CELL BE

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Cell Broadband Engine
CPU with heatplate
CXD2992AGB

Cell Broadband Engine 65nm
CXD2981AGB without IHS

IBM markings in CXD2992AGB die

Cell Broadband Engine

The Cell CPU has one 3.2Ghz PPE (Power Processor Element) with two threads and eight 3.2Ghz SPE (Synergistic Processing Elements).

The PPE is a general purpose CPU, while the eight SPE are geared towards processing data in parallel. One SPE is disabled to increase yield, so the PS3 can have at most 9 threads running at the same time (2 from PPE and 7 from SPE). Note that one SPE is reserved for the hypervisor, so PS3 programs can take advantage of 8 threads. Both the PPE and SPE of the Cell are 64 bit, and manipulate data in Big Endian.

Specifications

  • 1 PPE (Power Processor Element)
    • 3.2Ghz
    • 64 bit, Big Endian
    • 2 threads (can run at same time)
    • L1 cache: 32kB data + 32kB instruction
    • L2 cache: 512kB
    • Memory bus width: 64bit (serial)
    • VMX (Altivec) instruction set support
    • Full IEEE-754 compliant
    • the PPU can execute two double precision or eight single precision operations per clockcycle
  • 8 SPE (Synergistic Processing Element)
    • 3.2Ghz
    • 64 bit, Big Endian
    • 1 SPE disabled to improve chip yield (see: Unlocking the 8th SPE)
    • 1 SPE dedicated for hypervisor security
    • 256KB local store per SPE
    • 128 registers per SPE
    • Dual Issue (Each SPE can execute 2 instructions per clock)
    • IEEE-754 compliant in double precision (single precision round-towards-zero instead of round-towards-even)

There is a lot of info about CELL/BE on the Cell Programming IBM page.

Die explained

ABBR Usage Speed Notes
BEI Broadband engine interface 1.6GHz (NCLK/2) I/O Controller to FlexIO(/RSX)
EIB Element interconnect bus 1.6GHz (NCLK/2) used as communication ring for the 8 SPE (and PPU + MIC + BEI)
FlexIO High-speed I/O interface 2.5Ghz (RC_REFCLK : 500MHz 1:5 PLL) Flex I/O to RSX
L2 Level 2 cache 3.2GHz (NCLK) 512KB L2 cache for PPE
MIC Memory interface controller 1.6GHz (NCLK/2) Memory controller to XIO(/Rambus XDR)
MBL MIC bus logic 1.6GHz (NCLK/2) From MIC(/PPE) to EIB(/SPE's)
PPE Power processor element 3.2GHz (NCLK) Main dualthreaded CPU
SPE Synergistic processor element 3.2GHz/1.6GHz 8 present, 1 disabled from factory
XIO Extreme data rate I/O cell 1.6GHz (Y0_RQ_CTM/Y1_RQ_CTM : 400MHz 1:4 PLL) Rambus XDR Interface
TEST Test control unit (TCU) / pervasive logic (PRV) Used for power management, thermal management, clock control, software-performance monitoring, trace analysis, preboot (and secureboot?),
also has RAS-unit (Reliability, Availability, Serviceability), JTAG (IEEE 1149 test access port) and SPI Serial Peripheral Interface
PLL Phase-Locked Loop 400MHz Before preboot external clock (400MHz) is used (see Timebases)
afterwards only internal PLL (PLL_REFCLK : 400MHz 1:8 PLL) for main clocks: NCLK=3.2GHz, NCLK/2=1.6GHz, MiClk=1.6GHz, XIO Clk=1.6GHz, BClk=1.667GHz, RO/TO Clk=2.5GHz

