PlayStation3 surpasses PCs in Folding@Home computations [Archive]

josty2

03-23-2007, 03:52 PM

well its a 4 month old console.. not even out in euro ... so i say give it sometime

MGS 4 , FF 13 comin this and next year .. those should have some impressive graphics

It came out in europe today! :stick:
Concerning the results it puts down... I think it's amazing. Certainly one thing that kind of makes the performance/watt ratio compared to a PC folding extremely reasonable!

ceevee

03-23-2007, 03:54 PM

That's what all the "internet forum experts" say :rolleyes:

But where is the proof.

I say wait for the games to roll out and see for yourself.

Don't get me wrong, I am a happy PS3 owner ( I imported mine from Japan before the USA launch). But I have mainly used the unit for Blu-ray movies so far.

I think it would be great if the power of the CELL were finally harnessed for some new games.

Motorstorm is fun, but not that much more impressive than the stuff I can play on my 360.

The NIN Blu-ray concert disc that just came out is amazing BTW. ;)

Reznik Akime

03-23-2007, 03:55 PM

It actually makes me want to buy one for this very purpose. That and tinker with linux and such.

But $600 is just a wee bit much still.

Soulburner

03-23-2007, 04:00 PM

The NIN Blu-ray concert disc that just came out is amazing BTW. ;)
I have that, but on DVD...no high def for me yet :(

And yeah, its awesome. I was there in person a year ago, and thats pretty much what I saw, except with not as good of a view. I was at the very front at the rail with the guards. At my concert he sang and performed much more accurately to the real recordings, it was amazing. The concert on the DVD was a bit more "ad-lib" but still awesome, and really shows off the lighting and overall presentation that not many bands can match. Also the lineup of songs was a little different, I was disappointed they didn't play Every Day Is Exactly The Same on the DVD.

I also stood outside in a 20-30mph -20F windchill for that concert. We all thought we were going to die of frostbite until they finally opened the doors. You don't wear a coat to a concert so yeah, short sleeves in that kind of weather is insane.

It actually makes me want to buy one for this very purpose. That and tinker with linux and such.

But $600 is just a wee bit much still.
There is a $499 PS3. For your use you could probably get away with the 20gb model.

Reznik Akime

03-23-2007, 04:24 PM

There is a $499 PS3. For your use you could probably get away with the 20gb model.

True, but I could also get me a 8800GTX for the same price. Decisions!

ColonelCain

03-23-2007, 04:26 PM

I'd think that this is the answer to anyone looking to get seperate folding machine. This would be cheaper than a PC, but performs much better!
Now Microsoft needs to get their act together with the 360... I'd definately do it since I own one.

alucasa

03-23-2007, 04:27 PM

Yeah, this has gotten me interested in PS3 as well. Well, I will be honest. I've been interested in PS3 due to Final Fantasy games.

p0tter

03-23-2007, 04:37 PM

Yeah, this has gotten me interested in PS3 as well. Well, I will be honest. I've been interested in PS3 due to Final Fantasy games.

yea, FF for the win!

QuietRiot

03-23-2007, 04:41 PM

ArsTechnica had an interesting article related to this.

"If you're IBM or Ageia, then the way to get your multicore coprocessor chip into COTS clusters is clear: sell the chip in the gaming market first, because the gaming market has a unique combination of high volume and an insatiable appetite for parallelism. Then, when the chip is selling widely enough to be profitable (fabs are expensive, and you have to keep them busy or you lose money) then you can break into the small but profitable and growing market for HPC clusters. This is why IBM got Sony to help them foot the bill of designing and fabbing Cell, and it's why Ageia wants gamers to buy a physics acceleration board."

http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/hardware/physx-hpc.ars

nn_step

03-23-2007, 05:06 PM

umm from the processing power they released in the official Cell Specification, the R520 (aka X1800XT) provides almost an order of magnitude more processing power

ColonelCain

03-23-2007, 05:10 PM

umm from the processing power they released in the official Cell Specification, the R520 (aka X1800XT) provides almost an order of magnitude more processing power

A little confusing... could you re-word it?

btw, funny thing about your avatar.

Reznik Akime

03-23-2007, 05:12 PM

umm from the processing power they released in the official Cell Specification, the R520 (aka X1800XT) provides almost an order of magnitude more processing power

Be that as it may, what do the current numbers say?

..Rhyme not intentional. If a mere 15000 PS3s are beating out some 160000 PCs should everyone then start using a R520? Seems like it would be cheaper to get a PS3 than rebuild a PC around that one card.

nn_step

03-23-2007, 05:16 PM

A little confusing... could you re-word it?

btw, funny thing about your avatar.

ok.
ATi's R580 (X1900XT) has 375 GFLOP/s processing power
The entire summation of the PS3's Processing power at PEAK is 218 GFLOP/s
Core 2 Duo@3GHz: 12GFLOPs

gdogg

03-23-2007, 05:26 PM

Be that as it may, what do the current numbers say?

