[geeks] New SGI workstation

[Joshua D. Boyd]

On Thu, Jul 10, 2003 at 11:54:22AM -0500, Eric Dittman wrote:
> > > > > Another large (the largest, I think) consumer of MIPS CPUs is also migrating
> > > > > to a different architecture:  Sony.  The Playstation 3 is supposed to use a
> > > > > custom CPU.
> > > > 
> > > > Sony already uses custom CPUs.  They just licensed the MIPS core to use
> > > > in their custom CPUs.  As it is, in the PS2, most of the hard work is
> > > > done by the custom parts, not the MIPS part. 
> > > 
> > > Don't they get a small licensing fee for each CPU?
> > 
> > I don't know.  My point was that to say the PS3 is going to have a
> > custom CPU doesn't tell us much since it the PS2 and PSone both already
> > have custom CPUs.
> 
> My point was the disappearance of the MIPS architecture.  Even if Sony has
> custom CPUs, they are still MIPS architectures.  With the loss of the
> licensing fees (which I assume weren't one-time only), that's a loss of
> revenue for MIPS.

Ahh, tes, but when we say that the PS3 is a custom CPU, that doesn't
nescesarily imply that Sony is loosing licensing fees because it could
be yet another custom CPU based on a licensed MIPS core.  Unless you
know more than what you said in "The Playstation 3 is supposed to use a
custom CPU."