SPE

ABBR Usage Speed Notes
BIU Bus interface unit 1.6GHz (NCLK/2) connects DMAC+EIB and LS+EIB
DMAC Direct memory access controller 1.6GHz (NCLK/2) controls DMA, SPU+LS and BIU(/EIB)
EIB Element interconnect bus 1.6GHz (NCLK/2) busring to which all SPE's are connected (and PPU + MIC + BEI)
LS Local store 3.2GHz (NCLK) 256KB of local memory, accessable via DMA/MBOX
MFC Memory flow controller 1.6GHz (NCLK/2)
MIC Memory interface controller 1.6GHz (NCLK/2) Memory controller to XIO(/Rambus XDR)
MMIO Memory-mapped I/O 1.6GHz (NCLK/2)
MMU Memory management unit 1.6GHz (NCLK/2) used by DMAC for management
SPU Synergistic processor unit 3.2GHz (NCLK) SPU execution unit
TLB Translation lookaside buffer 1.6GHz (NCLK/2) used by MMU as buffer

Reference: http://hpc.pnl.gov/people/fabrizio/papers/ieeemicro-cell.pdf // backup/mirror: ieeemicro-cell.pdf (222.51 KB)

Bandwidth I/O

CellBE bandwidth
  • MIC (Memory Interface Controller) <from/to> dual Rambus XDR: 25.6GB/s theoretical
  • IOIF0 (I/O Interface to RSX): 20GB/s to> RSX / 15 GB/s < RSX (RSX <from/to> GDDR3: 20.8GB/s @ 650MHz)
  • IOIF1 (I/O Interface to Southbridge): <from/to> South Bridge : 2.5GB/s
  • EIB (Element Interconnect Bus) : 4x 128bit buses / 128byte packets : 204.8 GB/s total
  • PPU (PowerPC Processing Element) : 25.6 GLOP/s FPU, L1/L2: 51.2GB/s
  • LHS (Load Hit Store) pipeline stall : ~40 clockcycles
  • SPE (Synergistic Processor Elements) : 2 IPC SPU to Local Store : 51.2GB/s

Reference: Cell Broadband Engine Architecture and its first implementation - A performance view

Serial Numbers @ SKU

Note: All Cell BE packages measures 42.5mm × 42.5mm

The Cell BE was introduced at 90nm. Later, PS3 model numbers starting with CECHG uses the 65nm version, while the PS3 Slim (CECH-20xx) used the 45nm version (See SKU Models and table below).

A sampling of the serial numbers by model number:

