AMD GPU will power all 3 major next gen consoles?

[RussianSensation]

I predict Nvidia will be the GPU supplier to Sony. Nvidia will give Sony a deal they can't refuse, even if it means losing a bit of money in the process. Nvidia can't afford to take the PR hit, and can't afford to be locked out of the next-gen consolescape from a platform/software perspective.

I don't think it matters at all.

1) Hardly any console consumers know what GPU is inside their console. Even if they do, they hardly care as long as the graphics are satisfactory and the system is stable.

2) From a software/platform perspective, again it hardly matters. Wii U and Xbox360 had non-NV based GPUs. PS3 is therefore less than 1/3 of the market place. It's not like it would have made any difference if PS3 had an NV or an AMD GPU. Console games are coded directly to the hardware. So it doesn't really matter since on the PC you have to optimize differently as a result of API level overhead. These optimizations matters more when developers work directly with NV/AMD. If NV continues to pour $ and work directly with developers on new generation of games, they'll still run faster on their hardware (ala Crysis 2, Civ 5 etc.) than on AMDs no matter what GPUs are found in the consoles. Console ports won't really be demanding anyway (so they'll run fast enough on AMD/NV hardware).

 

[AnandThenMan]

Good points, I may have to reconsider my opinion on the importance of being in the next consoles, aside from the profit factor.

 

[PingviN]

Good points, I may have to reconsider my opinion on the importance of being in the next consoles, aside from the profit factor.

Getting better connections to Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo along with game developers is probably worth a lot too.

 

[Dribble]

It's all about the money - the cost of developing a custom console gpu has to be less then the money you are paid for it by MS/Sony/Nintendo. Those companies will drive a very hard bargain. They will offer both AMD and Nvidia the business and the one with the cheapest deal wins.

I strongly suspect because nvidia have more to keep them busy - telsa/tegra/denver in particular - they really aren't so bothered about side tracking their engineers to win a low profit console deal. Sure they will compete and if they got offered a good enough return they would take it, but if it comes to cut-throat margins they'll let AMD have the business.

And it does side track engineers - look at what happened after the xbox came out - nvidia released the infamous FX series. After the xbox 360 ati released the equally infamous 2900. Nvidia really only escaped with the Sony PS3 because it was a last minute rush job for Sony and they put little effort in, basically offering a 7800 GT with minor tweaks, not a whole new architecture like Ati offered MS with the Xbox 360.

 

[ZimZum]

Good points, I may have to reconsider my opinion on the importance of being in the next consoles, aside from the profit factor.

But the profit factor is a pretty large one. The Wii alone has close to 90 million consoles sold. And thats not a mere licensing deal like they have with MS. AMD is actually responsible for the manufacturing of the GPUs.

 

[zephyrprime]

If the RROD problems were ATI / AMD's fault, why did Microsoft fork the bill to pay?

Do people really think a company like Microsoft would have paid for the costs of replacing those faulty Xbox 360s themselves, if the fault lies with ATI / AMD?

Contrast that with the many laptop manufacturers who had bumb gate problems, and it was NVIDIA who had to pay for the replacements regardless of the manufacturer of the laptops.

This is a very good point. MS would definitely have sued if they had any chance of winning. Also, it's pr if you can pin the blame on someone else. Look at how BP sued their suppliers and contractors over the oil spill in the gulf from last year.

 

[Chinoman]

This is a very good point. MS would definitely have sued if they had any chance of winning. Also, it's pr if you can pin the blame on someone else. Look at how BP sued their suppliers and contractors over the oil spill in the gulf from last year.

Yeah. I thought the issue was the chip coming unsoldered from the board due to heat. If they only supplied the chips I don't know how much blame you could put on them.

 

[cotak13]

This is a very good point. MS would definitely have sued if they had any chance of winning. Also, it's pr if you can pin the blame on someone else. Look at how BP sued their suppliers and contractors over the oil spill in the gulf from last year.

It's not just lawyers involved in these sort of thing. The lawyers don't do anything unless told. And Microsoft's engineers aren't going to send their lawyers after AMD/ATI if there's no reason. So it's likely because no one ever heard of any compensation between the two companies that the issue was firmly on MS's side and they did as any engineers would do when it's your fault, you fix it yourself.

I don't know if this rumour is true but I can see it being so simply from the power point of view. We all know the new console's not going to break any new ground on graphics. There's no real point to it seeing as people are buying the consoles and their games without any improvements over the many years.

And seeing as consoles don't need the complexity of FEMI cause honestly who needs GPGPU for consoles? It wouldn't surprise me at all if the rumour is actually true. With the last 2 generation AMD/ATI have just been making parts that are suited to such embedded applications.

 

[taltamir]

overall i consider it good news... This will severely hamper physX adoption. If nvidia had secured all 3 contracts then we would be seeing physX become a standard found in every game, a closed proprietary standard that nvidia is already trying to milk

 

[Saico]

http://www.examiner.com/game-news-i...-graphics-will-look-like-avatar#ixzz1SMcwzkyy

AMD indirectly confirms rumours about xbox 720 being amd powered.

 

[Red Hawk]

Ok, no...I highly doubt the next Xbox will have the detail level of Avatar. Not when it takes 3 GTX 580s to run the Samaritan demo which, while good, isn't on the level of Avatar.

 

[toyota]

Ok, no...I highly doubt the next Xbox will have the detail level of Avatar. Not when it takes 3 GTX 580s to run the Samaritan demo which, while good, isn't on the level of Avatar.

that's exactly what I thought when I first heard that nonsense yesterday.

 

[AnandThenMan]

Wait, I see what's going on here. AMD is going to supply the GPU for Sony, so now AMD has started having delusions of grandeur, and making marketing statements Sony style. :sneaky:

 

[-Slacker-]

Avatar-like graphics? You mean the 720 gpu will be able to render several dozen times per second what, less than 2 years ago, would have required multi work station gpus to render at 1 frame per half an hour?

...Journalism....pshhh

 

[beginner99]

This is a very good point. MS would definitely have sued if they had any chance of winning.

Probably, maybe.

But further down the Road, hence for XBox 3, would you think AMD would like to offer MS another product after they were sued? Probably not, hence MS would have to run to NV and since NV knows all this they can sell their GPU at a higher than normal price.

 

[zephyrprime]

Probably, maybe.

But further down the Road, hence for XBox 3, would you think AMD would like to offer MS another product after they were sued? Probably not, hence MS would have to run to NV and since NV knows all this they can sell their GPU at a higher than normal price.

Samsung is still offering products to apple even though they've been sued so yes, I think AMD will still offer products to MS even after they're sued. There would be some difficulties of course.