http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/06/20/news_6127799.html
Kutaragi stated earlier that although the Cell microprocessor comes with eight synergistic processor elements (SPEs) for multicore processing, the chip only uses seven of them. Kutaragi explained that ignoring one SPE as a redundancy will improve the chip's production yield and allow costs to drop dramatically. In other words, Sony can ship a Cell chip with one defective SPE (out of its eight) as a working product, since the chip only uses seven SPEs to begin with.
"An interesting question is what will be done with the Cell chips that only have six working SPEs," continued Kutaragi. "We won't use it for the PS3, of course. Rather, I'm seriously thinking about using two of these chips to create a home server. Home servers have less of a constraint in case size and board dimension when compared to the PS3, and we can make enough space for two Cell chips. That will make it a product with a total of 12 SPEs. This is possible with the Cell since it can use as many SPEs as it needs. And this will bring a use to Cell chips that aren't fit for the PS3."
Kutaragi went on to explain that one of the reasons why the Cell chip for the PS3 was announced to run at 3.2GHz at E3 was due to heat issues. Back when the chip was first announced at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), its spec said that the chip could run at 4GHz. "We could create a 4GHz Cell if we were aiming to sell it for a high-end computer," Kutaragi said. "There's also the issue of heat. We might have had to create the PS3 with a bigger body if we adopted a 4GHz chip for it."
Kutaragi commented that the PS3's detachable hard drive would most likely be 80GB, since that's the standard capacity of a general 2.5-inch hard drive. "We're going to run an all-purpose OS on it," Kutaragi said, which seems to back up his previous comments that he plans to preinstall Linux on the PS3's HDD.
Kutaragi also talked about his decision to adopt Blu-ray for the PlayStation 3 rather than wait a bit longer to see if the Blu-ray and HD-DVD factions would come to a final conclusion on a unified disc standard. "E3 was the last chance," Kutaragi said. "The PS3 is the console of the future, so I wanted an extreme amount of capacity. But for that, we need cutting-edge technology, and not technology that is currently available. My suggestion was to come to an agreement with a physical format that is as close to [the Blu-ray's] 0.1mm as possible. But the PS3 launches in spring 2006. If we had continued to wait for a unified standard, we wouldn't be able to release the PS3. We no longer have any more time. It's game over."
Kutaragi also talked about the look of the PS3, commenting that he and Teiyu Goto, the console designer of the original PlayStation and the PS2, decided to give the PS3's body a curved surface after considering shapes that hadn't existed in either consoles or computers in the past. When asked if the curved surface made developing internal architecture difficult, Kutaragi said that internal architecture was already being considered when the body was designed, like where the BD-ROM reader's motor and connectors would be placed, as well as how heat would be released. Kutaragi also stated that he prepared three PS3 mock-ups for E3 in silver, white, and black. He settled on the silver one, after gathering a consensus from a variety of different developers and distributors.
Kutaragi stated earlier that although the Cell microprocessor comes with eight synergistic processor elements (SPEs) for multicore processing, the chip only uses seven of them. Kutaragi explained that ignoring one SPE as a redundancy will improve the chip's production yield and allow costs to drop dramatically. In other words, Sony can ship a Cell chip with one defective SPE (out of its eight) as a working product, since the chip only uses seven SPEs to begin with.
"An interesting question is what will be done with the Cell chips that only have six working SPEs," continued Kutaragi. "We won't use it for the PS3, of course. Rather, I'm seriously thinking about using two of these chips to create a home server. Home servers have less of a constraint in case size and board dimension when compared to the PS3, and we can make enough space for two Cell chips. That will make it a product with a total of 12 SPEs. This is possible with the Cell since it can use as many SPEs as it needs. And this will bring a use to Cell chips that aren't fit for the PS3."
Kutaragi went on to explain that one of the reasons why the Cell chip for the PS3 was announced to run at 3.2GHz at E3 was due to heat issues. Back when the chip was first announced at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), its spec said that the chip could run at 4GHz. "We could create a 4GHz Cell if we were aiming to sell it for a high-end computer," Kutaragi said. "There's also the issue of heat. We might have had to create the PS3 with a bigger body if we adopted a 4GHz chip for it."
Kutaragi commented that the PS3's detachable hard drive would most likely be 80GB, since that's the standard capacity of a general 2.5-inch hard drive. "We're going to run an all-purpose OS on it," Kutaragi said, which seems to back up his previous comments that he plans to preinstall Linux on the PS3's HDD.
Kutaragi also talked about his decision to adopt Blu-ray for the PlayStation 3 rather than wait a bit longer to see if the Blu-ray and HD-DVD factions would come to a final conclusion on a unified disc standard. "E3 was the last chance," Kutaragi said. "The PS3 is the console of the future, so I wanted an extreme amount of capacity. But for that, we need cutting-edge technology, and not technology that is currently available. My suggestion was to come to an agreement with a physical format that is as close to [the Blu-ray's] 0.1mm as possible. But the PS3 launches in spring 2006. If we had continued to wait for a unified standard, we wouldn't be able to release the PS3. We no longer have any more time. It's game over."
Kutaragi also talked about the look of the PS3, commenting that he and Teiyu Goto, the console designer of the original PlayStation and the PS2, decided to give the PS3's body a curved surface after considering shapes that hadn't existed in either consoles or computers in the past. When asked if the curved surface made developing internal architecture difficult, Kutaragi said that internal architecture was already being considered when the body was designed, like where the BD-ROM reader's motor and connectors would be placed, as well as how heat would be released. Kutaragi also stated that he prepared three PS3 mock-ups for E3 in silver, white, and black. He settled on the silver one, after gathering a consensus from a variety of different developers and distributors.
:lol :lol :lol 
(Black's easy to coordinate with other colors and easy to keep clean, just to name two I can think of off the top of my head.) Silver finishes also have an unfortunate tendency to chip or flake, revealing the plastic or alloy beneath. I'd've rather had black, myself.
