[Horse Armour]

Correction: As pointed out by Durante, this is the whole RAM amount of the system.


eDRAM amount/speed not yet known.

Thanks to Alstrong on B3D and PCPer who did the teardown:

PCPer did a teardown. Great stuff... they actually read off the RAM chip (SMRT!). There's only 4 chips. Samsung K4W4G1646B -> DDR3 4Gbit, 1.5V, 800/933/1066 speed bins -> I'm pretty sure that means "DDR3-1600/1866/2133" data rate. 256Mx16 would imply 16-bit I/O per DRAM... So... 17GB/s at most for main memory bandwidth. They didn't mention the rest of the numbers on the DRAM, but they ought to have high res photos later.

TL:DR: Wii U has 2GB of Samsung DDR3 memory running at a max speed of [12.8 GB/s].

12.8 17 was a guess based on the maximum speed of the Samsung RAM (1066Mhz vs. 800Mhz). Anandtech unit had slower Hynix RAM.

Comparison to other systems by Durante:

Comparison: 360: 22.4 GB/s + eDRAM for framebuffer PS3: 25.6 GB/s main memory BW + 22.4 GB/s graphics memory BW, no eDRAM GTX 680: 192.2 GB/s :P

[cyberheater]

Great. Now we need more information about the GPU.

[DonMigs85]

Is that the 1GB used for games or 2GB total?
That's less bandwidth than the 512MB GDDR3 in the 360. The eDRAM/VRAM better be darn fast to compensate.

[Sid]

Interesting,hoping we get the entire system teardown soon .

[godhandiscen]

If the rumors of the 360 and PS3 successors are true, the WiiU will be in worse shape than the Wii was in comparison to current consoles.

[GhostTrick]

If the rumors of the 360 and PS3 successors are true, the WiiU will be in worse shape than the Wii was in comparison to current consoles.

What about no ?

[antonz]

Samsung site lists it under the GDDR category not DDR

[Oblivion]

DDR3? That's kinda disappointing. Weren't most people expecting GDDR5?

I don't know much about RAM, but I do know that 5 > 3.

Nintendooooooooooooooooooo!

[Eusis]

If the rumors of the 360 and PS3 successors are true, the WiiU will be in worse shape than the Wii was in comparison to current consoles.

I think that will depend on how much more powerful the other systems are, AND how much that boosted power matters. But yeah, it isn't looking too good for Wii U. :/

[Matt]

Only Main/System RAM revealed so far, VRAM and eDRAM not yet known. Thanks to Alstrong on B3D and PCPer who did the teardown: TL:DR: Main RAM is 1GB of Samsung DDR3 with a max bandwidth of 17GB/s.

That's not right....

[The Abominable Snowman]

Is that the 1GB used for games or 2GB total? That's less bandwidth than the 512MB GDDR3 in the 360. The eDRAM/VRAM better be darn fast to compensate.

360 - 22.5GB/s

PS3 uses XDR slightly higher than 360

~25% difference between 360 and WiiU in terms of general purpose RAM speed.

But noone cares about WiiU power anyway. Its about seeing Nintendo games in HD.

[cyberheater]

But noone cares about WiiU power anyway. Its about seeing Nintendo games in HD.

Lots of people care.

[gamergirly]

Samsung site lists it under the GDDR category not DDR

Maybe OP should update post?

[Matt]

Samsung site lists it under the GDDR category not DDR

There we go.

[jerd21]

There we go.

Is everything else accurate as far as you can tell?

[Durante]

Comparison:

360: 22.4 GB/s + eDRAM for framebuffer
PS3: 25.6 GB/s main memory BW + 22.4 GB/s graphics memory BW, no eDRAM

GTX 680: 192.2 GB/s :P

[Horse Armour]

Samsung site lists it under the GDDR category not DDR

That might be a mistake as if you go to page 10 of the PDF it says that the 3 value in the serial indicates what type of RAM it is an in this case it's W which stands for SDDR3 SDRAM rather than J which would stand for GDDR3 SDRAM. Also it's listed under gddr3 not Gddr3 as well as having an 800/933/1066 speed which I've never heard GDDR3 of having.

[ASIS]

Many of us here have no clue what all this means, can someone please explain in english?

[Oblivion]

360 - 22.5GB/s PS3 uses XDR slightly higher than 360 ~25% difference between 360 and WiiU in terms of speed.

Oy....

[DonMigs85]

If the rumors of the 360 and PS3 successors are true, the WiiU will be in worse shape than the Wii was in comparison to current consoles.

Yeah, really a bit of a Dreamcast to Xbox scenario.
Both machines render most games at the same resolution (480i/p back then, likely still gonna be 720p for the most part this gen) but the gulf in geometry, textures and shader effects will probably be significant. Not to mention CPU-bound stuff like AI, number of characters/units on screen, physics, etc.

But at least Wii U games just won't be as butt-ugly and low-res as Wii anymore. At first glance they should still compare favorably to PS4/Xbox 720 for the masses.

[Sid]

Many of us here have no clue what all this means, can someone please explain in english?

Standard pc ram.

[Error Macro]

Samsung site lists it under the GDDR category not DDR

Yeah, it's slightly confusing.

According to this PDF: http://www.samsung.com/us/business/o...SG_1H_2012.pdf

it is "gDDR3," note the lower case 'g' -- I'm not sure what that means.

But, using the part number legend, the 'W' in the part number means it is SDDR3.

[NBtoaster]

Samsung site lists it under the GDDR category not DDR

It's listed under gDDR3, there's a seperate category for GDDR3. What's the difference?

