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IBM: WiiU running on Watson's brain. 45nm MultiCore CPU with "lots" of embedded DRAM.

A

AceBandage

Banned
New info, new thread. Since people seem to be ignoring this.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/07/ibm-puts-watsons-brains-in-nintendo-wii-u/

Nintendo's new console, the Wii U, was finally unveiled to the world today at E3 2011, and we got a glimpse of its graphical prowess at the company's keynote. Details were scarce about the IBM silicon Nintendo's new HD powerhouse was packing, but we did some digging to get a little more info. IBM tells us that within the Wii U there's a 45nm custom chip with "a lot" of embedded DRAM. It's a silicon on insulator design and packs the same processor technology found in Watson, the supercomputer that bested a couple of meatbags on Jeopardy awhile back.
Click to expand...
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Persona7 said:
Lots?

5 gigs is lots to me.
Click to expand...

edram is for frame buffer. Someone else can come along and do the maths, but you want enough ideally for a 1080p screen. Gives you huge fillrate and performance advantages. 360 had 10MB I think and thats not quite enough.
 
A

antonz

Member
Persona7 said:
Lots?

5 gigs is lots to me.
Click to expand...
Power7 CPUs come with 4MB of eDRAM per core stock configuration. At the very least it should 16MB eDRAM built on as Power7 comes in 4,6,8 core variety
 
G

guldakot

Member
Lambtron said:
Wii 1.5!!!!!!!
Click to expand...
You really have no idea what the power 7 is capable of.

(from other thread I posted this)
I really want to know what the hell the WiiU is using for graphics now, and the ammount of RAM. Even the lower clocked power 7 chips crap all over the cell and xenon. If we actually get a gpu to match the cpu, this system will be a friggin monster.
I mean, obviously the WiiU's cpu wont be a fully functioning, power 7, would gen way too much heat for that tiny box. But based on transistor counts wasnt each xenon core only the equivelant of abougt 20 -30 percent of a power 5 core? The power 7 is MAGNITUDES more powerful then the power 5, so by contrast the cpu in the WiiU should utterly destroy the xenon. Even the cell uses HIGHLY modified power 5 cores.

The shear ammount of calculations per second will utterly surpass both the ps3 and 360.
****CAVEAT**** These chips are memory hungry, to fully utilize a power 7 core they are gonna need at least 256mb of ram in a closed box system per core, preferably 512 mb per core. If this thing is running a quad core power 7 derivitive I hope to god that ninty meets expectation ramwise.
 
F

Fourth Storm

Member
Just cuz stock is 4,6, or 8 core doesn't mean WiiU's chip is that. Nintendo always use custom parts and have spent lots of cash in R&D. 3 cores is the pervasive rumor and there's no reason to doubt that yet.
 
V

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
MisterHero said:
if watson is smarter than ken jennings does that make Wii U smarter than some gaffers confirmed
Click to expand...

Fuck if you look at some GAF posts as of late even if some GAFers had 2 of their brain's duct tapped together they wouldn't be able to make an accurate coherent thought in post form.
 
linko9

linko9

Member
Sounds like this is pretty powerful, I'm really surprised that Nintendo didn't play up the graphical capabilities of the system; I'm sure it can easily outperform the other two HD consoles.
 
K

Krauser Kat

Member
so its a underclocked 3 core quad-threaded processor? sound pretty fucking beefy. Looks like a single core of that could shit on the current gen.
 
J

JWong

Banned
crimsonheadGCN said:
No, the name was announced during the conference and explained.
Click to expand...
Controller =/= Console

Or explain that to me. Nintendo put down that the tablet controller is Wii U.
 
A

AceBandage

Banned
linko9 said:
Sounds like this is pretty powerful, I'm really surprised that Nintendo didn't play up the graphical capabilities of the system; I'm sure it can easily outperform the other two HD consoles.
Click to expand...


Because that wasn't their focus. And people really don't seem to be getting this.
Their focus, just like in 2006, was to show off the new way to play games with their new controller.
 
J

Jin34

Member
MisterHero said:
if watson is smarter than ken jennings does that make Wii U smarter than some gaffers confirmed
Click to expand...

An Atari is smarter than some gaffers based on the evidence on display today.
 
K

Kozak

Banned
linko9 said:
Sounds like this is pretty powerful, I'm really surprised that Nintendo didn't play up the graphical capabilities of the system; I'm sure it can easily outperform the other two HD consoles.
Click to expand...

Nintendo really loves pushing that fucking innovation.
 
M

mj1108

Member
AceBandage said:
Because that wasn't their focus. And people really don't seem to be getting this.
Their focus, just like in 2006, was to show off the new way to play games with their new controller.
Click to expand...

Bingo.
 
G

GCX

Member
Fourth Storm said:
Just cuz stock is 4,6, or 8 core doesn't mean WiiU's chip is that. Nintendo always use custom parts and have spent lots of cash in R&D. 3 cores is the pervasive rumor and there's no reason to doubt that yet.
Click to expand...
Most of Nintendo's R&D probably doesn't go into processors and chips.

But yeah, they'll use custom parts.
 
C

clav

Member
I'm sorry Dave. I'm afraid I can't let you do that.

So if it's from IBM, will that mean it's similar to the architecture of the 360?
 
B

brochiller

Member
guldakot said:
The shear ammount of calculations per second will utterly surpass both the ps3 and 360.
****CAVEAT**** These chips are memory hungry, to fully utilize a power 7 core they are gonna need at least 256mb of ram in a closed box system per core, preferably 512 mb per core. If this thing is running a quad core power 7 derivitive I hope to god that ninty meets expectation ramwise.
Click to expand...


Well the rumors are that it will be a triple core CPU. And I also hear a rumor recently that said that dev kits have 1GB RAM, but the final console will have 1.5GB.
 
C

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Chiggs said:
16mb.
Click to expand...
No reason to use more in a console, without being wasteful.

But yeah, as I said in the other topic, I wonder if they'll do a die shrink before launch since there aren't any benefits in sticking with outdated 45nm tech that's MORE EXPENSIVE than going to 32nm.
 
D

Dragon

Banned
JWong said:
Controller =/= Console

Or explain that to me. Nintendo put down that the tablet controller is Wii U.
Click to expand...

You really need to go out and read the information about this thing. You seem to be less informed than you should be while making such statements.
 
N

NemesisPrime

Banned
Good choice.... WiiU could be a beast (depending on the other component specs). Not quite next gen but it should compete with 360 and PS3.
 
T

tapedeck

Do I win a prize for talking about my penis on the Internet???
I wonder how long we will have to wait for Nintendo to release a detailed spec sheet. Wii U is starting to sound like an actual next gen system.
 
L

Lonely1

Unconfirmed Member
linko9 said:
Sounds like this is pretty powerful, I'm really surprised that Nintendo didn't play up the graphical capabilities of the system; I'm sure it can easily outperform the other two HD consoles.
Click to expand...
They take the Apple approach. Even though the iPad 2 is the most powerful tablet atm, and by a fair margin, they don't release specs. And the reason is simple, you cannot win the specs war against future devices.
 
D

DrM

Redmond's Baby
chaosblade said:
No reason to use more in a console, without being wasteful.

But yeah, as I said in the other topic, I wonder if they'll do a die shrink before launch since there aren't any benefits in sticking with outdated 45nm tech that's MORE EXPENSIVE than going to 32nm.
Click to expand...
This is not finalized CPU configuration. They could end with 32nm.
 
M

Magnus

Member
JWong said:
Controller =/= Console

Or explain that to me. Nintendo put down that the tablet controller is Wii U.
Click to expand...

It *was* a confusing announcement, I agree, but no. The console is something new entirely.
 
S

scy

Member
Wondered if Watson beating some humans at Jeopardy would eventually be used as a marketing ploy. Remember, Watson didn't win due to outsmarting Ken or Brad, it won by virtue of reacting faster than either of them. In truth, it probably "knew" less than either of them.

Not to take anything away from the tech, though. It's still rather beastly compared to what is in the 360 and PS3 right now. Just found the wording of the article kind of ridiculous.
 
A

AceBandage

Banned
NemesisPrime said:
Good choice.... WiiU could be a beast (depending on the other component specs). Not quite next gen but it should compete with 360 and PS3.
Click to expand...


Uh, if they're going with parts like this, it won't compete with the 360/PS3. It'll destroy them.
 
J

JWong

Banned
TheBranca18 said:
You really need to go out and read the information about this thing. You seem to be less informed than you should be while making such statements.
Click to expand...
Then show me the console announcement.
 
G

GCX

Member
tapedeck said:
I wonder how long we will have to wait for Nintendo to release a detailed spec sheet. Wii U is starting to sound like an actual next gen system.
Click to expand...
Nintendo has never released spec sheets for Wii or 3DS.
 
G

guldakot

Member
brochiller said:
Well the rumors are that it will be a triple core CPU. And I also hear a rumor recently that said that dev kits have 1GB RAM, but the final console will have 1.5GB.
Click to expand...
Well if it is a triple core variation 1.5 gb of unified ram would be just about perfect for a closed box system.
Im still VERY reserved because we dont know what the hell is in the rest of the system (You can EASILY bottleneck a cpu that powerful with subpar video) but my hype level is much higher then it was based on those tech demos alone.

Btw, curious about this comment from mark rein. He almost implies that the bird demo was running on unreal 3 tech.

MarkRein Mark Rein
RT @Michael_French @MarkRein So that means you're supporting Wii U? ;) <--No announcement to make today but let's just way "Water meet fish"
 
T

thefro

Member
Krauser Kat said:
so its a underclocked 3 core quad-threaded processor? sound pretty fucking beefy. Looks like a single core of that could shit on the current gen.
Click to expand...

Seems like 3-7x Cell's number of GFLOPS depending on which numbers they are using. I'll have to do some more research.
 
N

Necromanti

Member
AceBandage said:
Uh, if they're going with parts like this, it won't compete with the 360/PS3. It'll destroy them.
Click to expand...
But I thought the new controller for the Wii was confirmed to be weaker than the PS3 according to NeoGAF!
 
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