Talk:CELL BE
Cell Broadband Engine
The Cell CPU has one 3.2Ghz PPE (Power Processor Element) with two threads and eight 3.2Ghz SPE (Synergistic Processing Elements).
The PPE is a general purpose CPU, while the eight SPE are geared towards processing data in parallel. One SPE is disabled to increase yield, so the PS3 can have at most 9 threads runnings at the same time (2 from PPE and 7 from SPE). Note that one SPE is reserved for the hypervisor, so PS3 programs can take advantage of 8 threads. Both the PPE and SPE of the Cell are 64 bit, and manipulate data in Big Endian.
Specifications
- 1 PPE (Power Processor Element)
- 3.2Ghz
- 64 bit, Big Endian
- 2 threads (can run at same time)
- L1 cache: 32kB data + 32kB instruction
- L2 cache: 512kB
- Memory bus width: 64bit (serial)
- VMX (Altivec) instruction set support
- Full IEEE-754 compliant
- 8 SPE (Synergistic Processing Element)
- 3.2Ghz
- 64 bit, Big Endian
- 1 SPE disabled to improve chip yield (see: Unlocking the 8th SPE)
- 1 SPE dedicated for hypervisor security
- 256kB local store per SPE
- 128 registers per SPE
- Dual Issue (Each SPE can execute 2 instructions per clock)
- IEEE-754 compliant in double precision (single precision round-towards-zero instead of round-towards-even)
There is a lot of info about CELL/BE on the Cell Programming IBM page.
Serial Numbers @ SKU
The Cell was introduced at 90nm. Later, PS3 model numbers starting with CECHG uses the 65nm version, while the PS3 Slim (CECH-20xx) used the 45nm version (See SKU Models and table below).
A small sampling of the serial numbers by model number.
| PS3 Model | CELL Serial | Die Tech | Die Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| CECHA | CXD2964GB | 90nm | 235.48mm2 |
| CECHC | CXD2964GB | 90nm | 235.48mm2 |
| CECHE | CXD29?? | 90nm | 235.48mm2 |
| CECHG | CXD2981AGB | 65nm | 174.61mm2 |
| CECHH | CXD2981GB | 65nm | 174.61mm2 |
| CECHK | CXD2989AGB | 65nm | 174.61mm2 |
| CECHL | CXD2990AGB | 65nm | 174.61mm2 |
| CECHQ | CXD299? | 65nm | 174.61mm2 |
| CECH-20xx | CXD2992AGB | 45nm | ~115mm2 |
| CECH-21xx | CXD2992AGB | 45nm | ~115mm2 |
| CECH-25xx | CXD2992GB | 45nm | ~115mm2 |
Source: http://www.edepot.com/playstation3.html#PS3_CELL_CPU
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