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Under the Hood of the Xbox 360
An anonymous reader writes "IBM DeveloperWorks is running a behind the design story for the making of the Xbox 360. The 360 has but a single chip with 165 million transistors for it's CPU " From the article: "This chip is in fact a three-way symmetric multiprocessor design. The three PowerPC cores are identical, except that they are physically reflected through the X and Y axis. Each of the CPU cores is a specialized PowerPC chip with a VMX128 extension related to (and partially compatible with) the VMX instructions in the G4 and G5 CPUs. The three CPU cores share a 1MB Level2 cache. Each processor has 32KB each of data and instruction Level1 cache. The chip's front-side bus/physical interface has a 21.6GB/second bandwidth, and runs at 5.4GHz."
I guess I just dont see anything too interesting about the design of the 360. Its a bunch of off the shelf parts put into a box.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
Are there any reasons to get an Xbox 360 over PS3? Seriously. Are there any reasons to get an Xbox 360 over the original Xbox aside from graphical performance?
The answer to both questions is "no".
PS3 will have better graphical performance, up to 2x. High definition. Blu-ray. Up to 7 wireless controllers - those actually mean something. Xbox 360, will just have improved graphics over the original Xbox.
From Top 10 Reasons to Buy an Xbox 360: (ign.com)
10. First-Party Exclusive Games
9. Wireless Controllers
8. The Xbox 360 Launch Lineup
7. Backward Compatibility
6. Xbox Live Arcade
5. Impressive Graphic Power at Good Prices
4. Multimedia Hub
3. Xbox Live Marketplace
2. GamerCards
1. The Next Generation Now
10, 8: Subjective. PS3 will come out with games that are just as good, perhaps better.
9: Already have them in the current generation of consoles. PS3 will have 7 of them.
7: PS3 will be fully backwards compatible with PS2 and PS1, Xbox 360 is compatible with only *some* Xbox games.
6, 3, 2: Who gives a ****.
5: PS3 will have better graphics in high definition. Maybe during it's lifetime, High Definition prices will drop sharply, just like LCDs have.
4: Sony, being the #1 home entertainment company, will have that as well obviously.
1: Yeah you can get it now, but you're basically just getting a graphical upgrade to your existing Xbox. The PS3 is more "next generation" than XBox 360 is. Microsoft is trying to shorten the time between releases of new consoles, and that is bad for consumers overall. 4 years is a short time for the lifespan of a console.
Microsoft also has a history of buying out top software companies and pushing the rest out of business through anti-competitive practices. Sony at least keeps their competition afloat.
All in all, the "Top 10 reasons for a PS3" are better than the "Top 10 for Xbox 360". However, I would wait for both PS3 and Revolution to come out before buying. Nintendo Revolution has some intriguing technology that could enhance gameplay dramatically. The new input mechanism has alot of potential. Not to mention being able to download all of Nintendo's games for the past 20 years.
If you desperately need to buy something now, I'd buy a GameCube. It's dirt cheap, less than $100, and you can always pass it off to your kids, or younger siblings, cousins after you're done with it and decide what you want to buy next year when all 3 next-gen consoles are out.
You can't buy a 360 with fake money. All you can get in Canadia is maple syrup and hockey sticks.
You're still comparing apples to oranges.
This is about the CPU. You can't find a quad core CPU at 3.5ghz for 300 bucks yet alone a console with 512 megs ram, the worlds fastest GPU and a quad core 3.5ghz CPU with a backplane and interconnect speed to boot for 300 bucks. I could care less if ms is loosing 100+ per console that still makes it cheaper then i can get a dual core cpu today.
Comparing that to the NES is like saying console should always be 8 but cartridge based machies. The nintendo found a niche and created a market that they have long since been able to succeed in. However that market has never been defigned until today and if you would rather preach proprietary hardware as being cool and a console built from somewhat reliable and existing technology as a pc in a smaller case then that is your own misconception to deal with. Even the NES is just a "pc" dedicated to gaming.
Show me where i can get a quad (or even dual) 3.5 PC with 512 megs ram an ATI 1800 video card, USB, 20 gig hard drive for 300 bucks.
Hype? the 360 is out, check out the graphics yourself. Try and pick one up before you hypothetically compare things the way you think they are because of whatever bias you have.