PS3 doesn't use PPC architecture, as it uses the Cell CPU. It will be really interesting to see Xbox One and PS4 homebrew in the future since it's all x86, a lot of really interesting ports and optimizations are going to happen. They're not nearly as powerful as a half decent gaming PC but we're more likely to see Dreamcast and Gamecube emulation become a thing on those consoles than any other ones (although the child inside of me secretly hopes for GCN VC on Switch).
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Processing_Element
The Power Processing Unit (PPU) is a 64-bit dual threaded in-order Power Architecture microprocessorcore designed by IBM for use primarily in the game consoles PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but has also found applications in high performance computing in supercomputers such as the record setting IBM Roadrunner.
In most instances the PPU is joined by a 512 KB L2 cache to form what is called the Power Processing Element (PPE).
The PPU is used as a main CPU core in three different processor designs:
- The Cell Broadband Engine (Cell BE) which is used primarily in Sony's PlayStation 3 gaming console. It uses the PPE and comes in three versions, a 90 nm, a 65 nm and a 45 nm part.
"Power Architecture" is a broad term including all products based on newer POWER, PowerPC and Cellprocessors.
http://moss.csc.ncsu.edu/~mueller/cluster/ps3/SDK3.0/docs/accessibility/sdkpt/cbet_2ppe_insset.html
The PowerPC Processor Element (PPE) supports two instruction sets: the PowerPC instruction set and the Vector/SIMD Multimedia Extensioninstruction set.
Although most of the coding for the Cell Broadband Engine will be in a high-level language like C or C++, an understanding of the PPE architecture and instruction sets adds considerably to a developer’s ability to produce efficient, optimized code...
Last edited by spraydom22,