cell shouldnt be compared to a relatively "general-purpose" CPU since the PS3 have so many restrictions in terms of memory or what it can do as far as running OS and programs intended for "general-purpose" CPU. Can someone please tell me why Sony is being trying to hype the fact that the PS3 can run linux and it's a computer when it get's is @$$ handle by a old Power Mac G5 1.6GHz? Pure marketting?

I personally wouldn't buy a PS3 to run linux and I can care less as long as it runs the games they way it should. It's a game console after all. But you can't blame people for making comparisons when Sony is being marketting the PS3 as a super computer that can do anything better than any other computer in the market. Well... I can tell you this... expect a lot more comparisons. I think Sony ask for it... by being the first ones to start the comparisons.

[VirtualGamer]

Come on Bladestar. Sony has never said the PS3 is a super computer in everything it does. It is a powerhouse for software that is optimized for it. In other words it offers incredible performance for software that is written specifically to take advantage of what the Cell has to offer.

The Cell is capable of alot of things and hence why your seeing it utilized not just in the PS3 but in many different systems and applications.

The amazing thing for me is that when Sony fist suggested that the PS3 was a computer people laughed and asked if they could write their term paper with it? Fact is the PS3 with Linux is a capable computer and yes you can write your term paper with it. Most office type applications do not require massive amounts of power to run them and thus the PS3 can run 2000 applications. The only thing that requires power in modern day PC's are graphic software such as video editing, CAD, and games. The PS3 already is a capable gaming system so no need to run games via linux. If your into video editing or cad then your going to have to go with a higher end PC.

So again we go from people laughing that the PS3 could even be a computer to now people laughing or questioning why its not the most advanced general purpose computer. Neglecting that no other console even offers this option. The fact that the PS3 can run linux and perform as a decent computer should be viewed as a plus but instead is being looked at as a negative by some people. Just goes to show that no matter what Sony does people will find something to complain about.

[peksi]

A quote from the test, should be self-explanatory:

Lately I’ve been working on porting Geekbench 2 to the Playstation 3. While I’m hoping to release a version of Geekbench that takes advantage of the Cell processor, I thought I’d share some preliminary results that show how the Playstation 3 (and the Cell processor) performs when running code that’s not optimized for the Cell processor.

So better wait for the real test. This is just like the other article comparing Halo 3 beta to Resistance: crap.

[xg-ei8ht]

Lmao,lmao,lmao.

That test is like this.

I'm running a ferrari on diesel.(should run on regular petrol)

I'm running a mini on Regular petrol.

Yay the Mini won!!!!

These people are computer geeks, lmao. and they cant even program for the ps3,even funnier.

Cell uses specific code, if you don't use it, then it will be slow.

cue every port out so far.

Does that make it a bad machine, err no, Trying running the 360 using ps3 code, and your xbox360 will crawl, then blinking lights, finally explosion.

I'm gonna tell you this fact, You know the game lost planet. They ran out of bandwidth with the 360, and had to reduce view distance by so much, it pissed the devs off.

Now thats funny, 360 has reached its limit.!!!!

To make matters worse, Macs were tested awhile ago against pc's in apps where Macs were supposed to shine, And a mid range pc, destroyed the top mac at the time x3,lmfao.

All Apple macs are good for is style, Not anything else.

[anh_duong]

this is stupid and old news. this was a rehash of article posted way back in december. people would be seriously deluded to believe that the ps3 was actually a REAL slouch. i really think people who believe that the ps3 is actually slow knows little about technology. folding@home running optimized code shows how fast the ps3 really is. it's all to do with optimisation. every new processor requires some form of optimsation so the fact that the code is running in a crippled form makes this exercise pointless:

"What remains to be seen is how the Playstation 3 performs when running code designed for the Cell processor; over the next few months I’m hoping to add Cell-specific optimizations to Geekbench that will exploit all the potential the Cell processor has to offer."

[power of Green]

360 has reached its limit?, why are devs saying they have just started to show what the 360 can do?, Devs are starting to fully use hole cores of the 360 for specific things like Physics and AI. TI said he's going to use a hole core on AI in Ninga Gainden 2. UbiSoft said they're going to show off some more of the 360's power they have leaned to tap using a hole core on physics, Cliffy B. said GoW 2 will out shine part one, Devs are learning to fully use Multi core processes(not talking a little; like in Xbox arcade game Geometry Wars).

360 is at it's limit is what Sony fanboys say to feel comfort with what they purchased but not devs. So what if a dev would like to take advantage of a sertain things and isn't able to do so due to the devs wanting to overly use somthing. When has any console in history reached it's roof within a year and a half?. lol. Cliffy said the PS3 couldn't play GoW but does that mean the PS3 has reached its limit? no but cliffy did overly use memory to develope the enviroments in GoW.

Remember the really smart techies said the 360 will meet PS3 in capabilities for a long time but will take different paths with the 360 out performing PS3 towards the end of their live spans.

[id dot entity]

Who is using Linux on the PS3 anyway?

[Cartesian3D]

@24 agreed about Mini and ferrari...

Cell has different structure and we cant compare it with Power G5 with same OS or same software..

many ppl here doesnt know what are they talking about.. and just read the title and make some BS comment..

Cell is a unified processor for graphic and general processing...Yes its what AMD want to produce 5 years later.. and SONY make it NOW..

@power of green : yes there is no perfect code for any console..but 360 flexibilty make it easy to achieve almost of its power..

EPIC games said they optimize GeOW for 360 for a year to reach every edge in 360.. so dont expect too much . just expect different ART style..

[xg-ei8ht]

Your missing the point of the lost planet section, That statement was from the devs'.

And what they said was graphically they could pull no more from the machine(xbox360)and had to drop the view distance.I did not mention ai,physics etc. Don't get me wrong its a very nice looking title.

What annoys me is, any news of ps3 and xbots jump all over it.

Its kinda like people still think ps3's rsx is really a 7800gtx, honestly people you have no idea.

and lastly, they havent marketed the ps3 as a supercomputer, the media do that sort of thing.

For me a console at the price it is, with all it has to offer, with new apps/games coming along. I'd say the ps3 is looking strong.

I played Motorstorm on a 42inch lcd, looked awsome.