MS designing their own CPU and GPU for Xbox2?

[Vince]

Do you know why MS decided to go with Nvidia's chipset (XGPU and XMCP) rather with the in-house CageEnt design? And is it possible, now that MS seems to have been burnt with its dealings with Nvidia, that MS will decide to use the in-house design team to design the Xbox2 chipset?

Exactly as Mega stated: nVidia has the patent portfolio, the IP, the research and design talent to pull it off - MS does not.

While anything is possible, the idea that Microsoft could design an inhouse contemporary 3D processor that could rival or exceed that of nVidia is sheer insanity.

 

[Paul]

It would be too late for Msoft to develop something that would rival what PS3 is going to bring to the table anyway.

 

[bbot]

Vince,

If you've heard that recording of Nvidia CEO, JenHsun, he sure sounded uncertain whether his company could design a chipset to rival the one in PS3. He even referred to PS3 as a "miracle machine".

 

[zidane1strife]

It would be too late for Msoft to develop something that would rival what PS3 is going to bring to the table anyway.

I think so to... right now a delay seems all but innevitable, unless ms will settle for not having the top specs(something the big N certainly WON'T do.).

 

[Sonic]

Paul, think about this for a minute. You're making an assumption that you have very little evidence to support. I'll call what you say a hypothesis that has little bearing in the world of reality. MS can come up with something more powerful than PS3, it's not impossible, it all depends on how much money they're willing to throw out. Posts like yours make Teasy's look sensible.

 

[megadrive0088]

"It would be too late for Msoft to develop something that would rival what PS3 is going to bring to the table anyway."

sorry, but this has no basis in fact or reality.

 

[Paul]

It would be too late for Microsoft to develop something that would beat the PS3 by the time PS3 is released.

Are you guys honestly going to tell me that Msoft can make a better graphics card than Nvidia or ATI? Even Nvidia doubts they can best the PS3 by the time it's released.

PS3 has been in development for YEARS, no way in hell Msoft could start tomorow and make something better.

 

[Sonic]

And who said MS is going to start tommorow? They could have started months ago when the shit hit the wall about them designing their own CPU or GPU, it was a rumor from a while ago. They could have started months ago or even a year ago. And you're right on one thing, chances are if they started tommorow then they probably wouldn't be able to beat PS3. But on the flipside, if they spent enough money I'm sure they could.

 

[Paul]

They aren't going to waste anything building their own custom GPU or CPU.

They are going to go with a tweaked version of ATI or Nvidia's latest. They didn't start anything months ago.. that's why they are looking into ATI now.

 

[Paul]

It's going to be HARD for Msoft or Nintendo to get their systems out at just about the same time as PS3 and make their systems more powerfull.

Xbox was more powerfull than PS2 because PS2 came out way the hell before Xbox.

This time.. Nintendo And Msoft know that letting Sony get a head start will be the end of their chances in winning the war. I expect all the systems to be released within a week or a month or two of each other.

 

[Sonic]

You're right, no need for a personal attack. I guess I got carried away, sorry about that. But still, you shouldn't assume all this and be closed minded.

 

[Paul]

No need for personal attacks, not needed.

 

[bbot]

I find it strange that the CEO of Nvidia say things that indicate that MS hasn't contracted them to design the chipset for Xbox2. If MS expect to release Xbox2 in 2 years (2005) then they should've started by now.

 

[randycat99]

Paul, think about this for a minute. You're making an assumption that you have very little evidence to support...MS can come up with something more powerful than PS3, it's not impossible, it all depends on how much money they're willing to throw out.

I'd have to agree with Paul on this one. Sure there is very little evidence to support, either way. Realistically, why would a hardware "newbie" like MS suddenly be able to whip up a "better" CPU than Intel/AMD and a "better" GPU than nVidia/ATI in a mere 2 years? That is a tall, tall order no matter how you look at it. Otherwise we would be seeing companies such as Intel/AMD/nVidia/ATI being "rolled over" as a matter of routine. They are on top of the game and stay there because they have a great deal of intellectual expertise on the subject. This is not one of those things that you can just throw money at to make happen, as 2 years (even 3) is just a paltry amount of time to "re-invent" hardware. I imagine something like this gets put into action today to be used in Xbox 3.

 

[Sonic]

Good point randy, but MS doesn't neccessarily have to design the CPU or GPU. Outsourcing is always a great thing, and when it comes down to it, MS can pretty much seal the deal.

But I really don't think MS or Nintendo will have something as powerful or more powerful than PS3 once it becomes released. Sony's got something powerful a brewing and it's not really their own design. I have this sort of faith in IBM that I have in few other companies, call me weird, but IBM is my friend.

 

[Panajev2001a]

I think that given the time, the RESOURCES and a good logic design team ( partnerign with someone like Intel who knows how to design high performing logic circuits ) the CagEnt guys ( if the lead designers are still there ) COULD design a high-performance GPU...

 

[randycat99]

Good point randy, but MS doesn't neccessarily have to design the CPU or GPU. Outsourcing is always a great thing, and when it comes down to it, MS can pretty much seal the deal.

Yeah, outsourcing seems like the only way they could come out ahead with the "custom" approach, but that assumes there is some vendor out there that actually has a better architecture to offer than Intel/AMD/nVidia/ATI. If there is, then why didn't they use them for Xbox 1? I just don't see who that could be, but I could be wrong. Frankly, I don't see how anyone could come out with something custom in 2/3 years that would beat Intel/AMD/nVidia/ATI in their own game by a large margin to make it worthwhile.

 

[PC-Engine]

M$ can throw a load of cash to the PowerVR guys is one option. They're very talented but their resources are pretty limited. Just like how AMD are very talented but just don't have the same amount of resources as Intel.

 

[bbot]

Found the original The Inquirer article:

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=2864


RFW for a dx9/dx10 microcode engine? Does sound like ia-32 code to me. Can't possibly be backwards compatiblle with XBox.

 

[JF_Aidan_Pryde]

It's going to be very hard for MS to maintain backward compatibility if they go down the 64bit CPU path or/and chose PowerVR. From what I heard, there are inherent problems with TBR and DX9 that prevents it from getting full WHQL certification. Unless they somehow get Intel and NV together and shrink the CPU/GPU into one.