PS3 Model Mobo Model Mobo serial CELL Serial Die Tech Total Die Size Width x Length SPU size PPE Size Remark
CECHAxx COK-001 - CXD2964GB 90nm 235.48mm² 19.17mm x 12.29mm 14.76mm² 28.86mm² edepot ps3secrets
CECHAxx COK-001 1-871-868-12 CXD2964AGB 90nm 235.48mm² 19.17mm x 12.29mm 14.76mm² 28.86mm² reballing.es
CECHAxx COK-001 1-871-868-22 CXD2964GB 90nm 235.48mm² 19.17mm x 12.29mm 14.76mm² 28.86mm² reballing.es
CECHAxx COK-001 1-871-868-32 CXD2964GB 90nm 235.48mm² 19.17mm x 12.29mm 14.76mm² 28.86mm² reballing.es
CECHBxx COK-001 - CXD2964GB 90nm 235.48mm² 19.17mm x 12.29mm 14.76mm² 28.86mm² edepot ps3secrets
CECHBxx COK-001 1-871-868-22 CXD2964GB 90nm 235.48mm² 19.17mm x 12.29mm 14.76mm² 28.86mm² reballing.es
CECHBxx COK-001 1-871-868-32 CXD2964GB 90nm 235.48mm² 19.17mm x 12.29mm 14.76mm² 28.86mm² reballing.es
CECHCxx COK-002 1-873-513-21
1-873-513-31
CXD2964GB 90nm 235.48mm² 19.17mm x 12.29mm 14.76mm² 28.86mm² edepot ps3secrets
CECHExx COK-002W - CXD29?? 90nm 235.48mm² 19.17mm x 12.29mm 14.76mm² 28.86mm² edepot ps3secrets
CECHExx COK-002W 1-873-513-21 CXD2964GB 90nm 235.48mm² 19.17mm x 12.29mm 14.76mm² 28.86mm² reballing.es
CECHExx COK-002W 1-873-513-21 CXD2964AGB 90nm 235.48mm² 19.17mm x 12.29mm 14.76mm² 28.86mm² reballing.es
CECHExx COK-002W 1-873-513-31 CXD2964AGB 90nm 235.48mm² 19.17mm x 12.29mm 14.76mm² 28.86mm² reballing.es
CECHExx COK-002W 1-873-513-31 CXD2964GB 90nm 235.48mm² 19.17mm x 12.29mm 14.76mm² 28.86mm² reballing.es
CECHGxx SEM-001 1-875-384-11
1-875-384-21
1-875-384-31
CXD2981AGB 65nm 174.61mm² 15.59mm x 11.20mm 11.08mm² 19.60mm² edepot ps3secrets
CECHHxx DIA-001 1-875-368-11
1-875-368-31
CXD2981GB 65nm 174.61mm² 15.59mm x 11.20mm 11.08mm² 19.60mm² edepot ps3secrets
CECHHxx DIA-001 1-875-938-11 CXD2981AGB 65nm 174.61mm² 15.59mm x 11.20mm 11.08mm² 19.60mm² reballing.es
CECHHxx DIA-001 1-875-938-31 CXD2981AGB 65nm 174.61mm² 15.59mm x 11.20mm 11.08mm² 19.60mm² reballing.es
CECHJxx DIA-002 1-876-912-31 CXD2989GB 65nm 174.61mm² 15.59mm x 11.20mm 11.08mm² 19.60mm² edepot ps3secrets
CECHKxx DIA-002 1-876-912-32 CXD2989AGB 65nm 174.61mm² 15.59mm x 11.20mm 11.08mm² 19.60mm² edepot ps3secrets
CECHKxx DIA-002 1-876-912-32 CXD2990GB 65nm 174.61mm² 15.59mm x 11.20mm 11.08mm² 19.60mm²
CECHLxx VER-001 - CXD2990AGB 65nm 174.61mm² 15.59mm x 11.20mm 11.08mm² 19.60mm² edepot ps3secrets
CECHLxx VER-001 1-878-196-31 CXD2990GB 65nm 174.61mm² 15.59mm x 11.20mm 11.08mm² 19.60mm² reballing.es
CECHMxx VER-001 ?1-878-196-41? -? 65nm 174.61mm² 15.59mm x 11.20mm 11.08mm² 19.60mm² -?
CECHPxx VER-001 ?1-878-196-41? -? 65nm 174.61mm² 15.59mm x 11.20mm 11.08mm² 19.60mm² -?
CECHQxx VER-001 ?1-878-196-41? CXD299? 65nm 174.61mm² 15.59mm x 11.20mm 11.08mm² 19.60mm² edepot ps3secrets
CECH-20xx DYN-001 - CXD2992AGB 45nm 115.46mm² 12.75mm x 9.06mm 6.47mm² 11.32mm² edepot ps3secrets
CECH-20xx DYN-001 1-880-055-31 CXD2992AGB 45nm 115.46mm² 12.75mm x 9.06mm 6.47mm² 11.32mm² reballing.es
CECH-21xx SUR-001 - CXD2992AGB 45nm 115.46mm² 12.75mm x 9.06mm 6.47mm² 11.32mm² edepot ps3secrets
CECH-21xx SUR-001 1-881-945-11 CXD2992AGB 45nm 115.46mm² 12.75mm x 9.06mm 6.47mm² 11.32mm² reballing.es
CECH-25xx JTP-001 1-882-481-21 CXD2992GB 45nm 115.46mm² 12.75mm x 9.06mm 6.47mm² 11.32mm²
CECH-25xx JTP-001 1-882-481-31 CXD2992GB 45nm 115.46mm² 12.75mm x 9.06mm 6.47mm² 11.32mm² edepot ps3secrets
CECH-25xx JSD-001 1-882-770-11 CXD2992BGB 45nm 115.46mm² 12.75mm x 9.06mm 6.47mm² 11.32mm²
CECH-25xx JSD-001 1-882-770-21 CXD2992GB 45nm 115.46mm² 12.75mm x 9.06mm 6.47mm² 11.32mm²
CECH-30xx KTE-001 1-884-749-11 CXD2996GB? 45nm? 115.46mm²? 12.75mm x 9.06mm? 6.47mm²? 11.32mm²? -?
CECH-30xx KTE-001 1-884-749-31 CXD2996GB 45nm 115.46mm² 12.75mm x 9.06mm 6.47mm² 11.32mm²
CECH-40xx MSX-001 1-886-928-11 CXD2996BGB 45nm? 115.46mm²? 12.75mm x 9.06mm? 6.47mm²? 11.32mm²? techrepublic
CECH-40xx MPX-001 1-887-233-11 CXD2996BGB 45nm? 115.46mm²? 12.75mm x 9.06mm? 6.47mm²? 11.32mm²? -?
? NPX-001 ? ? 45nm? 115.46mm²? 12.75mm x 9.06mm? 6.47mm²? 11.32mm²? -?
? PPX-001 ? ? ?nm (smaller ?) ?mm² ?mm x ?mm ?mm² ?mm²
CECH-42xx PQX-001 1-888-629-22 CXD2999AGG ?nm (smaller ?) ?mm² ?mm x ?mm ?mm² ?mm² mobile01_tw
? RTX-001 ? ? ?nm (smaller ?) ?mm² ?mm x ?mm ?mm² ?mm²
? REX-001 ? ? ?nm (smaller ?) ?mm² ?mm x ?mm ?mm² ?mm²

