The power of the PS3

[Cancel 2018. 3]

Air Force builds huge supercomputer by linking 1,760 PlayStation 3s

Air Force researchers have created the defense department's largest interactive supercomputer by linking 1,760 Sony PlayStation 3s, the Air Force Times reports.


Moreover, says the director of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio, the linkup forms the 35th fastest computer in the world.

Research director Mark Barnell says the lab spent about $2 million, or about one tenth the cost of using traditional computer equipment, to build the "Condor Cluster."

"We're striving hard to make affordable and constrained systems, where they can really use them and make a difference," he told reporters earlier this month.

The new Condor Cluster will be used to process high-resolution satellite images and boost surveillance capabilities, the Times reports.



The supercomputer can achieve about 1.5 GigaFLOPS per watt of computing power. FLOPS, or floating point operations per second, is the unit by which supercomputing power is measured.

http://content.usatoday.com/communi...upercomputer-by-linking-1760-playstation-3s/1

ps3 users unite!

 

[PostmodernProphet]

it's still a waste of $2mill.....

 

[Cancel 2018. 3]

it's still a waste of $2mill.....

why?

 

[PostmodernProphet]

we should have done without the system until the economy was in better shape....

 

[Cancel 2018. 3]

we should have done without the system until the economy was in better shape....

its two million dollars, virtually 2 cents, and advancing our knowledge of computers does help our economy

i don't think this two million is a waste, it was, then cut it or don't spend it

 

[cancel2 2022]

Other OS removal may mean collateral damage for US Air Force


Posted May 12, 2010 at 2:32PM EST by Glenn M.

Listed in: PS3 Tags: firmware, other os, Supercomputer Ó

Just to refresh your memory, the United States Air Force purchased 336 PS3s in 2008 for cell processor research. They loved it so much that they sought to buy 2,200 more to further their supercomputer research - they got only 1,700 in January 2010. But with the removal of the Install Other OS feature, things aren't exactly boding well.

At first glance, the firmware update doesn't appear to be a problem for the Air Force PS3s - they have no need to login to PSN and they sure as hell won't need to organize trophies.
But what if the consoles are in need of repair?

Ars Technica went and spoke with the US Air Force Research Laboratory on the matter, and as it turns out, even the folks over there aren't happy with the controversial firmware update. "We will have to continue to use the systems we already have in hand," a representative told Ars, "but this will make it difficult to replace systems that break or fail. The refurbished PS3s also have the problem that when they come back from Sony, they have the firmware (gameOS) and it will not allow Other OS, which seems wrong. We are aware of class-action lawsuits against Sony for taking away this option on systems that used to have it."

 

[PostmodernProphet]

i don't think this two million is a waste, it was, then cut it or don't spend it

that was, actually my point.....that we should cut it and not spend it......along with $2mill here, $2mill there.....$2mill in 2mill places.....