Memory
256 MiB of Rambus XDR attached to the Cell processor, carrying the PlayStation 2's Direct RDRAM strategy forward a generation.
provisional A figure marked provisional is recorded but not accepted: its evidence is unsettled. It may rely on one source, an unconfirmed announcement, or a digit read from a damaged scan. The reason appears under the figure. The catalog shows the figure but never uses it in a multiplier. How records are judged.
| Metric | Value | Evidence | Basis | Method | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memory capacity memory | 256 MiB | Confirmed | Vendor-rated | Design capacity Stated by the vendorMain memory attached to the Cell processor, in the console Sony launched. Both releases write "256MB", meaning 256 MiB. The RSX's 256 MiB is a separate pool, so the console's memory is never one figure of 512 MiB. A third Sony document states the same two capacities, and it is the first written for a buyer holding the machine rather than for the press: the specification table in the CECHA01 instruction manual. | |
| Memory bandwidth memory provisional | 25.6 GB/s | Confirmed | Vendor-rated | Theoretical peak Stated by the vendor, before the hardware shipped"System Bandwidth — Main RAM", per the announcement of May 2005. A bus figure from a pre-launch table, and one the launch specification does not repeat. The same table quotes the RSX's access to this memory separately, at 20 GB/s writing and 15 GB/s reading, so the processor is not the only claimant on the 25.6. Reviewed again against the instruction manual printed for the console that shipped (CECHA01, 2006): its specification table names the Cell and the RSX without a frequency for either and both memories without a transfer rate, so no post-launch Sony document corroborates this figure and it stays provisional. |
268 435 456 B
a + b + … sum v1 Adds 1 memory-capacity figure obtained by design-capacity. Left out: 256 MiB (the RSX’s own pool, which the processor cannot spend on its own work). A total is only as trustworthy as the decision about what belongs in it, so both the terms and the exclusions are named records.
25 600 000 000 B/s
a + b + … sum v1 Adds 1 memory-bandwidth figure obtained by theoretical-peak. Left out: 22.4 GB/s (the RSX’s own pool, reached by the processor only across a separate interface). A total is only as trustworthy as the decision about what belongs in it, so both the terms and the exclusions are named records.