nvidia:rsx complete.

[mrdarko]

thanks to massiveattack over at gaf:

Highlights from the conference call:

- RSX design finished
- RSX production silicon ready to ship
- Waiting on Sony for delivery dates
- Has $1B in cash and is looking to acquire other companies

A couple of analysts asked about when PS3 royalties would start to show up but they refused to comment. General answer was: "It's Sony's product, not ours."

http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/060216/nvidia_earns.html?.v=4

all we need now are the spec's.

 

[ROG27]

Devs, just let the cat out of the bag already

 

[Avon_Implosion]

:0 this thread caught me completely off guard.

 

[Almasy]

It shouldn´t have taken NVidia this long if all RSX was was a 7800. This has to be something new, hopefully it´s based on G80.

 

[mozmo]

It shouldn´t have taken NVidia this long if all RSX was was a 7800. This has to be something new, hopefully it´s based on G80.

last time i checked nvidia doesn't have 90nm 7800's out there in the wild. So I'm assuming most of the work was moving the design to 90nm and also adding the flexio interface. With the small team they had, i'd say a lot of the 90nm design shrink was dependant on the work other engineers were doing for G71 which should be in the wild soon. There is a possibility it might have 32 pipes like G71 but somehow i don't think that will be the case due to cost/die size/yield and limited bandwidth the RSX already has.

 

[dukmahsik]

they've already said its based on 7800

 

[Nicked]

It shouldn´t have taken NVidia this long if all RSX was was a 7800. This has to be something new, hopefully it´s based on G80.

Its for a game console. 7800 is powerful and it costs should be in-line with the competition. Design tweaks/upgrades or not, its plenty. It would just be pissing away money and (IMO more importantly) time on Sony's behalf at this point. Not that I as a consumer would mind, but I just think its not really feasible.

Large time differential in Xenos:RSX design finalisation, wonder if that will translate to any difference in the end. Who knows, who knows...time as ever, will tell.

 

[Megadrive1988]

if RSX was based more on G80, it would certainly help future proof the PS3, a console that will be Sony's flagship for at least six years. however I don't expect RSX to be much more than a tweaked, slightly beefed up G70.

 

[SugarCoat]

last time i checked nvidia doesn't have 90nm 7800's out there in the wild. So I'm assuming most of the work was moving the design to 90nm and also adding the flexio interface. With the small team they had, i'd say a lot of the 90nm design shrink was dependant on the work other engineers were doing for G71 which should be in the wild soon. There is a possibility it might have 32 pipes like G71 but somehow i don't think that will be the case due to cost/die size/yield and limited bandwidth the RSX already has.

they didnt fit another 2 quads using less transistors then a G70. Not to mention the massive bandwidth they would need to power that. No sense.

Sony stated long ago the given transistor count would be ~300M and that it would be better then 2 6800U in SLI. That just about brings it in line to a 7800GTX of course at the higher core frequency of 550MHz. This isnt really new or exciting news.

 

[_xxx_]

if RSX was based more on G80, it would certainly help future proof the PS3, a console that will be Sony's flagship for at least six years. however I don't expect RSX to be much more than a tweaked, slightly beefed up G70.

Definitely. I don't get it why people can't let go off that "maybe it's like G80" shite.

Console chips MUST be cheap, that's a given. So don't expect much more over G70 in there.

 

[3roxor]

Definitely. I don't get it why people can't let go off that "maybe it's like G80" shite.

Console chips MUST be cheap, that's a given. So don't expect much more over G70 in there.

Cheap in what sense? I think console components must have good yields above all. I don't think that cheap and simple was the main goal when STI designed the Cell chip.. The G70 is Nvidia's most advanced Gpu right now and the reason there probably won't be a G80 in the Ps3 probably got more to do with time above else.

 

[hugo]

they didnt fit another 2 quads using less transistors then a G70. Not to mention the massive bandwidth they would need to power that. No sense.

Sony stated long ago the given transistor count would be ~300M and that it would be better then 2 6800U in SLI. That just about brings it in line to a 7800GTX of course at the higher core frequency of 550MHz. This isnt really new or exciting news.

They never said ~300M they said >300M.

With the current 11nm process,they could already fit >300M.I see no problem with somewhere near the 400M mark when they make 90nm transition.I would also expect it to consume less power as well.

 

[_xxx_]

Cheap in what sense? I think console components must have good yields above all. I don't think that cheap and simple was the main goal when STI designed the Cell chip.. The G70 is Nvidia's most advanced Gpu right now and the reason there probably won't be a G80 in the Ps3 probably got more to do with time above else.

Well, good yields make the part cheaper than bad yields, right?

It's got nothing to do with time, it would make the console much too expensive and noone wants to sell stuff with huge losses unless absolutely necessary (see M$ and XBox1, they sold it with a hefty loss just to gain ground in the market).

 

[Bliss]

It shouldn´t have taken NVidia this long if all RSX was was a 7800. This has to be something new, hopefully it´s based on G80.

My dear you can bet the RSX is something new, a lot different from a PC 7800, and a lot more advanced !!!

...now can't wait for all the details of the beautiful GPU !

 

[Bliss]

if RSX was based more on G80, it would certainly help future proof the PS3, a console that will be Sony's flagship for at least six years. however I don't expect RSX to be much more than a tweaked, slightly beefed up G70.

all this time for a tweaked, slightly beefed up G70 ???? are you kidding right ?

a PS3 equipped with a tweaked G70 would have been released at the same time X360 was released ! ...don't joke people....

 

[Nicked]

all this time for a tweaked, slightly beefed up G70 ???? are you kidding right ?

a PS3 equipped with a tweaked G70 would have been released at the same time X360 was released ! ...don't joke people....

Not really. Whilst a G70 is definitely ~ Xenos in both power and release timeframe, Sony needs a 90nm part with very good yields first and foremost for this console that'll be selling ~20M units a year. They also need time to get everything else sorted like BR+HDMI with the respective consortiums still bickering over finalising specifications, and all the other cutting-edge things they've included need to become cheaper and/or increase in yields (CELL/XDR etc.).
Expectations need to be reined in by most, although pessimism shouldn't overtake either.
Wait and see is the only correct option right now.

 

[Titanio]

a PS3 equipped with a tweaked G70 would have been released at the same time X360 was released ! ...don't joke people....

No it wouldn't, because it was not ready.

The only people joking are those expecting a completely off-the-wall G80 hybrid or something. The most logical expectation is for what Sony has announced - a G70 based chip for PS3.

 

[London Geezer]

Not really. Whilst a G70 is definitely ~ Xenos in both power and release timeframe, Sony needs a 90nm part with very good yields first and foremost for this console that'll be selling ~20M units a year. They also need time to get everything else sorted like BR+HDMI with the respective consortiums still bickering over finalising specifications, and all the other cutting-edge things they've included need to become cheaper and/or increase in yields (CELL/XDR etc.).
Expectations need to be reined in by most, although pessimism shouldn't overtake either.
Wait and see is the only correct option right now.

I'm pretty sure Bluray+HDMI are ok now, or soon enough, the big big problem these days is the ACSS issue.

 

[Nicked]

I'm pretty sure Bluray+HDMI are ok now, or soon enough, the big big problem these days is the ACSS issue.

Blu-ray still has BD-J stuff going on doesn't it? And HDMI 1.3 isn't ready yet (although its not vital).

 

[London Geezer]

Blu-ray still has BD-J stuff going on doesn't it? And HDMI 1.3 isn't ready yet (although its not vital).

What i meant is that the most pressing issue at the moment is ACSS. :smile: