NGGP: NextGen Garbage Pile (aka: No one reads the topics or stays on topic) *spawn*

Shouldn't we wait for more info since the Durango setup is somewhat unconventional ?

 

Hell no. This is the internet buddy. Pitch forks and fire sticks.

To be fair to the posters, the leaks seemed highly detailed and not some cryptic hints. I think hail or hate is valid.

 

Does it really matter? Its like Xbox 1.5 all over again. I assume Microsoft just decided that their scaling chip would be fine for resolution's sake instead of prioritizing 1080p gaming.

Personally, i care more about AA than resolution.

But again, i doubt that ESRAM is going to be enough for 1080p native anyway for the games these consoles are going to be rendering.

 

I don't think the two platforms will be as uneven as people are thinking they're going to be.

I say this mostly because I want to see near parity. It'll make marketing and PR much more interesting.

 

Don't slap me B3D community, but wouldn't you agree that the current rumors paint a similar console, in its design philosophy, to the one described in the Youkon leaked document (the one that hit the web last year) If that's the case, didn't the same document suggest using 2 GPUs

 

It just talks about one part in more details. Doesn't illustrate the bigger picture of how *all* the parts work together to deliver quality visuals and physics.

 

The docs mention low latency access quite a few times both in regards to the ESRAM and other parts of the cache/memory system. Seems like this was more of a priority than straight bandwidth. I have no idea what the implications of this are, but since you failed to mention it, I thought it was worth bringing up.

The lack of compute resources is definitely worrisome. A noticeable generational leap in the realism of the physics models in next gen games is at the top of my next-gen wish list and I don't see Durango having the resources available to bring this to fruition. And this could result in Orbis, even though it should be able to make a better account for itself in this area, seeing only tacked-on PhysX-style implementations in multiplatform titles if there's even any effort made at all.

 

Sure, but that was also 3 years ago, things change and things stay the same.

 

bkillian you are killing me. If there was an Xbox 4 I would hang high hopes on you returning as the director of the Xbox Division but, alas, there is no Xbox 4 (just Xbox Cloud).

Yes. A "glass half full person" would say so far what we have seen is 640 ALUs @ 1GHz (=Cape Verde = Durango's 768 @ 800MHz) and there is another 480 ALUs for the OS/QoS, much like Orbis 14+4 rumors.

The "glass half empty" person says, "There is no 2nd GPU."

The "whether the glass is half full or half empty, doesn't matter, because it is filled with piss either way" says, "Oh, there is still QoS, but it is coming out of your robust 12 CU bucket. But remember this kiddos: this is a big jump from what you have now and the architecture is far superior. What you get is way better than the Xbox 360. Don't look at the specs ("these are not the droids you are looking for") and ignore any rational talk about former budgets. The bottom line is look at the games. And they are in 4K resolution* (upscaled from 720p). The GPU is so awesome Kinect, physics, and GPGPU all run on the GPU too, as well as the dedicated SmartGlass display! All without significantly impacting GPU reserves because the ESRAM and secrete sauce make the Xbox 720sub-HD more efficient than any platform. Evar. So you see there was no need for moar."

 

Fully agree...32 MB if not my mystake is enough for 1080i... I have impression the "sauce" is something like upscaled to 1080p and 3D universe too.

 

You have zero idea how large these next generation machines are going to be. At the very least, they will be around the size of launch PS3's. Sony and MS are doing whatever they can within a respective thermal envelope. However, you can stick to your sensibilities while the rest of us enjoy the power afforded to exclusives which code to metal.

 

There's no second GPU and has never been one in any credible rumour besides the 2010 roadmap leak.

They were going for 6-8x the 360, Durango is at least that - enough said.

Wondering whether it has special sauce or extra GPUs etc to match PS4 is a misguided question since MS didn't know what Sony were going to do, and as bkilian suggests, they didn't care much about a disparity in relative power.

 

Microsoft's machine will have its advantage in pure RAM numbers. A fact even Sony has to come to terms with. Some of the best developers in the industry have been behind the birth of Orbis and Durango.

 

I want to ask you an honest question, publicly, but I really wonder if you will respond. What is your opinion on the differences between Orbis and Durango? Which do you prefer? Why? I understand your unwillingness to talk, but as far as I'm concerned, people deserve a drop in the pond from the best insider in the business .

 

Nope. I am talking about providing a pc like enviroment for enthusiast where the higher skus play the same game from the same disc as lower end skus at higher fidelity.

If you havent notice the proposed hardware is catered to smaller form factors like tablets and small laptops where passive cooling usually suffice.

 

The specs we've seen of the next Xbox definitely align with what MS would have released at the beginning of 2012. For consumers let's hope they refined them for a 2014 launch, if not then at least let's hope they set the price reasonable at $200-$250.

If not then it seems the PS4 has the upper hand on tech specs.

 

Neither Sony or Microsoft are going anywhere near the high end envelope this time and there's a reason for that, that reason being its unfeasibly from a heat, cost and budget perspective.

For sub 500$ machines(cause let's be honest neither one of these guys wants to price themselves out of the marketplace), what we will be getting is a pretty good deal, it could have been worse from a lot of perspectives.

You can argue between PS4 and 720's power as i said, but neither one of these machine's specs is anywhere near the Wii U, or their predecessors for that matter.

I'll take a stake on Durango releasing with a 349$ and 399 SKU at launch. For Sony, its anyone's guess.

Was it ever confirmed that Orbis had 4 extra CU's(i'm assuming included in the 1.8tflop number) for compute tasks? Or was that just a rumor?

 

But how much use is the RAM going to be if you only have the bandwidth to access 1-2GB a frame?

I think 3.5 GB of RAM is enough for games, someone was saying Skyrim, Crysis 2/3, Far Cry, Battlefield etc don't use any more than that.

 

What about rumour from edge that Sony is pushing for 8 gb ram with higher bw.

If Microsoft is actually releasing a pro sku in the future with better hardware, maybe sony caught wind and is trying to match their strategy. Even if ps4 comes out stronger, everyone will flock to microsoft if they release a more powerful sku that is twice as strong as the initial 720.

 

I've talked a particular developer, and said, the greatest single upgrade either machine can have, is in the RAM department.