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How to measure everything using GameCube Unit (GC's)

U

Unknown Soldier

Member
In recent years, measurement of computing power has utilized the FLOPS (Floating-Point Operations per Second). However the FLOPS is a generic measure of performance and it's hard to get a real estimate of how fast something performs with the FLOPS rating.

Instead, I propose that this measurement move to the GameCube, the 2002 Nintendo console. For many years since, Nintendo's following consoles have been arbitrarily measured in "GameCubes", leading to the joke that the Wii was "2 GC's duct-taped together." (In fact it was far less, as we will momentarily see.)

This measurement system just makes sense, as we all kind of know how roughly powerful a GameCube is. So the GC Unit lets us estimate how many more times powerful something is compared to a GameCube.

We'll start with a simple conversion factor. Remember that console FLOPS are measured solely by their GPU performance.

1 GameCube = 9.4 GFLOPS (Gigaflops)

This is easy. You can take any GFLOPS rating and simply divide by 9.4 to get the number of GameCubes it is. Since we are now in the era of game consoles measured in TFLOPS (Teraflops), remember to first multiply TFLOPS rating by 1000 to convert to GFLOPS, then divide by 9.4.

Examples:

Wii = 12 GLOPS / 9.4 = 1.28 GC's <------------ way less than 2 GC's!
Wii U = 352 GFLOPS / 9.4 = 37.44 GC's

Xbox 360 = 240 GFLOPS / 9.4 = 25.53 GC's
Xbox One = 1.310 TFLOPS = 1,310 GFLOPS / 9.4 = 139.37 GC's

PS3 = 230 GFLOPS / 9.4 = 24.46 GC's
PS4 = 1.8 TFLOPS = 1,800 GFLOPS / 9.4 = 191.49 GC's
PS4 Pro = 4.2 TFLOPS = 4,200 GFLOPS / 9.4 = 446.81 GC's <------------ that's a lot of GC's

PC's are compared to GameCube's purely based on GPU specs, to match how console FLOPS are rated.

GTX 1060 = 4.372 TFLOPS (boost) = 4,372 GFLOPS / 9.4 = 465.11 GC's <----------- roughly the same as PS4 Pro, ignoring AMD/Nvidia FLOPS conversion

And here's the big one:

GTX 1080 Ti = 11.34 TFLOPS = 11,340 GFLOPS / 9.4 = 1,206.38 GC's

That's a whole fucking lot of GameCubes, people! More than 1,200 GameCubes duct-taped together!

If you haven't figured out by now that this post isn't being serious, I feel sorry for you.

But let's enjoy measuring everything in GameCube Units (GC's), the new measurement standard for computing power!

P.S. I don't think anyone has a FLOPS rating for the Nintendo Switch yet. But if we estimate that it is a Tegra X1 which runs at 307 mhz undocked and 768 mhz docked, we get:

315 GFLOPS (undocked) / 9.4 = 33.51 GC's <----- roughly the same as Wii U
785 GFLOPS (docked) / 9.4 = 83.51 GC's <------ 2 Wii U's duct-taped together

-------------------

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_gaming_platforms
https://www.pcper.com/reviews/Systems/Nintendo-Switch-News-and-Rumor-Round
 
Z

z0m3le

Banned
Gamecube's GPU was 8 gflops.
The Wii is literally clocked 50% higher and thus has 50% more flops IE 12 gflops.
Wii U is 176 gflops.

On a side note, fixed function processing is different than compute shader processing and is not anything close to a direct comparison... Architectures also make this a silly comparison but I assume it is meant for fun...

Also where is the Switch numbers from? Should be 196gflops undocked and 393gflops docked though afaik this is still a rumor.
 
M

Maximo

Member
RadioJoNES64 said:
Silly Americans, using the Gamecube system when the rest of the world is using Playstation 2 system.
Click to expand...

I prefer the Dragon Ball Z System.
large.jpg
 
B

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
I feel like you could also use Gamecubes as a rule of thumb to describe physical volume.

Like the old "bigger or larger than a breadbox?" No one knows WTF a breadbox is anymore.

But "bigger or larger than a Gamecube?" = WIN
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
I'm going to need volume calculations and estimated equivalents. Eg a PS4 pro is 446 GCs, which is the same volume as a mid-size car. (No idea, just an example)
 
boxoctosis

boxoctosis

Member
mrklaw said:
I'm going to need volume calculations and estimated equivalents. Eg a PS4 pro is 446 GCs, which is the same volume as a mid-size car. (No idea, just an example)
Click to expand...

Easy. Take the cube root of 446, approx 7.4. So it's a cube with each side 7.5 GCs.

Also the GameCube wasn't a cube. And it had that handle. Oh man.
 
JordanN

JordanN

Banned
I prefer "BS multipliers" and "two bananas and an orange".


*Only Gaffers who signed up before 2013 will get this reference
 
U

Unknown Soldier

Member
LordKano said:
What would cost more money : buying and duct-tapping 10 millions GameCubes or buying this supercomputer ?
Click to expand...

Nintendo only sold a total of about 22 million GameCubes worldwide, so you would probably have a lot of problems tracking down 9.9 million operating units these days. Plus you would need a LOT of duct tape.
 
F

FunkyDealer

Banned
I think a Gamecube Unit should contain more than just GPU FLOPS. There meeds to be an inclusion of CPU power as well as memory capacity and bandwidth. These were strong points for the little machine, and as such crucial to get the full picture. We must also find a way to factor 5 in diminishing returns.
 
S

stan423321

Member
Unknown Soldier said:
We'll start with a simple conversion factor. Remember that console FLOPS are measured solely by their GPU performance.
Click to expand...

