E3 2005: PlayStation 3 to Launch in Spring 2006 @ Gaming Target

Written by Jonathan Nicklas on May 16, 2005

News: Tech-heads converge.

If I could translate this to English I would. What you really need to know is this: backwards compatibility with PS2 and PSone, wireless controllers and a Spring 2006 launch.

PLAYSTATION 3 Specifications

CPU Cell Processor
PowerPC-base Core @3.2GHz
1 VMX vector unit per core
512KB L2 cache
7 x SPE @3.2GHz
7 x 128b 128 SIMD GPRs
7 x 256KB SRAM for SPE
* 1 of 8 SPEs reserved for redundancy
Total floating point performance: 218 GFLOPS
GPU RSX @550MHz
1.8 TFLOPS floating point performance
Full HD (up to 1080p) x 2 channels
Multi-way programmable parallel floating point shader pipelines
Sound Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM, etc.

Cell-base processing
Memory 256MB XDR Main RAM @3.2GHz
256MB GDDR3 VRAM @700MHz
System Bandwidth Main RAM 25.6GB/s
VRAM 22.4GB/s
RSX 20GB/s (write) + 15GB/s (read)
SB 2.5GB/s (write) + 2.5GB/s (read)
System Floating Point Performance 2 TFLOPS
Storage HDD Detachable 2.5" HDD slot x 1 I/O USB Front x 4, Rear x 2 (USB2.0)
Memory Stick standard/Duo, PRO x 1
SD standard/mini x 1
CompactFlash (Type I, II) x 1
Communication Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) x 3 (input x 1 + output x 2)
Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)
Controller Bluetooth (up to 7)
USB2.0 (wired)
Wi-Fi (PSPо)
Network (over IP)
AV Output Screen size 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
HDMI HDMI out x 2
Analog AV MULTI OUT x 1
Digital audio DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) x 1

Disc Media CD
PlayStation CD-ROM read only PlayStation 2 CD-ROM
CD-DA: CD-DA (ROM), CD-R, CD-RW
SACD: SACD Hybrid (CD layer), SACD HD
DualDisc: audio side + DVD side
DVD PlayStation 2 DVD-ROM
PLAYSTATION 3 DVD-ROM
DVD-Video: DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW
Blu-ray Disc PLAYSTATION 3 BD-ROM
BD-Video: BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE