Wii U CPU and GPU Rendered in High-Res

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tomfreak

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I still have no idea why they clock the CPU at such low frequency. This isnt a mobile device, power consumption isnt an issue here.

higher power VRM and power components of the motherboard to supply the higher clock CPU + better CPU cooling isnt gonna cost another $50.
 

silverblue

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550MHz... that'd make this slower than a 4850 and only marginally faster than the 4830, assuming it had the full 800 shaders. From what I've heard though, it's far closer to Llano in specs.
 

tipoo

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I think more important than the clock speed is the size of the CPU. Anandtech measured it to be 30mm2, and we know it's made on a 45nm fab. That's about the size of a *single* core Atom, while this thing has three cores. The transistor budget per core is even lower than the 7 year old Xenon and Cell. So about a third the clock speed, and about a third the transistor budget, even Intel didn't get 9x the performance per transistor from 2006 to now.
 

tipoo

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[citation][nom]silverblue[/nom]550MHz... that'd make this slower than a 4850 and only marginally faster than the 4830, assuming it had the full 800 shaders. From what I've heard though, it's far closer to Llano in specs.[/citation]

Consensus on Neogaf seems to be 480 shaders or less, with the 32MB eDRAM on-die it's not big enough for 800 by far.
 

tipoo

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[citation][nom]Tomfreak[/nom]I still have no idea why they clock the CPU at such low frequency. This isnt a mobile device, power consumption isnt an issue here. higher power VRM and power components of the motherboard to supply the higher clock CPU + better CPU cooling isnt gonna cost another $50.[/citation]

Because it's Nintendo, that's why. Slightly higher clocks may not have cost much more, but they want to hit certain price points and they were already taking a small loss on Wii U hardware, and taking a loss on hardware isn't Nintendos style. They got to a level where it can get most ports from the 360/ps3 gen, and that's good enough for them, forget about next gen. Same strategy as the Wii.

I do agree though, I'd rather it draw 70 watts or even more for higher clocked parts and better cooling, the difference is like half a lightbulb, switch one off or to a CFL if it's the planet you're worried about.
 

matt_b

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This thing is so low-tech now, can you imagine how horrible games would look/play in 5 years? This is a very lackluster job on Nintendo's part; I cannot find any reason to root for them right now. Who cares about 33 watts TDP when the two processing units are running at 1230 and 550 MHz respectively - I hope consumption would be that low. So this would make it the Gamecube revision 3 console now correct? Unbelievable Nintendo........

[citation][nom]solomang[/nom]It is just me or is the Nexus 4 more powerful?[/citation]
I would at least bet money that when the Wii U gets towards EOL, most smartphones will probably be right there neck and neck with it on hardware capability.


 

tipoo

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[citation][nom]solomang[/nom]It is just me or is the Nexus 4 more powerful?[/citation]


I doubt it, but I think it's close enough that smartphones will close in within two or three years. They were already a generation or two away from beating the PS3 and 360 in raw performance, and the Wii U doesn't seem far from there. With the SGX Rogue series and Cortex 15s, I think phones will be close to the Wii U.

As for why it's not more powerful yet, remember that current ARM cores have pretty narrow front ends to save power, etc. And the GPUs are still not there by a quite a margin, current smartphone GPUs may hit 30Gflops, the Rogue series will hit the 200 the PS360 have.
 

Lyrick

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At the very least they're going to skip the whole overheating (RRoD/LYoD) fiascoes the current gen Platforms all went through. All Sony and MS proved this gen is that cramming Desktop and Server based CPU's into tiny little cases with little to no cooling will just put the consumer out $399 and/or $599 when the temperatures get high enough to melt the solder and disconnect internal components of the current gen platforms.
 

kawininjazx

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You can't get too wrapped up in numbers, hardware in game consoles is extremely customized and therefore make a lot better use of it's power. Compare the specs of an XBOX360 vs. a PC with the same specs (Pentium D/7600GT maybe), and then see how much better an XBOX runs the same game.
 

tipoo

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[citation][nom]Lyrick[/nom]At the very least they're going to skip the whole overheating (RRoD/LYoD) fiascoes the current gen Platforms all went through. All Sony and MS proved this gen is that cramming Desktop and Server based CPU's into tiny little cases with little to no cooling will just put the consumer out $399 and/or $599 when the temperatures get high enough to melt the solder and disconnect internal components of the current gen platforms.[/citation]


Not necessarily, the first revision PS3s had a pretty standard electronics failure rate, I think it was like 1-3%. Good design can offset high thermals. It was one of the quietest too. The 360 was just poorly designed, the GPU heatsink was tiny and under the DVD drive with low airflow, and the fans didn't directly touch the heatsinks at all, they just sucked air out the back of the case with some airflow over the heatsink as a result. The Wii U uses a similar method, but at far lower wattage.

I wouldn't mind if the next gen was also 200 watt boxes. Heck, so long as the reliability and fan noise were taken care of, I wouldn't care if they went higher. The power draw is still small beans compared to say all the lightbulbs in your house.
 

TeraMedia

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Mediocre performance
Oddball controller
Unfinished software/firmware
Questionable game offerings

IMO, there is an executive at Nintendo who should do the honorable thing and clear out his desk.
 
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