..Rhyme not intentional. If a mere 15000 PS3s are beating out some 160000 PCs should everyone then start using a R520? Seems like it would be cheaper to get a PS3 than rebuild a PC around that one card.

think the point was, if you care about folding as much, just get an ati card as your next video card, as that will improve your PC, and fold much faster than even the ps3.

ex. r600xtx.

But if you have a ps3 already, or when you get one, this is great news.

Soulburner

03-23-2007, 05:40 PM

The PS3 won't put nearly as big of a dent in your electric bill as building a dedicated crunching machine either...

nn_step

03-23-2007, 06:00 PM

The PS3 won't put nearly as big of a dent in your electric bill as building a dedicated crunching machine either...

actually that argument is actually accurate. A low wattage CPU combined with a high end graphics card (R580 or R600) does (will) provide more processing power per watt

xlink

03-23-2007, 06:10 PM

actually that argument is actually accurate. A low wattage CPU combined with a high end graphics card (R580 or R600) does (will) provide more processing power per watt

no, it varies by situation, 20 PIII systems will suck a lot more power. But you are right, GPU based folding is the way to go, an x1900GT/x1950GT/x1950pro costs around 130$ if you find a good deal and two tossed onto an x2 3600+ machine will do quite well for the cost.

freeloader

03-23-2007, 07:38 PM

no, it varies by situation, 20 PIII systems will suck a lot more power. But you are right, GPU based folding is the way to go, an x1900GT/x1950GT/x1950pro costs around 130$ if you find a good deal and two tossed onto an x2 3600+ machine will do quite well for the cost.

It's too bad that the GPU client doesn't score as well as the Windows SMP client right now. Go figure...

vengance_01

03-23-2007, 08:06 PM

It's too bad that the GPU client doesn't score as well as the Windows SMP client right now. Go figure... But I think they will soon. Folding on a GPU is this pretty new. Also I agree, Low cost Dual Core plus 2 1900XT's would beat a PS3 and be cheaper to boot, but you don't get a blue ray player, nor a consolse as well. I like sony and enjoyed my PS2, but as now there is no reason to get a PS3 unless you want a blue ray player now.

gdogg

03-23-2007, 08:52 PM

It's too bad that the GPU client doesn't score as well as the Windows SMP client right now. Go figure...

you don't mean that gpu folding is slower than a smp cpu client do you?

xlink

03-23-2007, 09:09 PM

the GPU client does mroe work, it's just that the scoring for it is highly adjusted.

nn_step

03-24-2007, 06:03 AM

It's too bad that the GPU client doesn't score as well as the Windows SMP client right now. Go figure...

um GPU scores are weighted differently. Think of it this way, more work but less points

Cuthalu

03-24-2007, 08:31 AM

Saying PS3 surprasses PC in Folding power based on comparing PS3 to an AVARAGE PC is extremely misleading - it's propaganda. R580 + quad core should kick several PS3 asses, and R600 comes soon.

vudoodoodoo

03-24-2007, 11:12 AM

PS3's folding GUI is pretty slick IMO. My friend has it. I like how you can see all the PS3s folding all around the world.
2 dots in South America LOL.

grimREEFER

03-24-2007, 12:49 PM

did they give up on trying to get it to work on the geforce 8 series btw?

p8ntslinger676

03-24-2007, 02:23 PM

did they give up on trying to get it to work on the geforce 8 series btw?

i would like to know too, cus my 8800gtx could do some good

Dainas

03-24-2007, 04:24 PM

The PS3 seems to be running special WUs that do best on its architecture, how that translates to the PS3 running a common one like 2124 is anyones guess.

Still like I've said before, the Cell is really only good at running long continuous lines of vectored code, thats means complete suckage for most stuff used for gaming, but a bonanza for F@H.

Scimitar

03-24-2007, 05:57 PM

did they give up on trying to get it to work on the geforce 8 series btw?

There is a bug in Nvidia's driver that prevents it from working correctly. The ball is in Nvidia's court and has been for 4 months now, but they've done nothing about it.

BTW, testing on an 8800GTX has shown it to be slightly slower than a X1950XTX for folding. It appears that ATI's complex shaders are much more efficient than the Stream Processors in the Nvidia 8 series.

dinos22

03-25-2007, 05:16 PM

here is a good video with Dr. Marks from Sony R&D talking about Folding console on PS3s

mentioned my team (well my main team not subteam)

Overclockers Australia Team-24 :woot:

http://forums.maxconsole.net/showthread.php?t=54886

Dainas

03-25-2007, 05:22 PM

BTW, testing on an 8800GTX has shown it to be slightly slower than a X1950XTX for folding. It appears that ATI's complex shaders are much more efficient than the Stream Processors in the Nvidia 8 series.

And you would know this despite the bug in the Nvidia drivers? As far as the F@H forums could find out, the 8800GTX should STILL be faster than a X1950XTX by calculation, albeit slightly. Even though the Nvidia uses flexible scalar shaders/vertex units rather than proper shader units.

