Having a PlayStation 3 at home was quite common, especially among younger people. However, many were unaware that their gaming console held considerable value for the military in various countries.
For example, the PlayStation 2 was so advanced that the Japanese government worried it could be repurposed as a weapon. The PlayStation 3, being even more powerful, was also utilized by the U.S. military for defense applications.
The US bought 1760 PlayStation3 to build a supercomputer
To grasp this story, we need to revisit 14 years ago when the U.S. government approved the purchase of over 1,000 PlayStation 3 consoles—not for gaming, but to build a supercomputer.
Combining 1,000 of these consoles created what was known as the Condor Cluster, consisting of 1,760 Sony systems. This supercomputer was specifically designed to improve radar capabilities and process satellite images.
The choice of PlayStation 3 consoles was a strategic financial decision. Each console was purchased for about $400, totaling $2 million, whereas equivalent supercomputer technology would have cost around $10,000 per unit. This approach provided a substantial cost saving for the U.S. government.
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PlayStation Supercomputer
In 2010, the U.S. Air Force created a powerful supercomputer, called the "Condor Cluster," using 1,760 PlayStation 3 consoles. At that time, the Condor Cluster was ranked 33rd among the largest supercomputers in the world. By using PlayStation 3 consoles, the Air Force spent only about 5-10% of the cost of an equivalent system built with off-the-shelf computer parts. The supercomputer was used to analyze high-resolution satellite imagery.
The supercomputer also included 168 graphics processing units and 84 coordinating servers, allowing it to handle 500 billion operations per second and run Linux for a highly secure operating environment.
