Next Generation Hardware Speculation with a Technical Spin [pre E3 2019]

Well... The diagram is simplified in the CU part where I believe that the Super SIMD patent is going to be applied. The result could be a Volta/Turing like CU where the ALUs could be used in traditional way or as tensor cores.

 

I believe most feel that Super SIMD is post GCN. Why do you think it will be incorporated?

 

1TB SSD prices fall over 50% since 2018

 

You have hints like this
https://forum.beyond3d.com/posts/2057325/
I mean, its design was finished at the end of 2017.Would be silly for them to sit on it for more time when they are so back in the competition.
Otherwise another GCN gen would leave RTG in a very troublesome position.

 

Great find. Thank you very much. He’s also on the variable wavefront sizing patent. Not on the micropolygon rasterizer patent, but it was submitted in the same timeframe.

Edit: one of the authors of the micropolygon patent also mentions low power stream processor development on his LinkedIn.

 

I am liking the abundant amount of cakes in that diagram.

 

It boils down to pricing, and how well the release strategy plays out.

a) Release a 8TF/16GB system at $199... set the console space on fire. Guaranteed success!
b) Release a 8TF/16GB system at $299... the price-performance-value makes it a very attractive next-generation product. High probability for success.
c) Release a 8TF/16GB system at $399... the price-performance-value is still there, however, the web-noise of Xbox One X being close in performance will echo more at that price point, and drown-out most of the perceived value.
d) Release a 8TF/16GB system at $499... DOA. Internet explodes!!!!

I don't see 'a' or 'b' happening, however, I see the 'c' strategy being more likely (If the 8TF rumor is true).

IMHO, it would be in Sony's best interests as the current generation leader (towards carrying over its current user base to PS5), is to either aim for the 'b' release strategy and except a BoM hit (-$100) on $400 worth of hardware. Or scale up PS5s hardware (10-12TF) and still except a certain amount of BoM losses ($100-$200) on $600 dollars worth of hardware.

FYI: Previous PlayStation BoM losses at launch...
PS1: $80-$100
PS2: $180
PS3: $195-$205
PS4: None (profiting $20-$22)

 

Loses were there but also die shrinks around the corner. If 5nm will be avialable in 2021 someone might be brave enough for little hardware subsidy .

 

Prices come down even without a die shrink. In fact die shrinks seem to make prices go up these days

 

10 teraflops (minimum) are sure IMHO... Just for marketing... probably for Sony even 8.4 (pro doubling) would be enough... I still think will see a 199 ps4-pro@7nm and a 399 ps5 (1 tera ssd, 18 gb)... Bandwidth of ps5 must double the one of ps4-pro...

 

About the 8TF rumor
When was the last time that a console was announced and respected the wetdreams on this forum?

 

This isn't the thread "how to market a next-gen console".

 

All according to cake-aku.

 

Depends if we skim off the outliers, like the triple stack SoC and dGPU crazies... I would say 2013 with the 8GB gddr5 announcement in a 399 console.

Most also predicted 2TF so that 1.84 was pretty close.

Should we do a poll to get some average predictions?

 

There was a whole range of crack pipe dreams but I do remember quite clearly that up until the announcement, PS4 was by most accounts expected to be a 4GB RAM kind of deal, so the 8GB was a very nice surprise.

 

CAKE means Coherent AMD socKet Extender.

And well... I decided to make an speculation in form of diagram of the Super-SIMD unit. I am sure that is wrong but this is what I understood reading the last patents.

 

I'm confused by your reference to the Side ALU being able to be combined with the Side ALU.

 

(Core Alu+Side ALU)+Side ALU=Full ALU+Side ALU.

In other words, physically you have 2 Side ALUs+1 Core ALU but 1 Side ALU+Core Core ALU runs as a "Full" ALU.

 

OK. So let me try to wrap my head around this. Depending on the instruction you could get execution on the Core ALU, The Core ALU + the associated Side ALU, the associated Side ALU, or the associated Side ALU + the independant Side ALU? Can you execute on all three simultaneously?

 

I don't see the goblins in that diagram...