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[Thunder Monkey]

I fear that we won't really know until someone strips open a processor package and puts it under a microscope.

At this point I can guarantee it.

 

[Grampa Simpson]

At this point I can guarantee it.

I wonder if Rosti has a microscope that would work for this.

 

[bgassassin]

So... back to 3 stripped down P7 cores?

Not really. I'd still lean toward modified 476FPs or something new that's comparable to them using POWER7 elements. But I agree with GS though on when we might actually learn what it might be.

 

[Grampa Simpson]

I just did a google image search for 476FP. I came up with this:

http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&...w=213&start=0&ndsp=29&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0,i:87

After I realized what it was I laughed my ass off. Thought it was a chip at first.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

I just did a google image search for 476FP. I came up with this:

http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&...w=213&start=0&ndsp=29&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0,i:87

After I realized what it was I laughed my ass off. Thought it was a chip at first.

Poor Grampa losing his eyesight.

 

[Grampa Simpson]

Found this interesting post here:

http://www.pssokuhou.jp/archives/14821058.html


756 ： 名無しさん必死だな ： 2012/07/13(&#37329 02:40:15.75 ID:RXdSjXLc0
これマジスペックな

CPU PowerPC 476FPカスタム 3コア　1823MHz
2次キャッシュはコアごとに独立しており2MB x1、0.5MB x2
かなり微妙だが、クロックあたりの性能はまあまあ

GPU RV730カスタム 320SP 608MHz 389GFLOPS　16MB混載DRAM
素直に使うとXbox360と比べて1.6倍速い。
ポストプロセスAAをサポートしているので、VRAMを節約できる点が非常に大きい。
各社のゲームエンジンがDeferred Shadingに移行しつつあるので
近い将来、VRAM不足でMRTが使えないXbox360の寿命が尽きると思われるが、
WiiUはなんとかギリギリで次世代の入り口に立っている。

メモリは1.5GB DDR3　内0.5GBはOSが占有
いつもの任天堂なら高価なメモリを少量だが、今回はちょっと違う。

Sounds like something someone pulled out of their ass, but I need something better than google translate.

 

[Theonik]

476FP derivative seems like it might make sense, everything fits including out of order execution support.

 

[pestul]

389GFLOPS.. *throws up in mouth a little*

I hope that's pulled out of something foul.

 

[Rolf NB]

I'd have a very hard time believing 3 Power7 cores though. Three Power ISA 2.06 compliant cores on the 45nm SOI process I would believe - easily.

I fear that we won't really know until someone strips open a processor package and puts it under a microscope.

All it really takes is for someone to pop off the heat spreaders and measure die sizes. Power 7 and ~Broadway cores are quite, err, distinguishable. A single 45nm Power7 core is already bigger than three 90nm (Wii launch model!) Broadways combined.

 

[JonathanPower]

Man Im lost in this thread, from what I gather its confirmed that Wii U has 2GB of ram, 1GB for devs and ~1GB for the OS?

What ? Is there an official quote about the 1gb just for the OS ?

Unless you have 1gb reserved entirely for the WiiU controller or something, I can't really see why you would need such a huge amount of ram just for the OS, especially crazy considering that the xbox360 uses just 32mb of memory.

 

[bgassassin]

Poor Grampa losing his eyesight.

You can only yell at clouds for so long.

Found this interesting post here:

http://www.pssokuhou.jp/archives/14821058.html


756 ： 名無しさん必死だな ： 2012/07/13(&#37329 02:40:15.75 ID:RXdSjXLc0
これマジスペックな

CPU PowerPC 476FPカスタム 3コア　1823MHz
2次キャッシュはコアごとに独立しており2MB x1、0.5MB x2
かなり微妙だが、クロックあたりの性能はまあまあ

GPU RV730カスタム 320SP 608MHz 389GFLOPS　16MB混載DRAM
素直に使うとXbox360と比べて1.6倍速い。
ポストプロセスAAをサポートしているので、VRAMを節約できる点が非常に大きい。
各社のゲームエンジンがDeferred Shadingに移行しつつあるので
近い将来、VRAM不足でMRTが使えないXbox360の寿命が尽きると思われるが、
WiiUはなんとかギリギリで次世代の入り口に立っている。

メモリは1.5GB DDR3　内0.5GBはOSが占有
いつもの任天堂なら高価なメモリを少量だが、今回はちょっと違う。

Sounds like something someone pulled out of their ass, but I need something better than google translate.