Alternative listing


PVR (powerpc version register)

The PVR inside the microprocessor is the only way to identify what version of what part you have.

cat /proc/cpuinfo

or

  unsigned int pvr;
  __asm__ __volatile__ ("mfpvr %0" : "=r" (pvr));

code above should work in kernel & user mode.

CellBE serial die tech PVR Notes
CXD2964AGB 90nm
CXD2964GB 90nm
CXD2981AGB 65nm
CXD2981GB 65nm
CXD2989AGB 65nm
CXD2989GB 65nm
CXD2990AGB 65nm
CXD2990GB 65nm
CXD2992AGB 45nm
CXD2992GB 45nm
CXD2996GB 45nm
CXD2999AGG

Cell Revisions

Low word of BP_VR Revision Name
0x0000 0x010 90 nm DD 1.0
0x0001 0x011 90 nm DD 1.1
0x0002 0x012 90 nm DD 1.2
0x0100 0x020 90 nm DD 2.0
0x0200 0x030 90 nm DD 3.0
0x0201 0x031 90 nm DD 3.1
0x0202 0x032 90 nm DD 3.2
0x1000 0x110 65 nm DD 1.0
0x2000 0x210 45 nm DD 1.0
0x2100 0x220 45 nm DD 2.0
CellBE Version PVR Speed SKU
Cell/BE v1.0 0x0070 0x0100 2.4GHz CEB-1020
Cell/BE v2.0 0x0070 0x0400 2.4GHz CEB-2030, CEB-2040
Cell/BE v3.0 0x0070 0x0500 3.2GHz CEB-2050
Cell/BE v3.1 0x0070 0x0501 3.2GHz CEB-9000
Cell/BE v3.2 0x0070 0x0501 3.2GHz
???? 0x0070 0x2100

Unsorted

Cell Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS) WARNING

Starting with PS3 Slim models CECH-25xx some of the CELL Integrated Heat Spreaders are secured to the CELL processor die with thermal adhesive. Cell processor models with a thinner substrate and black plastic spacer in between the IHS and the substrate may be glued. Removing an IHS that is glued to the Cell will destroy the Cell CPU.

Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS) removed pic's

IHS size and mounting

on a COK-001 the CPU heatspreader is 4.00cm x 4.00cm while the RSX heatspreader is 4.25cm x 4.25 cm - CPU and RSX mountholes are 8.75cm apart and 6.3mm diameter

although a PC cooler should fit within these dimensions fine, mounting the 2 (which are also elevated differently from the motherboard) can be problematic

IHSBuster tool