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Tue Dec 1
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  • posts about #playstation3 more →

    Department of Defense Buys 2,200 PS3s to Upgrade Supercomputer

    PlayStation 3's PSN Will Get Premium Level Pay Subscription in 2010

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of Voyou_Charmant Voyou_Charmant
    11/30/09

    In reply to Department of Defense Buys 2,200 PS3s to Upgrade Supercomputer
    "isn't it just a bit curious that someone thought to save on upgrading the supercomputer just after Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was released?"

    That was my first thought.
     Reply
    Voyou_Charmant was starred Voyou_Charmant was unstarred
    Image of comrade_leviathan comrade_leviathan
    11/30/09

    In reply to Department of Defense Buys 2,200 PS3s to Upgrade Supercomputer
    Was buying the PS3 cheaper than just buying the chips themselves?

    That's nucking futs and you know it.
     Reply
    Bertone77 promoted this comment comrade_leviathan was starred comrade_leviathan was unstarred
    Image of Bertone77 Bertone77
    11/30/09

    @comrade_leviathan: Because when you just buy the chips you are missing a few things, like a motherboard, case, power supply....etc.

    a PS3 is plug and play: install software, connect, use.
     Reply
    Bertone77 was starred Bertone77 was unstarred
    Image of quantumbits quantumbits
    11/30/09

    In reply to Department of Defense Buys 2,200 PS3s to Upgrade Supercomputer
    IIRC, they've been doing this for a while now. In fact, this is probably the first, prominent example of the eventual migration of massively parallel codes to a GPU-based architecture (Granted, the Cell microprocessor falls somewhere between a CPU and GPU architecture). For example, FEM codes and the like.
     Reply
    Red_Flag promoted this comment quantumbits was starred quantumbits was unstarred
    Image of Jrsy Devil's Advocate® Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
    11/30/09

    In reply to Department of Defense Buys 2,200 PS3s to Upgrade Supercomputer
    Do they get a discount for buying in bulk?
     Reply
    Jrsy Devil's Advocate® was starred Jrsy Devil's Advocate® was unstarred
    Image of Avocadobride Avocadobride
    11/30/09

    @Jrsy Devil's Advocate®: If anything, Sony would probably want more. Since they *probably* wont be buying any games for the consoles. Or, someone is planning a huge MW2 LAN party. A man can dream.
     Reply
    Jrsy Devil's Advocate® approved this comment Avocadobride was starred Avocadobride was unstarred
    Image of mmsk8erboi mmsk8erboi
    11/30/09

    @Jrsy Devil's Advocate®: Maybe, maybe not.

    Don't sony lose money on the consoles and make it back on the games anyway?
     Reply
    Jrsy Devil's Advocate® promoted this comment mmsk8erboi was starred mmsk8erboi was unstarred
    Image of ForestFire0 ForestFire0
    11/30/09

    @Jrsy Devil's Advocate®: I'd think they'd get an extra charge. The reason it makes sense to buy PS3s for supercomputing like this is because Sony sells the PS3 at a loss and recoups that cost with the huge profits on games. I don't think these PS3s will lead to a lot of game purchases by the US government, so whoever they bought them from must be somewhat annoyed.
     Reply
    Jrsy Devil's Advocate® promoted this comment ForestFire0 was starred ForestFire0 was unstarred
    Image of Sneaky0 Sneaky0
    11/30/09

    In reply to Department of Defense Buys 2,200 PS3s to Upgrade Supercomputer
    If the DoD is only using PS3 for their cell proc, then they should part the BD drive and sell it. Because it seems like a lot of the those drives are dieing well after the warranty period.
     Reply
    Nathan Obbards promoted this comment Sneaky0 was starred Sneaky0 was unstarred
    Image of Kerfudle: Kerfudle:
    11/30/09

    In reply to Department of Defense Buys 2,200 PS3s to Upgrade Supercomputer
    How are they linking these anyways, wont the 100mb ethernet be a huge limitation, most supercomputers use dual or quad channel fibre.
     Reply
    dingus promoted this comment Kerfudle: was starred Kerfudle: was unstarred
    Image of dingus dingus
    11/30/09