Yeah because the memory amounts are off.

What ? Is there an official quote about the 1gb just for the OS ?

Unless you have 1gb reserved entirely for the WiiU controller or something, I can't really see why you would need such a huge amount of ram just for the OS, especially crazy considering that the xbox360 uses just 32mb of memory.

Yes. Iwata.

 

[Ryoku]

Found this interesting post here:

http://www.pssokuhou.jp/archives/14821058.html


756 ： 名無しさん必死だな ： 2012/07/13(&#37329 02:40:15.75 ID:RXdSjXLc0
これマジスペックな

CPU PowerPC 476FPカスタム 3コア　1823MHz
2次キャッシュはコアごとに独立しており2MB x1、0.5MB x2
かなり微妙だが、クロックあたりの性能はまあまあ

GPU RV730カスタム 320SP 608MHz 389GFLOPS　16MB混載DRAM
素直に使うとXbox360と比べて1.6倍速い。
ポストプロセスAAをサポートしているので、VRAMを節約できる点が非常に大きい。
各社のゲームエンジンがDeferred Shadingに移行しつつあるので
近い将来、VRAM不足でMRTが使えないXbox360の寿命が尽きると思われるが、
WiiUはなんとかギリギリで次世代の入り口に立っている。

メモリは1.5GB DDR3　内0.5GBはOSが占有
いつもの任天堂なら高価なメモリを少量だが、今回はちょっと違う。

Sounds like something someone pulled out of their ass, but I need something better than google translate.

HHHHNNNNNGGGGG!!!

Fuck my lack of Kanji-reading ability
Even so, it's pretty clear that we can ignore this one.

 

[ozfunghi]

What ? Is there an official quote about the 1gb just for the OS ?

Unless you have 1gb reserved entirely for the WiiU controller or something, I can't really see why you would need such a huge amount of ram just for the OS, especially crazy considering that the xbox360 uses just 32mb of memory.

His question has been answered. It has been answered a dozen times. Yes, Iwata confirmed 1+1 GB, one for games, one for system.

 

[Theonik]

What ? Is there an official quote about the 1gb just for the OS ?

Unless you have 1gb reserved entirely for the WiiU controller or something, I can't really see why you would need such a huge amount of ram just for the OS, especially crazy considering that the xbox360 uses just 32mb of memory.

The WiiU allows for multi-tab browsing with HTML5 capability at all times while playing games. They are also probably also implementing other such features over time.

You can only yell at clouds for so long.

Yeah because the memory amounts are off.

Unless the OS uses 512MB from its own poor an 512MB from the main DDR3 pool which would also mean they can free up more memory for devs over time. That said these specs are probably bogus and I seriously hope they didn't go with DDR3 but something like GDDR5 for their RAM.

 

[majik13]

What ? Is there an official quote about the 1gb just for the OS ?

Unless you have 1gb reserved entirely for the WiiU controller or something, I can't really see why you would need such a huge amount of ram just for the OS, especially crazy considering that the xbox360 uses just 32mb of memory.

yeah 360 doesnt let you multitask like WiiU and even 3DS to a degree let you do.

 

[majik13]

Unless the OS uses 512MB from its own poor an 512MB from the main DDR3 pool which would also mean they can free up more memory for devs over time. That said these specs are probably bogus and I seriously hope they didn't go with DDR3 but something like GDDR5 for their RAM.

this was rumored way back when we first heard of so much RAM reserved for the OS. And I think a similar thing happened with the 3DS right? an update that freed up some RAM?

 

[ozfunghi]

Unless the OS uses 512MB from its own poor an 512MB from the main DDR3 pool which would also mean they can free up more memory for devs over time. That said these specs are probably bogus and I seriously hope they didn't go with DDR3 but something like GDDR5 for their RAM.

Most speculation points to DDR3 though.

 

[bgassassin]

Unless the OS uses 512MB from its own poor an 512MB from the main DDR3 pool which would also mean they can free up more memory for devs over time. That said these specs are probably bogus and I seriously hope they didn't go with DDR3 but something like GDDR5 for their RAM.

The main thing is that we've known for about a year that Wii U has 32MB of eDRAM and this seems to be saying 16.

 

[D-e-f-]

What ? Is there an official quote about the 1gb just for the OS ?

