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Xbox 2 Architecture Documented, Almost 2004-Launched?

Posted by simoniker on from the pretty-diagrams dept.

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'."

2 of 100 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Headstart? Just like sega! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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).

    The dreamcast's US launch went way better than expected - $110M in the first 3 days, retail.

    "While one week's sales do not make a system a success, Dreamcast is off to an excellent start,"

    - Ed Roth, president of NPD Leisure Activities
    September, 1999

    And software sales (or piracy for that matter) were not why the dreamcast failed - Sega would not have dropped it to go exclusively into the software biz if that were the case. Nope, Dreamcast failed for one simple reason - Sega launched it while the company was in debt. No console can be sustained without massive cash reserves, not in a market where multinational corporations are competing. Sony and Microsoft can afford to sell their consoles at a loss. So can Nintendo, to a lesser degree. Sega, post-Saturn, could not.

    Xbox 2 will do just fine, because Microsoft is backing it. Microsoft is not Sega. That is the crucial difference.

  2. it could be real, but who knows? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Couple bullets for the speculative monkeys...

    - It's *likely* not 3 CPUs but one CPU with 3 cores (each with it's own L1 cache).

    - at 65 nanometers the cpu will cost less to manufacture than even the current 180nm XBOX CPU. (assuming the transistor count is less than 3x)

    - 3.5 GHz is a conservative speed for a 65 nanometer CPU. It will still require active cooling (i.e. a fan on the heatsink) but it should be able to run RELATIVELY cool at that speed if the 65nm process tech is good. Note that intel will be running 65nm chips at 5+ Ghz in the same timeframe (2005).

    - lastly the dude going on about the virtual graphics memory... I don't know how you figured that had something to do with broadband, but it doesn't. It's a feature of DirectX 10.

    This document looks reasonable, albeit old... because MS has likely known their harddisk plan for many months... so if it was a recent doc... it would have finalized the HD info.

    Between the super powerful CPU and wicked fast graphics courtesy of ATI's custom R500... both the Xenon and the PS3 will be close enough in technology and performance people should really be choosing the system based on the games. (Cause god knows the price will be the same) ;)
    GrandTrain