You’re obviously too young to remember when the PS3 was banned from being imported into certain countries. The USA had a large Beowolf cluster of them that they used as it was a very cheap way to create a super computer at the time.
Man it’s absolutely wild how the CELL processor went from the next big thing to vanishing everywhere in the space of 5 years.
Fun fact about the PS3: They originally had the intention to use a second CELL processor for dedicated graphics, until they realised it was too costly and also didn’t work too well as a graphics chip. This is the reason why they shoehorned a modified Nvidia 6700 in there. This is speculation, but it’s also probably why they went with dedicated memory for the CPU and the GPU rather than unified memory like the Xbox 360 did.
Even before that there was the “Iraqi super computer” myth where it was believed Saddam was hoarding thousands of PS2s to circumvent sanctions on computer hardware since it could be imported as a toy for children.
Strap a dozen PS2s together and you have a missile guidance system or something to that effect.
It gained a lot of traction in the US and I’m pretty sure Sony released a statement absolving themselves of any wrong doings after the consoles were purchased.
You’re obviously too young to remember when the PS3 was banned from being imported into certain countries. The USA had a large Beowolf cluster of them that they used as it was a very cheap way to create a super computer at the time.
https://phys.org/news/2010-12-air-playstation-3s-supercomputer.html
Man it’s absolutely wild how the CELL processor went from the next big thing to vanishing everywhere in the space of 5 years.
Fun fact about the PS3: They originally had the intention to use a second CELL processor for dedicated graphics, until they realised it was too costly and also didn’t work too well as a graphics chip. This is the reason why they shoehorned a modified Nvidia 6700 in there. This is speculation, but it’s also probably why they went with dedicated memory for the CPU and the GPU rather than unified memory like the Xbox 360 did.
Even before that there was the “Iraqi super computer” myth where it was believed Saddam was hoarding thousands of PS2s to circumvent sanctions on computer hardware since it could be imported as a toy for children.
Strap a dozen PS2s together and you have a missile guidance system or something to that effect.
It gained a lot of traction in the US and I’m pretty sure Sony released a statement absolving themselves of any wrong doings after the consoles were purchased.
Wild time.