Unless you have 1gb reserved entirely for the WiiU controller or something, I can't really see why you would need such a huge amount of ram just for the OS, especially crazy considering that the xbox360 uses just 32mb of memory.

Yes. Iwata.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQZdwk7iwig&feature=player_detailpage#t=102s

Same info in English from NoE's Satoru Shibata: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=8nE4hLZDg88#t=481s)

 

[Theonik]

this was rumored way back when we first heard of so much RAM reserved for the OS. And I think a similar thing happened with the 3DS right? an update that freed up some RAM?

It also happened with the PS3 over time as well. They can do it if it's split pool as well but that has some latency concerns as well as some other memory management related limitations involved.

The main thing is that we've known for about a year that Wii U has 32MB of eDRAM and this seems to be saying 16.

Oh yeah I was going to point that out, noticed it after I posted.

Most speculation points to DDR3 though.

I still hope it's not the case.

 

[Grampa Simpson]

The main thing is that we've known for about a year that Wii U has 32MB of eDRAM and this seems to be saying 16.

I wouldn't argue that any part of this rumor is true or based on fore-knowledge.

What I would argue is that different people may know different parts of the actual spec. I wonder if the clock speeds may be correct - or may not be.

I wonder when the decision was made to only have 1 gig application usable in the final release.

I wonder if there are parts we don't know yet.

I really only posted this one because I hadn't seen it before.

EDIT:

Do we have an actual source for the 32meg eDRAM (not saying that it's incorrect)?

 

[blu]

Ok, here's the story behind that mem split so people can stop asking '1GB for the OS?!?':

It's not really 1GB for the OS. There's a dark (non-homebrew) secret surround the second megabyte of DDR3 confined in that little "fun" box.. But the truth is bound to see the light of day, and once freed will it never succumb again! Ready? Hold tight, here it comes..

It's 32MB for the OS, and 992MB for Iwata himself. That's right - he owns that memory, and he grants it to whomever he pleases, kind of like money-hatting, only RAM-hatting, and in reverse. And he never gives it out in bulk, no sir, he drips it by the single MB. Buy him a dinner - here's a MB for you. Treat him to the services of a young lady - get another MB in return. Get him an expensive present (I hear he likes gold-plated game'n'watch chocolate replicas) - yet another MB. But pledge to him your game's exclusivity and that's 5MB straight!

So, next time you see a good-looking WiiU exclusive, even if it's only a timed one (and even if it's 1st party - Iwata makes no exceptions for his own!), think of all those sacrifices that had to be made to Iwata, so that game could reach you in all its splendor.

 

[Donnie]

I wouldn't argue that any part of this rumor is true or based on fore-knowledge.

What I would argue is that different people may know different parts of the actual spec. I wonder if the clock speeds may be correct - or may not be.

I wonder when the decision was made to only have 1 gig application usable in the final release.

I wonder if there are parts we don't know yet.

I really only posted this one because I hadn't seen it before.

EDIT:

Do we have an actual source for the 32meg eDRAM (not saying that it's incorrect)?

The first confirmed leak that came out specified 32MB eDRAM. Also as far as I remember the audio DSP is 120mhz so it seems likely the CPU will be a multiple of that. 1823MHZ doesn't work if that's the case.

 

[The_Lump]

yeah.. in real 3D environments where there is such a thing as depth...
Your tv screen is 2D.

This. (+ what he said too) If its actually adding depth, it's useful. If its just blurring everything except the focal point; it's horrific.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Ok, here's the story behind that mem split so people can stop asking '1GB for the OS?!?':

It's not really 1GB for the OS. There's a dark (non-homebrew) secret surround the second megabyte of DDR3 confined in that little "fun" box.. But the truth is bound to see the light of day, and once freed will it never succumb again! Ready? Hold tight, here it comes..

It's 32MB for the OS, and 992MB for Iwata himself. That's right - he owns that memory, and he grants it to whomever he pleases, kind of like money-hatting, only RAM-hatting, and in reverse. And he never gives it out in bulk, no sir, he drips it by the single MB. Buy him a dinner - here's a MB for you. Treat him to the services of a young lady - get another MB in return. Get him an expensive present (I hear he likes gold-plated game'n'watch chocolate replicas) - yet another MB. But pledge to him your game's exclusivity and that's 5MB straight!

