USAF orders 300 PS3's for "science"

Jefe · 03-05-2008, 09:22 PM

Story here:
DailyTech - U.S. Air Force Looking to Buy 300 PlayStation 3 Consoles

My favorite comments:

The Air Force announced today that it's looking to procure 300 42" 1080p LCD HDTVs to 'assist in the assessment' of the Cell Processors. Air Force brass is also considering the number of leather couches that may be required; while there's no word yet on an official number, many guess it will be between 100 and 150.

I knew the PS3 (Sony) had many functions, but I never knew "lowest bid contractor" was one of them.

Party of A-5 · 03-05-2008, 09:35 PM

Are they also buying 300 copies of COD 4?

Walking_Target · 03-05-2008, 09:41 PM

they might start getting disappointed when all their online matches fall victim to 12 year old aim botters.

SHAG · 03-05-2008, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walking_Target

they might start getting disappointed when all their online matches fall victim to 12 year old aim botters.

LOL

shaggy

Party of A-5 · 03-05-2008, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walking_Target

they might start getting disappointed when all their online matches fall victim to 12 year old aim botters.

Says the brass- my god... how long 'till we can get this in the field?

Harbinger[TG] · 03-05-2008, 11:53 PM

At least it doesn't cost as much as the AirBus contract.

Listessa · 03-05-2008, 11:59 PM

Some of the computer science and other engineering programs up here at UAF use PS3s for all sorts of stuff too. It's sort of shocking to walk by and see a bunch of them lined up for actual USE rather than as a toy.

kidneythief · 03-06-2008, 01:59 AM

Not shocking at all. One of the Systems contracting bases actually procured the license to a Sony Dev kit.

The army did the same for the game they put out a while back. I bought alot of flat screens and 360's when I was deployed...

-Jake

Azzy · 03-06-2008, 07:27 AM

Lots of schools are buying them too. For raw number crunching, a few linked PS3's may cost you $5000, but a few hours rented on a super computer can cost the same.

nigel_ht · 03-07-2008, 01:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azzy

Lots of schools are buying them too. For raw number crunching, a few linked PS3's may cost you $5000, but a few hours rented on a super computer can cost the same.

Yah, but if your task can be parallelized $5,000 now buys you 50,000 hours of Amazon EC2 compute capability. We've been looking at the utilization rates on some of our older Dell pizza boxes and concluded that based on the history we'd have been better to buy cycles off Amazon vs owning all of those boxes.

$0.10 per hour of a 1Ghz 2007 Xeon w/1.7GB memory isn't shabby. You have to get special permission from Amazon (I think you can only do 20 nodes per account normally) but you can get a 500 node farm for an hour for only $50.

03-05-2008, 09:22 PM	#1 (permalink)
Jefe MCB Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Boise, Idaho Posts: 335	USAF orders 300 PS3's for "science" Story here: DailyTech - U.S. Air Force Looking to Buy 300 PlayStation 3 Consoles My favorite comments: The Air Force announced today that it's looking to procure 300 42" 1080p LCD HDTVs to 'assist in the assessment' of the Cell Processors. Air Force brass is also considering the number of leather couches that may be required; while there's no word yet on an official number, many guess it will be between 100 and 150. I knew the PS3 (Sony) had many functions, but I never knew "lowest bid contractor" was one of them. __________________ -- Sayonara, not to be confused with cyanide, which is, of course, goodbye in any language.

03-05-2008, 09:35 PM	#2 (permalink)
Party of A-5 Fine Brass Connoisseur Join Date: May 2007 Location: 3500' Posts: 2,226	Are they also buying 300 copies of COD 4? __________________ Last edited by Party of A-5; 03-05-2008 at 10:14 PM.

03-05-2008, 11:59 PM	#7 (permalink)
Listessa Delving into Satinism Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Fairbanks, AK Posts: 5,894	Some of the computer science and other engineering programs up here at UAF use PS3s for all sorts of stuff too. It's sort of shocking to walk by and see a bunch of them lined up for actual USE rather than as a toy. __________________ The correct question is, "Why don't I need another gun?" How strange to see a lagomorph of such bravery. Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo- Don't Ask Us- We Will Tell! Facilis est Descensus Averni. <--Click to descend to my feedback. NO'MAAM #2"National Organization Members Against AGG Metrosexuals" Rouge Cell #3

03-06-2008, 01:59 AM	#8 (permalink)
kidneythief Lord humungus the Mod Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Home Finally!!! Posts: 2,445	Not shocking at all. One of the Systems contracting bases actually procured the license to a Sony Dev kit. The army did the same for the game they put out a while back. I bought alot of flat screens and 360's when I was deployed... -Jake __________________ "I wish simply to be a decent person, yet I will always fear the retards" -Brian Hindt(geech) "Every man knows he is, basically, a complete sissy compared to Johnny Cash." - Bono LPPC member #24 MCB Moderator Machinist for hire Kidney Machine

03-06-2008, 07:27 AM	#9 (permalink)
Azzy Mod-O-Rator Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Finleyville, PA Posts: 7,108	Lots of schools are buying them too. For raw number crunching, a few linked PS3's may cost you $5000, but a few hours rented on a super computer can cost the same. __________________ Bryan "Azzy" Spiegel webmaster - Riverside Renegade Paintball / C.C. S.V.S. Plankowner - LPPC#6 Check out VintageRex.com, the premiere paintball museum "A Patriot and free-thinker with respect to social standards in 1760, is today's traitor and dangerous mind." - incynr8

03-05-2008, 11:53 PM	#6 (permalink)
Harbinger[TG] The Watchmen Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Florida Posts: 6,555	At least it doesn't cost as much as the AirBus contract.