[Eusis]

Lots of people care.

I mainly just care so it doesn't get ostracized like last generation. Though maybe being in HD will help some? Depends on where we really are when it comes to diminishing returns I guess, but we're probably not so close that relatively low ram is a non-issue.

Comparison: Wii U: 17 GB/s, separate eDRAM pool 360: 22.4 GB/s, eDRAM for framebuffer PS3: 25.6 GB/s main memory BW, 22.4 GB/s graphics memory BW, no eDRAM GTX 680: 192.2 GB/s :P

Huh, guess a 10x jump really is possible again, in some respects at least.

[Perkel]

ouch...

Seriously. I think adding rendering pipeline for Wii U gamepad was big mistake. Looks like system is not that powerfull.

Let's wait for full spec.

[DonMigs85]

Comparison: 360: 22.4 GB/s + eDRAM for framebuffer PS3: 25.6 GB/s main memory BW + 22.4 GB/s graphics memory BW, no eDRAM GTX 680: 192.2 GB/s :P

PS3 VRAM may be a bit slower because apparently they reduced the speed to 650MHz in the final spec.
Also, the eDRAM on 360 has a 32GB/sec link to the GPU, but its internal bandwidth is over 250GB/sec.

[Seance]

Is 1 GB DDR3 "better" than the 360's memory setup?

[StoppedInTracks]

Comparison: 360: 22.4 GB/s + eDRAM for framebuffer PS3: 25.6 GB/s main memory BW + 22.4 GB/s graphics memory BW, no eDRAM GTX 680: 192.2 GB/s :P

Thank god for Dolphin emu.

[Horse Armour]

Is 1 GB DDR3 "better" than the 360's memory setup?

Well it is worse in terms of speed but you have to remember that this is only half of the Wii U's memory and we have no idea what the other half contains as well as there being some eDRAM which we don't know anything about yet.

[Eusis]

Is 1 GB DDR3 "better" than the 360's memory setup?

If it takes up half of it for the OS it's effectively the same, or only slightly better (360 does set aside RAM for the OS, but it's a fairly small amount). But then that'd only be system ram, we don't know the graphics ram situation yet.

[Ydahs]

Comparison: 360: 22.4 GB/s + eDRAM for framebuffer PS3: 25.6 GB/s main memory BW + 22.4 GB/s graphics memory BW, no eDRAM GTX 680: 192.2 GB/s :P

Interesting. Does architecture impact this greatly? Since the GPU and CPU are on the same board, does it in anyway make up for the relatively lower bandwidth?

Also, doesn't the WiiU have two sticks of RAM? Are both sharing the same RAM type?

edit: nvm, posts above explain it. If it's only the OS RAM, it's not really that much of a concern but it probably means we won't see the spare RAM freed up for games down the track.

[ZoddGutts]

lol Sony and Microsoft just needs to put 8GB of DDR3 in their next gen systems and called it a day.

[Chiggs]

Oh my....that is, uh, slow.

[Perkel]

Wasn't Wii U supposed to have shared ram ? If yes i don't see how they used something different for second 1GB

[Durante]

Well it is worse in terms of speed but you have to remember that this is only half of the Wii U's memory and we have no idea what the other half contains as well as there being some eDRAM which we don't know anything about yet.

What "other half"? From the quote in the OP, that's it. 4 * 4Gbit = 2 GB.

What we don't know yet is how fast the eDRAM is.

... either I am confused or the majority of people in this thread are. Wii U does not have split memory pools, except for the eDRAM.

[B.O.O.M]

How long till the complete break down of parts do you think?

[Horse Armour]

What "other half"? From the quote in the OP, that's it. 4 * 4Gbit = 2 GB. What we don't know yet is how fast the eDRAM is.

Really? I just thought since it's 256mb and 4 chips that that's only half the amount of RAM?

[Oblivion]

Wait, this is the main/system RAM? So that means this is the RAM that the OS is using? Not the video RAM that the actual games will utilize?

[Zenaku]

Isn't this the RAM used for the OS, and not for games?

[StoppedInTracks]

lol Sony and Microsoft just needs to put 8GB of DDR3 in their next gen systems and called it a day.

They would if the game had not change. But it has. It's not about the tech now, it's about how little money will you lose on the tech.

[DonMigs85]

Would be nice if it had a dual-channel memory controller.

[Horse Armour]

How long till the complete break down of parts do you think?

Anand from Anandtech said he's getting a Wii U specifically just to break it down and see what's inside so hopefully we should have more information by the end of the next week.

[madmackem]

So thats just the ram set aside for os? speed of that wouldnt be as important as video ram no?.

[wsippel]

Samsung site lists it under the GDDR category not DDR

SDDR3. Third character is a W.

[friedeggs]

lol Sony and Microsoft just needs to put 8GB of DDR3 in their next gen systems and called it a day.

yup it's that simple

[ZoddGutts]

Oh my....that is, uh, slow.

May explain why the textures on Arkham City load unlike on the 360.

[madmackem]

yup it's that simple

But it isnt due to costs.

[B.O.O.M]

Anand from Anandtech said he's getting a Wii U specifically just to break it down and see what's inside so hopefully we should have more information by the end of the next week.

Nice, sooner than I expected. Thanks

[sinnergy]

yup it's that simple

They won't they will just use even faster RAM and maken the gap even bigger, as they should.

[madmackem]

May explain why the textures on Arkham City load unlike on the 360.

But whats being talked about is the system ram is it not not video ram?.