So, next time you see a good-looking WiiU exclusive, even if it's only a timed one (and even if it's 1st party - Iwata makes no exceptions for his own!), think of all those sacrifices that had to be made to Iwata, so that game could reach you in all its splendor.

I... I think I love you.

 

[Rolf NB]

The main thing is that we've known for about a year that Wii U has 32MB of eDRAM and this seems to be saying 16.

Citation needed.

 

[JonathanPower]

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQZdwk7iwig&feature=player_detailpage#t=102s

Same info in English from NoE's Satoru Shibata: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=8nE4hLZDg88#t=481s)

Thank you for the link. Using 1gb only for the OS, they could run a full blown Windows 8 on that thing then.

 

[Grampa Simpson]

Thank you for the link. Using 1gb only for the OS, they could run a full blown Windows 8 on that thing then.

Think of it as reserving that gig for the os and background system functions.

In a year or two, they may give most of it up, but for now they want to keep it in case they want to develop something really great that uses it.

 

[The_Lump]

Ok, here's the story behind that mem split so people can stop asking '1GB for the OS?!?':

It's not really 1GB for the OS. There's a dark (non-homebrew) secret surround the second megabyte of DDR3 confined in that little "fun" box.. But the truth is bound to see the light of day, and once freed will it never succumb again! Ready? Hold tight, here it comes..

It's 32MB for the OS, and 992MB for Iwata himself. That's right - he owns that memory, and he grants it to whomever he pleases, kind of like money-hatting, only RAM-hatting, and in reverse. And he never gives it out in bulk, no sir, he drips it by the single MB. Buy him a dinner - here's a MB for you. Treat him to the services of a young lady - get another MB in return. Get him an expensive present (I hear he likes gold-plated game'n'watch chocolate replicas) - yet another MB. But pledge to him your game's exclusivity and that's 5MB straight!

So, next time you see a good-looking WiiU exclusive, even if it's only a timed one (and even if it's 1st party - Iwata makes no exceptions for his own!), think of all those sacrifices that had to be made to Iwata, so that game could reach you in all its splendor.

God Damn him. God Damn him and his beautiful, seductive hair.

 

[JonathanPower]

Think of it as reserving that gig for the os and background system functions.

In a year or two, they may give most of it up, but for now they want to keep it in case they want to develop something really great that uses it.

Nope, I seriously think that 992MB is reserved for Iwata himself. WiiU probably has a virtual Iwata constantly running in the background, receiving inputs from the real Iwata.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Citation needed.

The specs from this thread for one. Which come from Arkam. Who is valid.

 

[Grampa Simpson]

I wonder how big mem0 is.

 

[Thraktor]

I wonder when the decision was made to only have 1 gig application usable in the final release.

Here's a hypothesis: it was always planned to allocate 1GB of memory to games, but late on the decision was made to increase the amount of memory allocated for the OS from 512MB to 1GB, both because they might need it for features they are now considering, and also because it allows them to partially allay developer concerns about insufficient bandwidth by increasing the bus width from 96 to 128 bits.

Edit: On the subject of the CPU, I'm still of the opinion that it's effectively a completely custom processor, with the difference in cache amounts being related to one of the cores having much more advanced SIMD capabilities.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

I wonder how big mem0 is.

A full 8 GAF inches.

Which is almost a foot long.

 

[Theonik]

I wonder how big mem0 is.

Bigger than 1 bit smaller than an Yottabyte.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

this was rumored way back when we first heard of so much RAM reserved for the OS. And I think a similar thing happened with the 3DS right? an update that freed up some RAM?

It gave developers access to the second CPU that was reserved for multiplayer / OS features if they so choose, if i remember correctly. The RAM thing I could of sworn came from a rumor that they added 32 more MB like six months before launch for games to total 128

 

[Rolf NB]

The specs from this thread for one. Which come from Arkam. Who is valid.

This thread is barely a week old. They grow so fast.
*sniffle*

 

[Always-honest]

Thank you for the link. Using 1gb only for the OS, they could run a full blown Windows 8 on that thing then.

Please, stuff of nightmares.

 

[AzaK]

Agreed

DOF is automatically created by human eye, the only scenario this would be practically usable is in an eyetracking configuration where a spectator watches another player, the DOF effect would then indicate to the spectator exactly where the player is looking. The player him self doesn't need this effect at all.