Diverge

03-25-2007, 07:20 PM

I'm new to this folding stuff, but i just started doing it on my ps3 when it's idling. While reading about the the ps3 folding on the folding site i came across some interesting facts. There isn't a best type of folding machine really (pc vs. gpu vs. ps3)... they all have their different limiations. one weakness is another's strength.

It seems that the PS3 is more than 10X powerful as an average PC. Why doesn't it get 10X PPD as well?
We balance the points based on both speed and the flexibility of the client. The GPU client is still the fastest, but it is the least flexible and can only run a very, very limited set of WU's. Thus, its points are not linearly proportional to the speed increase. The PS3 takes the middle ground between GPU's (extreme speed, but at limited types of WU's) and CPU's (less speed, but more flexibility in types of WU's). We have picked the PS3 as the natural benchmark machine for PS3 calculations and set its points per day to 900 to reflect this middle ground between speed (faster than CPU, but slower than GPU) and flexibility (more flexible than GPU, less than CPU).

source: http://folding.stanford.edu/FAQ-PS3.html

mursaat

03-30-2007, 06:09 AM

True, but I could also get me a 8800GTX for the same price. Decisions!Funny how a full system capable of running games, BDs, OSs, CDs, and crunching seems expensive for 499$ but a single 8800GTX that is only the GPU part, is reasonable.

Understand me, I'm not judging you as I'm in a similar situation :p:. But that's the XS style right? :D:D:D

Lestat

03-30-2007, 06:23 AM

didnt see anyone mention this but rosetta can be run on the 360 using the HyperVisor exploit and a bootable linux setup.

vudoodoodoo

03-30-2007, 06:37 AM

You can install linux on the 360? :O

Scimitar

03-30-2007, 06:55 AM

And you would know this despite the bug in the Nvidia drivers? As far as the F@H forums could find out, the 8800GTX should STILL be faster than a X1950XTX by calculation, albeit slightly. Even though the Nvidia uses flexible scalar shaders/vertex units rather than proper shader units.

My statement was based upon the guys at Stanford who are testing the 8800GTX on F@H. They stated on the official forums that it works for a while then EUEs. They also stated it WAS slightly slower than the X1950XTX.

nn_step

03-30-2007, 10:03 AM

You can install linux on the 360? :O

you can even install linux on a Toaster but that doesn't make the Toaster cool :rolleyes:

vitaminc

03-30-2007, 10:42 AM

Read somewhere on Kotaku that PS3 consume the most power...

eXceeded

03-30-2007, 01:53 PM

^^ Oh noes!

irev210

03-30-2007, 01:58 PM

Read somewhere on Kotaku that PS3 consume the most power...

More than the xbox360? Xbox360 consumes ~220W

vitaminc

03-30-2007, 03:17 PM

More than the xbox360? Xbox360 consumes ~220W

forgot, but dont think you cant fold on xbox360

here is one of the articles

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/776/776347p1.html

State Cent/kWh FAH
1 Idaho 4.78 $6.88
2 West Virginia 5.09 $7.33
3 Wyoming 5.32 $7.66
4 Oklahoma 5.48 $7.89
5 Utah 5.5 $7.92
6 North Dakota 5.54 $7.98
7 Nebraska 5.59 $8.05
8 Kentucky 5.62 $8.09
9 Missouri 5.7 $8.21
10 Kansas 5.86 $8.44
11 Indiana 6.33 $9.12
12 Iowa 6.36 $9.16
13 South Dakota 6.4 $9.22
14 Virginia 6.63 $9.55
15 Arkansas 6.64 $9.56
16 Alabama 6.66 $9.59
17 Minnesota 6.67 $9.60
18 Illinois 6.69 $9.63
19 Washington 6.76 $9.73
20 Oregon 6.85 $9.86
21 Mississippi 7.06 $10.17
22 Montana 7.08 $10.20
23 Tennessee 7.08 $10.20
24 South Carolina 7.09 $10.21
25 Colorado 7.15 $10.30
26 New Mexico 7.16 $10.31
27 Georgia 7.31 $10.53
28 Louisiana 7.45 $10.73
29 Ohio 7.49 $10.79
30 North Carolina 7.57 $10.90
31 Arizona 7.64 $11.00
32 Wisconsin 8.08 $11.64
33 Pennsylvania 8.44 $12.15
34 Michigan 8.46 $12.18
National Average 8.49 $12.23
35 Nevada 9.39 $13.52
36 Texas 9.56 $13.77
37 Delaware 10.12 $14.57
38 Maryland 10.24 $14.75
39 Florida 10.33 $14.88
40 District of Columbia 10.75 $15.48
41 Vermont 11.38 $16.39
42 New Jersey 11.47 $16.52
43 California 12.17 $17.52
44 New York 13.07 $18.82
45 Rhode Island 13.16 $18.95
46 Maine 13.32 $19.18
47 Alaska 13.47 $19.40
48 New Hampshire 13.99 $20.15
49 Massachusetts 15.24 $21.95
50 Connecticut 15.98 $23.01
51 Hawaii 19.28 $27.76

theres no way in fkn hell for me to pay $17.52 monthly to fold...

way too fkn expensive.