Air Force Buys 300 PlayStation 3 for "Research"

[Monkeywoman]

The Air Force has bought 300 PlayStation 3s for "research." Whether "research" means "let's play a massive Call of Duty 4 game" or "let's start building SkyNet with 300 PlayStation 3 nodes" or "let's create a giant black mecha with Blu-ray lasers" is yet to be seen. According to the Air Force, they need the cell processors for assessment:

"The Air Force Research Laboratory is conducting a technology assessment of certain cell processors. The processors in the Sony PlayStation 3 are the only brand on the market that utilizes the specific cell processor characteristics needed for this program at an acceptable cost."

So in case you have 300 PS3 that just fell from a truck, here is the order:

The contractor shall provide the following items on a firm fixed price basis:

Item 1: Sony PlayStation 3 Game Console - 40 GB Hard Drive

Qty: 300

Sony Part Number 98006

The estimated delivery date is 30 days after receipt of award. The place of delivery, acceptance, and FOB destination point is F4HBL1/Transportation Depot 2, 148 Electronic Parkway, Rome, NY 13441-4516.

gizmodo.com

[Origin_Unknown]

a massive COD game? stupid limit of 18 online players..... should be 64 like on CS:S

[MaxxxRacer]

a massive COD game? stupid limit of 18 online players..... should be 64 like on CS:S

Prob is that they dont know how to code the networking properly.

[masterg]

they probably want to integrate them into the big bombers so when the pilots are on the 40hour mission they have something fun to do :P

[spicypixel]

ive seen 50 players on the PC version :D there are some bonuses to the PC one :cool:

[Ub3r-L33ch]

Notice they didn't buy 300 Xbox 360s or Wiis ...

[WangChung]

Notice they didn't buy 300 Xbox 360s or Wiis ...

Which means, they ACTUALLY bought them for the Cell processor and for said research. Boooorrrrinnnngngnggnggggg! :rolleyes:

[vitaminc]

Notice they didn't buy 300 Xbox 360s or Wiis ...

Are you implying that they are buying PS3 for research on military applications of blue lasers from the BR DVD drives?

[Starscream]

they just bought them cause the PS3 is the cheapest way to get the Cell CPU and the PS3 allows for Linux distros to be installed.

lol 1 week after the air force gets them ul find 300 six axis controllers on ebay.

[Serra]

I agree with people who say they bought them for parts - after all, aren't they sold at a fairly high loss? I know I'd rather pay less than cost for everything.

[Starscream]

I agree with people who say they bought them for parts - after all, aren't they sold at a fairly high loss? I know I'd rather pay less than cost for everything.

nah according to news articles ive read they are either making a very small profit per sold PS3 or are breaking even (with the contoller and stuff added most likely a small loss).
The Cell CPu has moved to 65nm and they redesigned some parts of the PS3 to lower power usage and cost and also started using diffrent (cheaper) RAM chips.
It is said that they managed to cut cost into half.

The main reason why buying PS3s instead of Cell CPUs is cheaper is cause if they would buy Cell CPus from Sony (or whoever sells them) would be more expensive seeing the seller would add a profit margin. Where as when u buy a console there usualy is no or a very small profit margin seeing they make their profit from the games.

[Bobsama]

I think it's more a bunch of Air Force technicians who are doing "research" and sort of snuck this one under the noses of their higher-ups... that, or they invited them to play with them.

[[XC] gomeler]

I wouldn't mind having 300 PS3s in racks in my garage :up: Wonder what they'll do with them.

[Starscream]

gomeler;2818706']I wouldn't mind having 300 PS3s in racks in my garage :up: Wonder what they'll do with them.

i guess something similar to what this guy is doing

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/02/28/ps3s_put_to_use_simulating_blackholes/

they will use their raw power for simulations.

[3NZ0]

gomeler;2818706']I wouldn't mind having 300 PS3s in racks in my garage :up: Wonder what they'll do with them.Well you can run F@H an Linux on them, so the research possibilities are endless. :)

[Jimmer411]

Well atleast someone is buying PS3's lol

[mion]

I guess somebody at airforce watched fool's gold

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809793124/video/6317086/20080205/59/6317086-300-wmv-s.57485951-,6317086-100-flash-s.57485968-,6317086-300-flash-s.57485977-,6317086-100-wmv-s.57485945-,6317086-1000-wmv-s.57485963-,6317086-700-wmv-s.57485955-,6317086-700-flash-s.57485980-

[ferrari_freak]

I guess somebody at airforce watched fool's gold

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809793124/video/6317086/20080205/59/6317086-300-wmv-s.57485951-,6317086-100-flash-s.57485968-,6317086-300-flash-s.57485977-,6317086-100-wmv-s.57485945-,6317086-1000-wmv-s.57485963-,6317086-700-wmv-s.57485955-,6317086-700-flash-s.57485980-

Lol, funny stuff. Anyway, I really like the idea of using the PS3 for research. Personally I don't like any of the games out on it right now, but F@H on PS3 is pretty insane, especially when you compare the price of a PS3 to a computer that can do the same.

[fart_plume]

Perhaps it to see if terrorists can build smart missles,bombs using the cell processors.............A guy in Austrailia built a cruise missle in his garage using off the shelf parts.

[SuperPysz]

This is sad, I'm in the air force and their quite a few things that we need to get our job done and they are buying PS3s instead.......

:down: :down: :down:

EDIT: and no, no one in the AF is going to being playing COD4 on these while at work(unfortunetly:()

[onewingedangel]

Its quite funny that the ps3 console is cannibalising what could be sales of IBM's cell based blades, but I guess it comes down to the price - and sony is subsidising the hardware for ps3 :D

[ryanmartini]

PS3 Computing Cluster.. yummy

[KoHaN69]

Didn't Saddam Hussein buy 20,000 PS2s in 2002 or something?

[Shadowmage]

This is actually really typical. Sony wants universities and companies to use Cell for non-gaming stuff, so they donate PS3s like crazy. UMich has some, for example.

[rogueagent6]

Notice they didn't buy 300 Xbox 360s or Wiis ...

Notice that no one brought fanboyism into the thread until you opened your mouth... :rolleyes:

[Yukon Trooper]

Notice that no one brought fanboyism into the thread until you opened your mouth... :rolleyes:
How did you come to that conclusion? Ub3r is the ultimate authority on these things. He brings a totally objective and unbiased opinion to the table every time.