    @Kerfudle:: Depends on the problem. Some computational problems can be parallelized without much communication overhead (F@H, key cracking, rendering) while others are limited more by bandwidth than horsepower (weather simulation, physics sim)

    This architecture is good when a problem can be broken into chunks that need high bandwidth between small clusters of processors (7-8 SPUs per PS3). This would probably be good for something like image recognition or speech-to-text.
     Reply
    dingus was starred dingus was unstarred
    Image of The5thElephant The5thElephant
    11/30/09

    In reply to Department of Defense Buys 2,200 PS3s to Upgrade Supercomputer
    Along with 2200 copies of MW2 our "next-gen" soldiers will finally receive realistic training and will be more capable due to perks providing increased ammo and faster running speed. Not to mention the morale boost from soldiers getting achievements and the simplification of the entire battle process with "action buttons" allowing each soldier to win the war with an appropriately timed button press of the correct color and geometric shape.
     Reply
    The5thElephant was starred The5thElephant was unstarred
    Image of AtomFury AtomFury
    11/29/09

    In reply to Department of Defense Buys 2,200 PS3s to Upgrade Supercomputer
    Oh common, we ALL know that they're really just organizing a massive LAN party :D. I hope they remembered to order 5000 bags of Doritos too.
     Reply
    Edited by AtomFury at 11/29/09 11:52 PM AtomFury was starred AtomFury was unstarred
    Image of alienshards alienshards
    11/29/09

    In reply to Department of Defense Buys 2,200 PS3s to Upgrade Supercomputer
    How much money is Sony losing on this deal?

    isn't the cost of a PS3 subsidized by future accessory and game purchases? Meaning that since (assuming) none of these consoles will need accessories or games, Sony loses money on the deal?
     Reply
    alienshards was starred alienshards was unstarred
    Image of knacko knacko
    11/30/09

    @alienshards: They're likely buying directly from Sony, bypassing any dealer mark-up. I can't imagine Sony fulfilling a bulk order without taking a profit, or at least breaking even.
     Reply
    dingus promoted this comment Edited by knacko at 11/30/09 12:46 AM knacko was starred knacko was unstarred
    Image of dingus dingus
    11/30/09

    @knacko: I bet the D0D twists their arm by not flagging the console for ITAR export restriction like they threatened to do with the PS2.
     Reply
    dingus was starred dingus was unstarred
    Image of TheLostVikings R.O.A.C.H. TheLostVikings R.O.A.C.H.
    11/30/09

    @dingus: are you retarded? The PS2 was made in China, by a Japanese company. Sony wouldn't have given two shits about any "ITAR export restrictions" made by the DoD.

    And this is precisely why Viral marketing have become so prevalent nowadays... most people are idiots.
     Reply
    TheLostVikings R.O.A.C.H. was starred TheLostVikings R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
    Image of Dallifornia Dallifornia
    11/29/09

    In reply to Department of Defense Buys 2,200 PS3s to Upgrade Supercomputer
    ...courtesy of the best Black Friday sale, ever.
     Reply
    Nathan Obbards promoted this comment Dallifornia was starred Dallifornia was unstarred
    Image of Voohoo Voohoo
    11/29/09

    In reply to Department of Defense Buys 2,200 PS3s to Upgrade Supercomputer
    yea, who buys a PS3 for games anyway?? psh.

    lol, just kidding. i love my PS3. this story is just so bizarre. at least it's good to know that the government is thrifty! and has good choice in consoles! haha
     Reply
    Nathan Obbards promoted this comment Voohoo was starred Voohoo was unstarred
    Image of Nathan Obbards Nathan Obbards
    11/29/09

    @Voohoo: I'd buy one if they weren't so damn expensive. For that price, I'll just spend ~$50-100 more on a good computer and pay $10-20+ less for my games.
     Reply
    Nathan Obbards was starred Nathan Obbards was unstarred
    Image of jrghoull jrghoull
    11/30/09

    @Nathan Obbards: My understanding that the bare minimum amount that you have to spend on a modern gaming computer is 500. maybe you can cut that price down a bit though (sans fancy mouse, gaming keyboard, and specialized computer case).
     Reply
    Nathan Obbards promoted this comment jrghoull was starred jrghoull was unstarred
    Image of Nathan Obbards Nathan Obbards
    11/30/09

    @jrghoull: I already have a monitor and a nice keyboard/mouse set. I'm not talking top of the line, but I could build something that will crunch through most modern games without any problems (I say most because of that damn Crysis game). You just have to keep an ear to the ground, watch newegg, and not live in California. I'm going to be building a computer for my dad as an HTPC with BluRay that is only costing ~$350. If I were to add a decent video card to the computer, it would play most modern games without a problem. Plus, it has a very overclockable CPU.
     Reply
    Nathan Obbards was starred Nathan Obbards was unstarred
    Image of masshuum masshuum
    11/30/09

    @jrghoull: My bare minimum was $450 shipped a couple months ago. Decent case and all. You just have to know when to buy and where. I still haven't found a compelling reason to upgrade my GTX 260 and really, when I do I'll sell it and that'll help knock down the price of the new card.

    Considering a PC can only do....everything, it gets a bum rap for "upgrades". A $150 graphics card can display exactly what the PS3 and Xbox 360 can do and even more. The only difference is that games are allowed to look even better on PCs which brings in the temptation of upgrading to get even better detail. So really, you could stick with a $300 card (newegg price) and it'll last at least 6 years.

    There are other pratfalls with PC gaming but considering I also use it for other things it's well worth buying upgrades worth a new console to extend its use even further and have yet another platform to enjoy gaming.

    How often do people replace their laptops, or at least want to? Yet there's no complaints in that arena.
     Reply
    Nathan Obbards promoted this comment Edited by masshuum at 11/30/09 1:04 AM masshuum was starred masshuum was unstarred
    Image of Kanji08 Kanji08
    11/30/09

    @Nathan Obbards: A 360 cost just as much as a PS3. Either way, you'll need one or the other to play the majority of AAA titles coming out now-a-days (since all but a few developers are forsaking the pirate hungry PC market entirely).
     Reply
    Nathan Obbards promoted this comment Kanji08 was starred Kanji08 was unstarred
    Image of Nathan Obbards Nathan Obbards
    11/30/09

    @Kanji08: I would have to disagree. You can get an Arcade for under $200. I got my Pro when it first came out for $200. At that time, the PS3 was $400-500. The cheapest I've seen it is $300. For that price I'd rather just build a killer computer that can play games (for cheaper), can play bluray DVDs, and can do a myriad of other things. There are still a ton of major titles that come out on the PC and the PS3 and XBox 360 face just as much of a piracy problem as much as on the PC.
     Reply
    Nathan Obbards was starred Nathan Obbards was unstarred
    Image of jrghoull jrghoull
    11/30/09

    @masshuum: I agree that the pc is a fantastic machine. i'll even go along with the notion that you can pay outragously low prices. However, it is also noteworthy that the gaming system is becoming more and more of a pc as additional features (such as netflick streaming, web surfing, friend iming, etc) are added. I will also argue that from a hardware perspective, you are better off on a console then pc. Because while your 350-450 machine will play the games moderately well (depending on the game) the console will be playing the game at top resolution and (usually) very smoothly.
     Reply
    jrghoull was starred jrghoull was unstarred
    Image of Kanji08 Kanji08
    11/30/09

    @Nathan Obbards: A 360 without a hard drive is about as useful as a PS3 without a Blu-Ray player. Also, if you're a bargain hunter, there's been plenty of deals to get a PS3 for roughly $200-250. Point still remains.
     Reply
    Kanji08 was starred Kanji08 was unstarred
    Image of Nathan Obbards Nathan Obbards
    11/30/09

    @Kanji08: I am a bargain hunter and I have never seen a PS3 for less than $250 + tax + shipping new.
     Reply
    Nathan Obbards was starred Nathan Obbards was unstarred
    Image of Vroomtrap Vroomtrap
    11/29/09

