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Xbox 2 Architecture Documented, Almost 2004-Launched?
An anonymous reader writes "Over at Xbit Labs, they seem to have new information on the Xbox 2 hardware specs, evidently originating from China, although the date and veracity of the document can't be confirmed. Noteworthy is the inclusion of (3) 3.5GHz CPUs [some say a 3-core CPU?], only 10 MB of dedicated graphics memory, and the undecided comments on whether the hard drive is 'built in'. The high speed bus to the GPU and the small amount of video memory point directly at Microsoft's upcoming DirectX Next, which will supposedly feature virtual graphics memory." Elsewhere, Gamaroo writes "Gamesindustry.biz is reporting that Microsoft originally wanted to release Xbox 2 for Christmas 2004. However, the new system has since slipped from schedule, but the piece claims Microsoft hopes to release the new console in mid-2005, to get ' a full year's head-start on Sony's PS3, and possibly even more'."
THe headstart means nothing without a completely killer app. The dreamcast beat sony by a year and it was twelves months of people saying "I'll wait and see what sony comes out with" not because they couldn't afford more than one system over the year, but because there was no killer that every one had to have (Halo, MGS, Zelda, etc).
:)
What either MS or Nintendo have to do is come out with there systems with some very nice launch or near launch games, and heavily push a good line up. thats the only chance they have in the next round.
Of course I didn't own any of the current gen systems till I got a GameCube back in december, so I really am not the best to comment on console systems
"Unless they are *severely* stripped G5s, I wouldn't expect much past 2.5GHz in these things."
It's hard to say. Microsoft might be willing to take an embarrasing loss on these systems just to beat Sony to market. They're a big enough company, they'll risk it. It'd either reallly pay off or really be a huge loss. Hard to say. Frankly, I'm not sure that Sony's being first to market was everything to their success. Afterall, Dreamcast beat them there, and graphically it wasn't substantially inferior to the PS2. They were still eclipsed pretty fast.
"Derp de derp."
Now, I know MS has been eating a loss, but the things that are being talked about for this thing are ridiculous.
They are not going to put 3 3.5ghz G5s in there. Not unless they want it to be the size of a tower to fit stuff in there to cool it.
The things people believe these days are really amusing.
--Moo.
If microsoft has a license to produce the chips, and hires IBM to do it, they won't necessarily pay a premium, and IBM gets essentially an enormous subsidy to their chip making and don't have to worry about competition unless people figure out how to make clusters of Xbox2's. With some of the heat transport techniques, and the thermal properties of the G5, it's within the realm of realistic.
Either way, there are Sony excutives that are concerned about the development.
3 3.5 Ghz Chips.
This wouldn't even fit right in a mid-tower. On top of that...how the hell are you going to cool this? And what unheard of power supply are you going to have in this?
Furthermore...even pricing these at say what a present day Intel 2.8Ghz chip costs...that's like freaking $900 of CPU right there. You honestly don't think someone isn't going to figure out how to bust that puppy open strip out the CPUs and start using them for other non X-Box purposes if you sell the console at $300-$400?
This doesn't even get into the 65nm manufacturing, and all, nor for that matter the fact that there still isn't any software for the damn thing. It sounds like Microsoft was like, "Well, if everyone bought the "leaked" doc about not having a hard drive, maybe they'll buy this "leaked" doc about these insane specs for the X-box and get all hyped about it.
This is a bunch of crap. I'll be shocked if the machine has *1* 3.5Ghz 65nm chip in it.
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You will win the battle by offering an experience on your console that is highly desirable and can't be played anywhere else. Next-gen hardware is just a way to hedge your bets in that area.
It's been said before, and it'll be said until they come up with a catchier phrase- it's software that drives this thing.
Every target market teenager I know who bought a PS2 to play GTA III doesn't know the hardware difference between the PS2 and the Xbox any more than they know who the President is.
Bleeding edge hardware doesn't guarantee that one-in-a-million type software experience, but if these specs are true I certainly wouldn't bet against Microsoft pulling one out.
My bold, ridiculous prediction: Live enabled Halo 3 on Xbox 2 will make the competitive FPS more popular than NASCAR and the NFL put together. Of course, I could be wrong...
I fully expect the XBox 2 will be on-par with midrange PC games of the same time.
I remember when the XBox itself was announced, sporting the new DX8 compliant predecessor to the GF3. Way in advance of the GF2 boards that were in the top of the range PC's.
By the time the XBox hit the shelves, however, the top of the line PC's were all using GF3 Ti500's which were significantly faster than the XBox's embedded solution.
In parallel, the XBox 2, in it's unannounced form, is shaping up to be faster than the current PC's on the market. When it's on shelves, it will be just behind the pack as usual.
What I'm more interested in is the much less predictable Sony Cell processor(s). Unfortunately all we've had from Sony about these is the magical cancer curing properties from the marketing department. 10 times faster than a contemporary desktop CPU, was it?
The Cell will make or break Sony. And in order to break Sony, it just has to be that little bit slower or more awkward than the XBox's processing solution.
I am government man, come from the government. The government has sent me. -- G.I.R.
I don't get why everyone thinks this diagram is so outlandish... are your expectations that low?
It's a 3 core CPU... big deal... 65 nanometer tech is almost exactly 1/3 the size of the current Xbox cpu's tech... and they decided the real estate is best spent by having 3 cores.
Secondly, why are you up in arms over 3.5GHz? The fastest intel cpus will be much faster than that at launch time... just like how they were faster than current 733MHz Xbox cpu when it launched.
~256MB of main RAM is expected, and ~10MB of embedded Video RAM is expected too, hell they have embedded ram in the GameCube. Not 10MB of it, but that's what's required for an anti-aliased HDTV frame.
I tend to think the document is real only because everything *IS* so achievable. I don't know... maybe I'm missing something but that design looks do-able, elegant and fast... I'd expect nothing less from the combined efforts of IBM and Microsoft.
2005 will be an interesting year.
GrandTrain