http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/editorial/display/ces2005.html
Count the number of times "Next Generation GPU" is mentioned!
Count the number of times "Next Generation GPU" is mentioned!
NVIDIA Sony Graphics Interview
- Thread starter Dave Baumann
- Start date
Wonder how customized that thing will really be. If they merely replaced the PCIe interface with a redwood interconnect it won't be particulary "custom" at all...
Still, I expect at least a buncha eDRAM on the die, 8 external memory chips seem a bit over the top cost-wise for a console, but then again, it COULD at least in theory be an UMA design that draws in main RAM instead... Redwood scales to 100+ GB/s, as does XDR memory.
Still, I expect at least a buncha eDRAM on the die, 8 external memory chips seem a bit over the top cost-wise for a console, but then again, it COULD at least in theory be an UMA design that draws in main RAM instead... Redwood scales to 100+ GB/s, as does XDR memory.
So does this mean that the GPU will not be cell based? And to make things simple for me, The XB2 will have a powerful multi core CPU linked to ATI next gneration of GPU and PS3 will have Cell PU linked to Nvidia's next gen GPU. Sorry if I'm talking complete rubbish here but they look very similar to me.
Pugger said:
The GPU was confirmed not to be "cell based", but that the GPU would be "sharing technilogies from NVIDIA and Sony". Whatever the difference is...
What are you basing your thinking on? There really has been less info and rumours on xbox2 than on PS3, so it really is hard for me to predict such.cybamerc said:
It's just a feeling really. If you look at the leaked Xbox 2 specs and hold it up against the fact that only 50 Nvidia engineers are working on the PS3 GPU (vs. 200 for Xbox) and just the tone in Nvidia PR so far. They're obviously very excited about their next-gen part in general and pleased to be in PS3 but they seem to sort of play down the work that is being done on the PS3 part in particular.
hmmm... they do talk a lot of their next gen GPU, but not much (if at all) about the customistationds for PS3, but just because ATI and MS aren't talking anything doesn't make me think they would be doing more customisations to their GPU for MS.
I think something that would contribute to those feelings is the timescales they appear to be operating on - we know that ATI and MS have been working on this for a good amount of time now, enough to make significant changes to a current architecture or even a whole graphics archtecture; for NV/Sony the announcement time, talk of last minute changes in vendors, and apparent devlopment timescales and resource seem to indicate that there is fewer changes from their equivelent PC development.
They don't give away anything we don't already know 
That's true, in Sony case the GPU seems to be slaved to Cell, like how we first thought of it. It still seems to be an afterthought to the whole system. Cell still seems to be the main thing. This is in contrast to Xenon, where the CPU and GPU are worked out from the beginning. It'll be more interesting when everything is laid out on the table, just a few more months now
The GPU will be paired with Cell, so it'll become part of Cell. One thing about Cell is integration after all.
That's true, in Sony case the GPU seems to be slaved to Cell, like how we first thought of it. It still seems to be an afterthought to the whole system. Cell still seems to be the main thing. This is in contrast to Xenon, where the CPU and GPU are worked out from the beginning. It'll be more interesting when everything is laid out on the table, just a few more months now
The GPU will be paired with Cell, so it'll become part of Cell. One thing about Cell is integration after all.
Ati and MS collaboration was first confirmed Summer (June?) 2003.
I'm not sure, but I have a feeling that that deal was guite fresh then, and that Ati had not started actual design for xb2 chip(s) yet then (just a "feeling", correct me if I'm wrong on this).
nVidia and PS3 collaboration was confirmed sometime November-December 2004, and they confirmed they'd been working on it for 18 months already, making the project start day sometime....... SUMMER 2003 ! !
Now, this gives me a feeling that MS had originally planned to continue working with nVidia for xb2 (that would've made sense for MS, wouldn't it), but nVidia had already got a better deal (or even already agreed on one) with Sony. So MS went to the other option, ATi, who would be able to make them a customised next gen Ati chip for xbox, while ATi would also be working with Nintendo, making a chip for them too.
Now will the Nintendo GPU be a "customisation job" or a more cleaner design? Will Ati have enough resources to make two clean shet designs and a new PC GPU generation?
I'm not sure, but I have a feeling that that deal was guite fresh then, and that Ati had not started actual design for xb2 chip(s) yet then (just a "feeling", correct me if I'm wrong on this).
nVidia and PS3 collaboration was confirmed sometime November-December 2004, and they confirmed they'd been working on it for 18 months already, making the project start day sometime....... SUMMER 2003 !
!Now, this gives me a feeling that MS had originally planned to continue working with nVidia for xb2 (that would've made sense for MS, wouldn't it), but nVidia had already got a better deal (or even already agreed on one) with Sony. So MS went to the other option, ATi, who would be able to make them a customised next gen Ati chip for xbox, while ATi would also be working with Nintendo, making a chip for them too.
Now will the Nintendo GPU be a "customisation job" or a more cleaner design? Will Ati have enough resources to make two clean shet designs and a new PC GPU generation?
cybamerc said:
Those 200 engineers for the Xbox development in nVidia contained whole chipset and communication chip designers, or basically whole design of the Xbox hardware itself, except for respective parts such as CPU and HDD. In the PS3, it suggests it's limited to 3D graphics side of things.
Also, nVIDIA has no initiative for the PS3 PR... how can they break a striking news only by themselves?
i posted here back in october 2003 about the xenon that it would have a triple core powercpu , flashdrive and ATI grafix . it was deleted or locked i don't know , but anyway the person who leaked me that info back in the day told me they where working on it since before E3 2003.
last thing i heard of him that MS is trying to go with backwards compatibilty.
anywho anyhow...
last thing i heard of him that MS is trying to go with backwards compatibilty.
anywho anyhow...
rabidrabbit said:
ATI were hiring staff for "XBox projects" sometime before the announcement. They were already working on the part before the annoucment.
nVidia and PS3 collaboration was confirmed sometime November-December 2004, and they confirmed they'd been working on it for 18 months already, making the project start day sometime....... SUMMER 2003 !
IMO this is just as likely to be the 18 months of work they say they have already put into the "next generation GPU" and some high level discussions that have been going on for a long time - this seems to be born out of the talk of an alternative graphics vendor until recently. Tim Sweeneys obvious relief over the NV deal also suggested that devs weren't aware until the announcement, and even had somthing else in mind.
Presently we don't know what Revolution will be based on, but with Orton's talks of "unifying" their R&D / Engineering centers, then the primary archtectural basis is unlikely to be significantly different from what they a presently designing or have already designed. ATI's architectural platform for Xenon is not entirely clean sheet; this was one of the reasons why R400 didn't make it to the PC in its initial form. Xenon is more than likely going to be a development of that architecture.
The answers you are looking for are: "Who the hell knows?" and "We'll find out within a year's time--if we're lucky!"
