Hey, I just wanted to get people thinking about the advantages the Rev hardware could have to offset the seemingly disappointing specs.
First off, we know that the Broadway CPU is compatible with Gekko code, but that doesn't mean it has the same architecture. It is entirely possible for the Broadway to be based of a more recent IBM chip with much more comprehensive Out of Order Execution. Compared to the In-Order chips of the competitors, this could help even the gap. I believe it was Carmack that said that your average code on the new inorder processors runs half the speed compared to a similarly clocked chip with all the bells and whistles like OoOE.
Secondly, there is the matter of 1T-SRAM. Even assuming that the Rev ram has the same performance characteristics as the Gamecube's, the Rev's main ram would have the SAME sustained latency as the PS3 Cell's L2 Cache, and more than 4 times better than its main ram! See the revent Sony GDC information for evidence of this: 32 cycles @ 3.2ghz = 10ns = latency of GC's main ram. This would make the Broadway, just as the Gekko before it, perform much closer to its peak and make cache misses and random access penalties not very significant.
Thirdly, consider that not every developer on the other two consoles is going to be able to use multithreading very effectively, especially on the CELL where they could just ignore the SPE's.
Finally, we know that the Hollywood GPU is modestly clocked, but does that mean a huge graphics gulf? For one thing it has only 1/3 or nearly 1/7 of the pixels to process at 480p, compared to 720p and 1080p rendering respectively. For another, we don't know anything about architecture of the chip, short of that it is similar to the Flipper's and not like any PC chip. It could perform really well at that clock rate with a lot of TEV pipelines.
This is not intended as Damage Control, btw, and I'm not saying that the Rev could equal the othertwo consoles because of this, but merely food-for-thought and another more positive look at the possibilities.
First off, we know that the Broadway CPU is compatible with Gekko code, but that doesn't mean it has the same architecture. It is entirely possible for the Broadway to be based of a more recent IBM chip with much more comprehensive Out of Order Execution. Compared to the In-Order chips of the competitors, this could help even the gap. I believe it was Carmack that said that your average code on the new inorder processors runs half the speed compared to a similarly clocked chip with all the bells and whistles like OoOE.
Secondly, there is the matter of 1T-SRAM. Even assuming that the Rev ram has the same performance characteristics as the Gamecube's, the Rev's main ram would have the SAME sustained latency as the PS3 Cell's L2 Cache, and more than 4 times better than its main ram! See the revent Sony GDC information for evidence of this: 32 cycles @ 3.2ghz = 10ns = latency of GC's main ram. This would make the Broadway, just as the Gekko before it, perform much closer to its peak and make cache misses and random access penalties not very significant.
Thirdly, consider that not every developer on the other two consoles is going to be able to use multithreading very effectively, especially on the CELL where they could just ignore the SPE's.
Finally, we know that the Hollywood GPU is modestly clocked, but does that mean a huge graphics gulf? For one thing it has only 1/3 or nearly 1/7 of the pixels to process at 480p, compared to 720p and 1080p rendering respectively. For another, we don't know anything about architecture of the chip, short of that it is similar to the Flipper's and not like any PC chip. It could perform really well at that clock rate with a lot of TEV pipelines.
This is not intended as Damage Control, btw, and I'm not saying that the Rev could equal the othertwo consoles because of this, but merely food-for-thought and another more positive look at the possibilities.
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