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[Redneckerz]

Courtesy of Tom's Hardware:

AMD's R1000 series come as BGA-mounted SoCs, meaning they won't install in a normal desktop PC motherboard, and feature Zen+ CPU cores paired with the Vega 3 graphics engine. This class of chips drops into any number of devices, like the handheld Smach Z gaming PC, the aforementioned Atari VCS, robots, digital signage, industrial, thin client, and networking equipment.

Ryzen R1000 - Banded Kestrel	TDP	Cores / Threads	Base / Boost Freq. (GHz)	GPU Compute Units (CU)	GPU Freq. (GHz)	L2 Cache	L3 Cache	Memory Support	Dual Ethernet Ports
R1606G	12W - 25W	2 / 4	3.5 / 2.6	3	1.2	1MB	4MB	Dual-Channel DDR4-2400	10Gb
R1505G	12W - 25W	2 / 4	3.3 / 2.4	3	1.0	1MB	4MB	Dual-Channel DDR4-2400	10Gb

Roughly this is a Ryzen 3 3200U. Here is some testing with the Ryzen 2200U which also has Vega 3 and dual core, so you can have a rough impression of the performance. 720p current-gen titles seem alright, PS360 gen games will fare better. Its clearly in the performance bracket of a Switch Docked. Likely Atari chose one of these models because of their 10 year support and availabilty that you get with the AMD Embedded series.






(I like how the new table function can copy tables from the other sites. Thank you for this feature.)

 

[Redneckerz]

I just reminded that i did make a thread about this with its desktop equivalent, the Athlon 200GE. See this thread for more info.

 

[EctoPrime]

What exactly is the Atari Vcs? Is it just some Linux based low tier laptop hardware that will autoboot to an Atari store front end inside a console type shell.

The hardware specs could end up something like below.

Cpu: R1505g
Ram: 4GB embedded plus optional ram expansion for dual channel.
Storage: 32GB emmc plus USB3 for external drives.

Seems like an extreme overkill to run old Atari roms so I would guess all of the marketing would show modern games running.

 

[Redneckerz]

I only see this now:

What exactly is the Atari Vcs? Is it just some Linux based low tier laptop hardware that will autoboot to an Atari store front end inside a console type shell.

Its a small, relatively cheap (199 dollars for the Onyx edition) PC running a Ryzen R-series APU which is an embedded CPU for longevity support purposes running Linux on a customized frontend. However, it is possible to install Windows, from what i recall.

Cpu: R1505g
Ram: 4GB embedded plus optional ram expansion for dual channel.
Storage: 32GB emmc plus USB3 for external drives.

VCS has 8 GB DDR4, so the Vega 3 can be equipped with 2 GB max VRAM without issues. Lets be honest, you won't be 4k gaming with this, but PS360 ERA games should run quite well, and even more modern titles would do alright if you target 720p.

Seems like an extreme overkill to run old Atari roms so I would guess all of the marketing would show modern games running.

That among other things is what it can be used for. Personally, i would forfeit Linux, unless you want to play only the Steam games with Linux versions on it (Which is still quite a lot) and go for Windows, and then it will be an ideal indie machines to all those Steam shooters that usually target lower grade systems,

For that purpose, the VCS is a relatively brilliant way of going at it. Plus, its hard pressed to find a comparable PC build with 8 GB DDR4 in that form factor for 199. Its inbetween a Switch and Xbox One, which means that you can play quite a few games on it, as long as you keep your expectations in check.

 

[DESTROYA]

I don’t care for anything made by Atari today but I do care for these embedded R series APU’s, personally I’m more excited about the GPD WIN MAX that has been rumored to have the R 1606G, basically it’s small form factor laptop like netbooks from years back but with built in gaming controls.

 

[somerset]

These are *not* PC type computer device chips, as in tablet or lappies. They are for instrumentation, fruit machines and the like. They lack the SoC support for most everything a modern computer needs.

In a 'console' emulator- with no need for external anything, they are fine- and more importantly are the cheapest option. Emulators run on ARM but are usually coded optimally for the x86. An ARM version would be cheaper and use less power, but fanboys are happy to pay excessive amounts for these retro-consoles today.

The performance of these chips will *not* be like their apparent PC targeted big brothers, cos these embedded parts are *power constrained*. The paper specs are *not* the point. The targeted power profile is.

Indeed, for battery powered PC usage, mobile AMD *still* struggles compared to standard Intel+Nvidia solutions. We all hope with the next gen of 7nm TSMC APU parts from AMD, that AMD finally gets this aspect of their business right.

Of course, mains powered, and AMD APUs rule over anything from Intel with iGPU. But that's not a helpful victory today.

 

[Redneckerz]

I don’t care for anything made by Atari today but I do care for these embedded R series APU’s, personally I’m more excited about the GPD WIN MAX that has been rumored to have the R 1606G, basically it’s small form factor laptop like netbooks from years back but with built in gaming controls.

Similar to the Smach Z, but its going to drive a bigger screen, so it inevitably becomes bigger than a usual handheld.

If its workable though, then you get a handheld that could run current-gen titles at 720p, at the very least. I just fear the price will be insane considering the portability.

These are *not* PC type computer device chips, as in tablet or lappies. They are for instrumentation, fruit machines and the like. They lack the SoC support for most everything a modern computer needs.

In a 'console' emulator- with no need for external anything, they are fine- and more importantly are the cheapest option. Emulators run on ARM but are usually coded optimally for the x86. An ARM version would be cheaper and use less power, but fanboys are happy to pay excessive amounts for these retro-consoles today.

The performance of these chips will *not* be like their apparent PC targeted big brothers, cos these embedded parts are *power constrained*. The paper specs are *not* the point. The targeted power profile is.

That's why they are Embedded.
This is a little more than just a retro console like a Classic.
The performance wattage is definable, 15-35 watts. Its more about the speed of the onboard memory since it is shared with the GPU.

Indeed, for battery powered PC usage, mobile AMD *still* struggles compared to standard Intel+Nvidia solutions. We all hope with the next gen of 7nm TSMC APU parts from AMD, that AMD finally gets this aspect of their business right.

Of course, mains powered, and AMD APUs rule over anything from Intel with iGPU. But that's not a helpful victory today.

Intel may have surpreme multimedia support in their GPU's, performance wise AMD is the only reasonable option. As for battery usage, i am not sure what that has to do with the VCS.

 

[alabtrosMyster]

What exactly is the Atari Vcs? Is it just some Linux based...

Well, what do you think most everything that isn't on windows runs these days? It's either Linux or some variant of BSD (like the PlayStation 3/4 if I'm not mistaken)... And well it makes plenty of sense, since your development team can customize it however they need/want without having to ask permission.

As for the rest of the hardware, it may be plenty for modern 2d games (like the switch is) and overkill to emulate any hardware Atari ever released.

I think that this hardware is pretty impressive given the market they may aim for. It would be crazy for them to even look like they are trying to compete soecs wise to the ps4/pro or any model of the xbo, this is probably not where they want to compete, it would be very risky, expensive, and foolish.

So I'm pretty happy with those specs.