US Air Force to purchase 2200 more PS3s
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Nov 24th 2009 at 12:30PM }
The US Air Force already has over 300 launch PS3s in its arsenal, but an upcoming purchase of 2200 additional systems will greatly expand the number-crunching capabilities of its networked supercomputer. According to Information Week, the US Air Force will use Sony's Cell-powered hardware for radar imagery, HD video processing and "neuromorphic computing" or, to those of us without a PhD in Armageddon-ology, "building computers with brain-like properties."
Yeah, we told you the end was coming.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
carterk88 @ Nov 24th 2009 12:38PM
What about Xbox? I'm sure they could be strung together to make some type of kamikaze planning machine.
R2-D2-586 @ Nov 24th 2009 12:55PM
Them the pentagon would seem like a large prostitution house we all those red lights...
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Nov 24th 2009 1:01PM
not without a gigabit ethernet port it wont
hfm @ Nov 24th 2009 3:07PM
I think X360 is missing the "Install Other OS" option...
Granger @ Nov 24th 2009 3:26PM
@hfm Slim PS3s are also missing that feature.
Alphathon @ Nov 24th 2009 3:45PM
The 360 isn't nearly as good at parallel computation as the PS3. It's the same reason that the PS3 is capable of better graphics than the 360 (admit it, Killzone 2 and Uncharted 2, among others, completelly blow the 360 out of the water. They're no Crysis, but look amazing none-the-less) - the rendering and lighting computation tasks are shared between the GPU and the cores of the cell. Now, on their own they have a lot of parallel computing potential, but when that parallelism is parallelised...well you got a lot of power there. As hfm said I'm sure the ability to use linux (and therefore gain access to the hardware) has something to do with it as well.
Alphathon @ Nov 24th 2009 3:47PM
Sorry if this is a double post, Joystiq seems to be eating my comments again.
The 360 isn't nearly as good at parallel computation as the PS3. It's the same reason that the PS3 is capable of better graphics than the 360 (admit it, Killzone 2 and Uncharted 2, among others, completelly blow the 360 out of the water. They're no Crysis, but look amazing none-the-less) - the rendering and lighting computation tasks are shared between the GPU and the cores of the cell. Now, on their own they have a lot of parallel computing potential, but when that parallelism is parallelised...well you got a lot of power there. As hfm said I'm sure the ability to use linux (and therefore gain access to the hardware) has something to do with it as well.
tafuub @ Nov 24th 2009 3:50PM
The PS3 CPU is capable of trillions of calculations the Xbox360 can only do billions. That's probably why. Not to mention the Xbox360 houses only the standard 256mb (haven't look at Xbox360 specs in a while, might be one step higher or lower) onboard L1, L2, L3 cpu memory where as the PS3 has over a gig of CPU memory processing speed 1256 or so, these are not to be confused with RAM.
PS3 CPU is literally 3x or more of the Xbox360 CPU, however it should be pointed out I think only 3SPU can be dedicated at a time however it can split the resources to accomplish more things up to 7 different things since one SPU (has 8) is dedicated to the PS3, where as the Xbox360 CPU is dedicated to single or dual tasks.
Aerziel @ Nov 24th 2009 12:42PM
*que terminator theme*
Bob @ Nov 24th 2009 12:58PM
2200 PS3s that will never ever get a game purchased for them...
So how much is Sony losing per console nowadays?
Woz @ Nov 24th 2009 1:08PM
The government over pays for everything. This might be the one sale Sony makes a profit on a PS3
Copland @ Nov 24th 2009 1:38PM
@Woz
I really hope that they over pay Sony,
because the government definitely isn't going to buy any games for the PS3,
which will make Sony loose a lot.
Sony loses money for selling PS3, especially the old models,
which I think the government is going to buy, since linux can't be installed on new PS3 models. And Sony gains profits for game software royalty.
Phil @ Nov 24th 2009 3:57PM
The Government WILL pay more for each PS3 mainly because they will have tougher failure tolerances than the typical warranty covers. For Joe Consumer the warranty might be 1 year, for the govt that might be 10 years.
mikeburnfire @ Nov 24th 2009 12:58PM
It's really because Airmen can't get enough of Uncharted 2.
ximena79 @ Nov 24th 2009 1:04PM
Woot!Go air force!
Josh @ Nov 24th 2009 1:24PM
Are these slims they are buying? How are they going to rig them up for supercomputing, since sony removed the "Install Other OS" option in the slim? I'm very curious here...
daniel @ Nov 24th 2009 1:35PM
Im pretty sure that the techs in the Air Force could figure out how to hack a PS3. The Navy, now they might have a problem doing it.
rahmenxnoodles69 @ Nov 24th 2009 2:00PM
They should be careful, at about 5000 PS3's the hive mind becomes self-aware lol
This just in: Mexico's military defense systems are now being powered by 7 N64's and a Dreamcast duct-taped to a Commodore 64..
sikbeta @ Nov 24th 2009 1:53PM
Welcome to the Club US AIR FORCE, see ya in UC2 Multiplayer.... XD
kentuckyfried @ Nov 24th 2009 2:04PM
I miss Summer Glau's presence on the Fox network. -_-
Stupid Dollhouse *grumble grumble*
EKKOZ @ Nov 24th 2009 3:07PM
They are bulding a Gudam robot
eNrique @ Nov 24th 2009 3:08PM
It only does everything.
alainmargron @ Nov 24th 2009 3:41PM
the ps3 is so good even the us airforce uses it take this xbox
The1stMJC @ Nov 24th 2009 4:26PM
So this is what that commercial was about
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwk7O_4lN_I
alainmargron @ Nov 26th 2009 12:21AM
haha i get it
admincc @ Nov 24th 2009 9:50PM
I was thinking the same thing. Now we know.
aleraiders @ Nov 24th 2009 8:39PM
if the US Air Force uses the PS3, the boy scouts must b wearing those xbox's out
docinthemachine @ Nov 24th 2009 9:40PM
The cell chip in PS# is being used for military and medical research due to its unique computing structure -- read about why and how here http://docinthemachine.com/2008/02/08/ps3cell/
aRcane @ Nov 24th 2009 10:43PM
2012...
Clifton @ Nov 25th 2009 1:53AM
If this is like anything else the military purchases they will pay for them now and if the program is still around they will get them in about 2 years.
Erik Shultz @ Nov 26th 2009 10:04PM
Would be better if there where really purchased for overseas enlisted men! :)