Thread: US Department of Defense builds PS3 supercomputer

The United States Department of Defense is so happy with the PlayStation 3's advanced parallel processing abilities that it is constructing a cluster of 2,200 of them to supplement an existing 336-unit PS3 supercomputer. When bought at retail prices, Sony's subsidies account for a significant reduction in cost as compared to high-performance computing systems that use similar Cell processors. Sony's subsidies are recovered when customers buy games, which the DoD will not be doing. It is also not known whether they will be sourced directly from Sony, or what will become of the bundled accessories and game controllers.

The cluster runs on a custom Linux OS developed in-house, implying that the DoD will need to source older, non-slim PS3 units before they are off the market. Possible use scenarios include high-resolution radar image composites and other simulations.