The Playstation 3 has been used for other purposes other than gaming because of the potentially powerful Cell process. In fact, Folding@Home is a standard “feature” of the console. This is Stanford University’s project for researching cures for many types of diseases. Folding@Home uses the unused processing power of the PS3 to simulate protein folding.

The University of Massachusetts is now also beginning to harness the PS3 as a super computer. University researchers have released to the public an instruction guide on how to setup the PS3 as a supercomputer. This, the researchers hope, will be a be good low-cost alternative for more expensive supercomputing research.

Universities usually rent supercomputers at $1 per hour, with usage usually reaching 5,000 hours. But with this solution they can make their own supercomputer at the same cost.

Daisy chaining 8 PS3s sounds like a cool geek idea. This could become a secondary market for PS3s especially since it’s lagging at third place in sales.

Share and Enjoy

  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • TwitThis

Related posts:

Move Over Earth Simulator: It’s Time for Uncle Sam to Fight Back
What did Online Access cost (per hour) in 1995?
Scientists Develop Artificial Throat
Virginia Tech cluster awaits Xserve G5s
Foldit: Gaming A Way To A Cure For AIDS And Cancer

Hope you like that post!

Forever Geek is a resource for all things geek. You can stay tuned by having the latest FG news delivered to you for free via RSS.