The entire premise of this thread is flawed by this point. GC's (and Wii's) graphics chips are fixed-function which makes the entire system dependent on CPU way more than 360 and especially Gen 8 home systems are, they don't really even qualify as GPUs as discussed today.
 
MrCunningham

MrCunningham

Member
The Wii was just a GameCube with a 1.5 times clock increase of the CPU and GPU, and twice the RAM. But the machine is 1.5 (maybe more like 1.6 or 1.7?) Gamecubes stuck together.
 
S

Spinifex

Member
I'm just over here having my mind blown that Mario Galaxy was basically a GameCube game. I had no idea the Wii was that weak.
 
MrCunningham

MrCunningham

Member
Unknown Soldier said:
Supercomputers are increasing in power very quickly. We may soon have a supercomputer which exceeds 22 million GC's!
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure there are a few diamond based CPU's that run over 1TF per core now.


Spinifex said:
I'm just over here having my mind blown that Mario Galaxy was basically a GameCube game. I had no idea the Wii was that weak.
Click to expand...

Basically... The Wii has no real unique updates made to the hardware. The GPU is essentially Flipper running at a 1.5X upclock. They may have made the CPU a smaller process and improved it's power usage. But the internals are all the same. The CPU is a 1.5times speed upgrade as well. The RAM went from 43MB (24 MB 1T-SRAM, 16 MB DRAM plus 5MB) to 88MB's (24 MB internal 1T-SRAM, 64 MB external GDDR3 SDRAM and 3 MB embedded GPU). The RAM did get an ok upgrade, but it was still really weak compared to the 512MB's in the 360 and PS3.
 
U

Unknown Soldier

Member
Spinifex said:
I'm just over here having my mind blown that Mario Galaxy was basically a GameCube game. I had no idea the Wii was that weak.
Click to expand...

All joking aside, I don't really think Galaxy looked really much better than Sunshine. More shader effects maybe, but having everything on planetoids undoubtedly reduced geometry density.
 
H

Harmen

Member
I thought this was going to be about the volume of a GC so that we could express the volume of, say, a swimming pool in GC's instead of cubic metres. Mildly dissapointed.
 
V

Vitacat

Member
Unknown Soldier said:
All joking aside, I don't really think Galaxy looked really much better than Sunshine. More shader effects maybe, but having everything on planetoids undoubtedly reduced geometry density.
Click to expand...
Galaxy was, and is, gorgeous. The only thing it lacks is resolution. Would sure be nice to have an official 1080p Switch remaster.
Personally, Sunshine was just OK. Galaxy is a much better game, and also to me, better looking too.
 
C

cultureculture

Member
Maximo said:
I prefer the Dragon Ball Z System.
large.jpg
Click to expand...

In this example, the PS3 is likened to the first form of Frieza, with a power level of 530,000.

530,000 / 230 (PS3 GFLOPS from the first post) comes to 2,304 power level per GFLOP, rounded.

This puts the GameCube's power level at about 21,600, which is roughly equivalent to Vegeta (18,000) and Nappa (4,000) duct-taped together, using their power levels at the time of the Saiyan Invasion of Earth.

Source:
http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_power_levels
 
RoadHazard

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Unknown Soldier said:
All joking aside, I don't really think Galaxy looked really much better than Sunshine. More shader effects maybe, but having everything on planetoids undoubtedly reduced geometry density.
Click to expand...

The castle intro is a bit more complex, and looks far better than anything in Sunshine.
 
W

Water

Member
Unknown Soldier said:
And here's the big one:

GTX 1080 Ti = 11.34 TFLOPS = 11,340 GFLOPS / 9.4 = 1,206.38 GC's

That's a whole fucking lot of GameCubes, people! More than 1,200 GameCubes duct-taped together!

If you haven't figured out by now that this post isn't being serious, I feel sorry for you.
Click to expand...
What do you mean this is not serious? You're doing a public service with this thread. I'm considering whether to upgrade to a 1070 or a 1080 Ti, and the thought I'm getting around 1.5 Gamecubes for every euro in the price of the Ti is helping to make the price feel more palatable. :)
 
Correctomundo

Correctomundo

Member
I'm going to use GameCubes to measure everything from now on. Why not?

"I put 75,835 GCS on the car just commuting today!"

"Can you go to the store and get me a GC of milk?"

"Oh no, girlfriend. You don't want none of that half a GC thang he's sportin'."
 
S

Slick Butter

Member
Ha, I do this sometimes if one of my buddies online is wondering how powerful some device is compared to another (comes up quite a bit). I know it's not necessarily a good point of reference, but FLOPS are so fun!
 
S

spekkeh

Banned
AmyS said:
Silicon Graphics Onyx RealityEngine2

jkFRdPw.jpg


540 MFLOPS per GE board (4x) = 2.16 GFLOPS

GameCube = 4.35 Onyx RE2's


KYtZpUf.png


:D
Click to expand...
Oh damn I remember these things. I kind of chose my university based on the amount of SGI machines they had. Blows my mind to think a gamecube was 4 SGI Onyces(sp?) ducttaped together.
 
A

AmyS

Member
spekkeh said:
Oh damn I remember these things. I kind of chose my university based on the amount of SGI machines they had. Blows my mind to think a gamecube was 4 SGI Onyces(sp?) ducttaped together.
Click to expand...

Just counting the graphics side of things (RealityEngine2).

The CPUs were 1 to 4 MIPS R4400s. Not sure how those compare to GameCube's PowerPC 750CXe based "Gekko".
 
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