    In reply to Department of Defense Buys 2,200 PS3s to Upgrade Supercomputer
    Great job guys.
     Reply
    AtomFury promoted this comment Vroomtrap was starred Vroomtrap was unstarred
    Image of AtomFury AtomFury
    11/29/09

    @Vroomtrap: . Why come we need government when we have Glenn Beck?
     Reply
    AtomFury was starred AtomFury was unstarred
    Image of Jamez Jamez
    11/29/09

    In reply to Department of Defense Buys 2,200 PS3s to Upgrade Supercomputer
    IMB? IBM maybe? Or are we talking about something completely different?
     Reply
    Jamez was starred Jamez was unstarred
    Image of Rosa Golijan Rosa Golijan
    11/29/09

    @Jamez: I am very much blushing over that typo. Corrected, thank you.
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan was starred Rosa Golijan was unstarred
    Image of Rejexted Rejexted
    11/29/09

    @Rosa Golijan:
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan promoted this comment Rejexted was starred Rejexted was unstarred
    Image of Rosa Golijan Rosa Golijan
    11/29/09

    @Rejexted: Hmm. Wrong hair color.
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan was starred Rosa Golijan was unstarred
    Image of toyster17 toyster17
    11/29/09

    @Rosa Golijan: Oh how I missed your posts this weekend, now I can leave my laptop and stop refreshing for once..
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan promoted this comment toyster17 was starred toyster17 was unstarred
    Image of snoop_dizzle snoop_dizzle
    11/29/09

    @Rejexted: Blasphemy! The only picture that will suffice is one of Rosa as she is much more beautiful than she. ;)
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan promoted this comment snoop_dizzle was starred snoop_dizzle was unstarred
    Image of Rosa Golijan Rosa Golijan
    11/29/09

    @toyster17: Pshaw. I post and you run off? I see how it is.
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan was starred Rosa Golijan was unstarred
    Image of Rosa Golijan Rosa Golijan
    11/29/09

    @snoop_dizzle: Oh, you charming suck up.
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan was starred Rosa Golijan was unstarred
    Image of snoop_dizzle snoop_dizzle
    11/29/09

    @Rosa Golijan: I was just playing. ;)

    I deserve the backhanding I suppose though. So go for it. :'(

    (For the record though, you are pretty. I say that in the most non creepy way possible :P)
     Reply
    Edited by snoop_dizzle at 11/29/09 11:58 PM snoop_dizzle was starred snoop_dizzle was unstarred
    Image of Jamez Jamez
    11/30/09

    @Rosa Golijan: Just blame it on Jesus. I'm sure it's his fault anyways. It usually is.
     Reply
    Jamez was starred Jamez was unstarred
    Image of Greatbam Greatbam
    11/30/09

    @Jamez: I thought the popular thing to blame stuff on these days was still global warming. I guess we are getting close to winter and Christmas though.
     Reply
    Jamez promoted this comment Greatbam was starred Greatbam was unstarred
    Image of Jamez Jamez
    11/30/09

    @Greatbam: Are you living under a rock? Global warming is a sham! Watch the news!
     Reply
    Jamez was starred Jamez was unstarred
    Image of aogfilter001 aogfilter001
    11/29/09

    In reply to Department of Defense Buys 2,200 PS3s to Upgrade Supercomputer
    Yeah, I'll bet a few of the "backup" units are being stored "off site" in the homes of the technicians.
     Reply
    Nathan Obbards promoted this comment aogfilter001 was starred aogfilter001 was unstarred
    Image of Nathan Obbards Nathan Obbards
    11/29/09

    @aogfilter001: Nah, those are the units that "fell off the truck''.
     Reply
    Nathan Obbards was starred Nathan Obbards was unstarred
    Image of pirate_panda pirate_panda
    11/29/09

    In reply to Department of Defense Buys 2,200 PS3s to Upgrade Supercomputer
    Note that they had to buy the old non-slim models. The new slims are decidedly inappropriate for supercomputing because they don't support Linux.
     Reply
    Nathan Obbards promoted this comment pirate_panda was starred pirate_panda was unstarred
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