gamingbits.com — An update to the folding@home application on the PS3 will be available tomorrow. "Thanks to PS3, we have performed simulations in the first few weeks that would normally take us more than a year to calculate. We are now gearing up for new simulations that will continue our current studies of Alzheimer?s and other diseases.? Read more details here.
Apr 25, 2007 View in Crawl 4
cziryakApr 26, 2007
There was an article discussing the Cell processor (along with Ageia's PhysX PPU) and how IBM wanted to use it to make supercomputers that use technology that is more off the shelf. It goes on to theorize that IBM got Sony (and was it Toshiba?) to basically pay for the processor so it will offset the cost of production. By producing for the PS3, IBM could get the costs of production to drop over time and then have a big hit with the supercomputers. Basically the same idea was applyed to the PhysX card.I would submit a link but I can't remember how I even got to it....sorry.
spuckyApr 26, 2007
"The PS3 works on smaller WUs than the PC version, this is because the team see it being run for shorter amounts of time, rather than being left running constantly."PS3s work on different types of work units. They are sized to try to make sense of how they work differently than general purpose CPUs while still giving credit for their extreme math crunching power.I probably will get this backwards, but PS3s mainly work on problems of implicit solvation (where the solvent holding the molecule is considered a continuous fabric) versus general purpose CPUs doing mainly explicit solvation (where the individual molecules of the solvent are considered). Both are necessary.If there are any FAH gurus around, please correct me so that I do not pass out crazy information.
v0yeurApr 26, 2007
joined as PS3/v0yeur - thx and good job
triplehelixApr 26, 2007
massive, ground breaking, cure enabling help.
spuckyApr 26, 2007
@triplehelixPerhaps you should look more into it.If you want lessons in programming the Cell, I can help a lot.
vraaApr 26, 2007
Because BOINC is NOT Folding@HomeFolding@Home is, I believe, the largest distributed computing project to date.You can run F@H on your PPC laptop, your PS3, your SMP 64bit Linux, your quad-core Windows box, and your ATi GPU.Hopefully soon your nVidia GPU as well and I don't know about this --- but I can speculate -- your Xbox360.
vraaApr 26, 2007
Forget the number of frames, that means nothing.It could be a more complex protein, or less.However, the general PS3 unit I believe is "larger" than a regular uni-processor small workunit for the PC/Mac.There are SMP units though which are much more complex.The project needs all kinds of hardware.There are some workunits that can only be done on the PS3/GPUSome that can only be done by single processor machinesSome that can only be done by the SMP clients (Mac, Win, Linux).
Closed AccountApr 26, 2007
Unfortunetly for you, Cell was designed for gaming, applications, as that goes with multimedia.Cell is a monster at handling physics engines and audio. Which are primarily handled by floating point ops.Whoever told you Cell is not for gaming is a moron. Cell is as much a gaming processor as 360s and Wiis as they are all powerPC based. Cell just has more hardware added on to help it do more (ie: physics and audio as mentioned earlier)You can even devote an SPE/SPU towards culling, reducing the workload on the GPU and doubling the polygon count
shelbygt33Apr 26, 2007
These things have been going on for so long, have there been any real world results from them? Honest question, no bashing intended.
kyrandianApr 27, 2007
There are no games for ps3, so all you fanboys spent $600 on a system to let the government and corporations snatch up your bandwidth and CPU processor speed, all for some self-important 'science' with dubious at BEST results?Whatever helps you sleep at night for spending 2 weeks salary (or a years allowance) on that ill conceived, pitiful system.PS I own neither a Wii or PS3 or xbox 360-- I think all fanboys are tools (But especially digg fanboys)I'm still waiting for folding@home to do anything but report on how much power its generating. But i keep getting dugg down, so I guess they dont like the truth so much.
triplehelixApr 27, 2007
@spuckyi've looked into it plenty, thanx. if you read up on the folding site, they specifically say that cpu's are the most diverse folders, gpu's the fastest but most specialized, and the cell is somewhere in the middle.