Because PC monitors are usually small and don't cover the whole wide-range, DOF may be exaggerated in games, the eye doesn't do that much that close.

DOF is straight from consoles, because HDTVs are bigger and they, but you also sit further away so I don't see any reason at all.

No DoF on a 2D screen normally. It's flat. DoF is a factor of distance, aperture and also "Sensor size"

Fake edit: beaten

Ok, here's the story behind that mem split so people can stop asking '1GB for the OS?!?':

It's not really 1GB for the OS. There's a dark (non-homebrew) secret surround the second megabyte of DDR3 confined in that little "fun" box.. But the truth is bound to see the light of day, and once freed will it never succumb again! Ready? Hold tight, here it comes..

It's 32MB for the OS, and 992MB for Iwata himself. That's right - he owns that memory, and he grants it to whomever he pleases, kind of like money-hatting, only RAM-hatting, and in reverse. And he never gives it out in bulk, no sir, he drips it by the single MB. Buy him a dinner - here's a MB for you. Treat him to the services of a young lady - get another MB in return. Get him an expensive present (I hear he likes gold-plated game'n'watch chocolate replicas) - yet another MB. But pledge to him your game's exclusivity and that's 5MB straight!

So, next time you see a good-looking WiiU exclusive, even if it's only a timed one (and even if it's 1st party - Iwata makes no exceptions for his own!), think of all those sacrifices that had to be made to Iwata, so that game could reach you in all its splendor.

This is all I can say to that

 

[Thunder Monkey]

This thread is barely a week old. They grow so fast.
*sniffle*

Like an erection during a lap dance.

 

[The_Lump]

Like an erection during a lap dance.

Who's giving monkey's lapdances??


Srsly though, it's nice to have a straight up tech thread. No ones moaning that we're not talking enough games!

 

[Grampa Simpson]

On the subject of the CPU, I'm still of the opinion that it's effectively a completely custom processor, with the difference in cache amounts being related to one of the cores having much more advanced SIMD capabilities.

Each 476FP core connects to an L2 Cache Controller that can work with either 256K, 512K, or 1024K of cache. Each core also connects to a PLB6 Bus that then connects to other subsystems like DDR3, Ethernet, or PCI Express.

The thought is that if it's a 476FP core with Nintendo Bolt-ons, that it would still connect to the same type of L2 Cache Controller and a PLB6 bus that would connect to RAM, and a PCIE controller that links to a video chip.

 

[deviljho]

If the Wii U has a DSP for audio, then why is it limiting output to 6 channels?

 

[Grampa Simpson]

If the Wii U has a DSP for audio, then why is it limiting output to 6 channels?

I only use 2.

I suspect 90% of people that hook up their TV only use 2.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Who's giving monkey's lapdances??

Who doesn't?

I got a 64 year old to give me one earlier through my monkey charms.

Broke his hip though.

 

[deviljho]

I only use 2.

I suspect 90% of people that hook up their TV only use 2.

While your point is valid, the Wii U can do 5.1. If it can do 5.1, what is the technical barrier preventing 7.1? What is the DSP doing that it can do 6 channel but not 8. It doesnt matter if most users do stereo, since it can already do 5.1

 

[plagiarize]

If the Wii U has a DSP for audio, then why is it limiting output to 6 channels?

it isn't. you've got 6 channels going out via HDMI and 2 channels (which can presumably be completely discrete if desired) going out to the gamepad.

at least, someone told me that and i chose to believe it because it made perfect sense.

 

[Theonik]

If the Wii U has a DSP for audio, then why is it limiting output to 6 channels?

2 channels are used *presumably* for gamepad output. Then again you can ask. "why not make 10 channels and then we can have 8ch + 2ch. To which I'd say. "Ask Iwata"

 

[deviljho]

it isn't. you've got 6 channels going out via HDMI and 2 channels (which can presumably be completely discrete if desired) going out to the gamepad.

at least, someone told me that and i chose to believe it because it made perfect sense.

It does makes sense. Never thought of it. Nintendo r genuiss

Any one familiar with audio processing able to chime in regarding Wii U providing 6 channel HDMI audio because it is simultaneously processing audio for the Gamepad?

 

[superchunk]

So if you have a choice to buy the Wii U for 300, or a tablet, say Google Nexus 7 for 200 or 250, for kids under 10 what would you buy?

Wii U. That's a rather silly question I'd think for most people.