Intel GPU in the PS4?

nosfe

Senior member
Aug 8, 2007
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on the other hand, it wouldn't be the first time that sony denied rumors that turned out to be true
 

thilanliyan

Lifer
Jun 21, 2005
12,065
2,278
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Despite being denied by Sony, I can see this actually making sense. Intel has deep pockets (and would probably pay Sony handsomely for the CPU/GPU rights to PS4) and if they want to get a foothold in the GPU business a console is not a bad way to go.
 

nosfe

Senior member
Aug 8, 2007
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what i'm hoping for is that the consoles will use x86 style CPU's with GPU's that more closely resemble what we have in desktops so that porting games back and forth would be extremely easy so instead of spending money on porting the code they'll spend the money to make sure that the console games ported to the PC will have proper menus/controls/etc
 

BFG10K

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
22,709
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I really can't see Sony committing to such untried technology.
 

Idontcare

Elite Member
Oct 10, 1999
21,110
64
91
Originally posted by: BFG10K
I really can't see Sony committing to such untried technology.

Who says it's untried? End-consumers like you and me, sure we haven't tried it. But if Sony really went with Larrabee then you can bet they've already tried it in-house and are pleased enough with the preliminary results.

Originally posted by: thilan29
Despite being denied by Sony, I can see this actually making sense.

When I read TheINQ link last night I though "more of groo's crazy anti-Nvidia rants"...but once Sony went out of their way to deny the rumor, well nothing could have confirmed it any more so. Sony denying a rumor is a 100% guarantee it is the truth.

Have people learned nothing about Sony these past 3 yrs? They are nearly as consistent as AMD when it comes to denying rumors that are actually true.
 

Wreckage

Banned
Jul 1, 2005
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Even though this is clearly more made up Inq delusions, it probably belongs in the console section.
 

SlowSpyder

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
17,305
1,002
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Originally posted by: Idontcare
Originally posted by: BFG10K
I really can't see Sony committing to such untried technology.

Who says it's untried? End-consumers like you and me, sure we haven't tried it. But if Sony really went with Larrabee then you can bet they've already tried it in-house and are pleased enough with the preliminary results.

Originally posted by: thilan29
Despite being denied by Sony, I can see this actually making sense.

When I read TheINQ link last night I though "more of groo's crazy anti-Nvidia rants"...but once Sony went out of their way to deny the rumor, well nothing could have confirmed it any more so. Sony denying a rumor is a 100% guarantee it is the truth.

Have people learned nothing about Sony these past 3 yrs? They are nearly as consistent as AMD when it comes to denying rumors that are actually true.

Yea, we'll see how this turns out. I'm curious to see if The Inq gets this right or not. While their stories are often not 100% correct, they are often pointed in the right direction so to speak.
 

thilanliyan

Lifer
Jun 21, 2005
12,065
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Originally posted by: Wreckage
Even though this is clearly more made up Inq delusions, it probably belongs in the console section.

It has to do with a technical GPU aspect of the console though. I'm fairly certain I've seen similar threads about Xenon or RSX before in this forum.
 

Barfo

Lifer
Jan 4, 2005
27,539
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It seems Nvidia has proverbially bent Sony over like they did MS on the XBox, and are not really welcome there any more.

Anyone know what is this about?
 

Wreckage

Banned
Jul 1, 2005
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Originally posted by: barfo
It seems Nvidia has proverbially bent Sony over like they did MS on the XBox, and are not really welcome there any more.

Anyone know what is this about?

Charlie likes to write fiction and pass it off as fact.
 

alcoholbob

Diamond Member
May 24, 2005
6,389
468
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This would actually be kind of cool really since you have to consider that all the flagship games are console games anyway and the AAA titles that were PC-exclusive years ago are all multiplatform.

Consoles can actually drive multithreading. If it was just the PC industry you'd probably only see dual-threaded games for an eternity whereas a lot of the console ports these days actually take advantage of quads.
 

taltamir

Lifer
Mar 21, 2004
13,576
6
76
Originally posted by: nosfe
what i'm hoping for is that the consoles will use x86 style CPU's with GPU's that more closely resemble what we have in desktops so that porting games back and forth would be extremely easy so instead of spending money on porting the code they'll spend the money to make sure that the console games ported to the PC will have proper menus/controls/etc

They wont, they will just pocket the extra money and call it a day.
Keep in mind that if they license the unreal engine it already works on both PCs and consoles, so there is nothing really to port, only thing to do is change the menus, which they always skimp on.
 

Lonyo

Lifer
Aug 10, 2002
21,938
6
81
Originally posted by: barfo
It seems Nvidia has proverbially bent Sony over like they did MS on the XBox, and are not really welcome there any more.

Anyone know what is this about?

In 2002, Microsoft and NVIDIA entered arbitration over a dispute on the pricing of NVIDIA's chips for the Xbox.[11] NVIDIA's filing with the SEC indicated that Microsoft was seeking a US$13 million discount on shipments for NVIDIA's fiscal year 2002. Additionally, Microsoft alleged violations of the agreement the two companies entered, sought reduced chipset pricing, and sought to ensure that NVIDIA fulfill Microsoft's chipset orders without limits on quantity. The matter was settled on February 6, 2003, and no terms of the settlement were released.[12]

http://www.eetimes.com/news/se...ml;?articleID=10803514
http://www.eetimes.com/news/la...tml?articleID=10800974
 

SickBeast

Lifer
Jul 21, 2000
14,377
19
81
IMO this is very bad news for Sony and the PS4.

Larabee is unproven technology, and IMO it will be inferior to what AMD and NV have.

Sony used to make good consoles. The PS and PS2 were both fantasic, and IIRC, they created their own custom "emotion engine" graphics components.

AMD seems to make the best console GPUs ATM. Xbox3 FTW. :beer:
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
126
It's a bad idea to switch from Cell + nvidia.

If they follow Nintendo's lead and just duct-tape 2 PS3s together (add cores to Cell and a newer nvidia chip) then they start the PS4's life with a mature set of tools, while publishers and studios have experience, engines and code libraries working and tested.

Duct-taping also allows getting the PS3 version of titles "for free" when you build the PS4 version: just re-complile with diferent build flags, such as rendering at 640p instead of the 1080p the PS4 will finally allow.
 

chizow

Diamond Member
Jun 26, 2001
9,537
2
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Originally posted by: nosfe
so how "tried" were the Xenon or the Cell?
They're actually both based on existing RISC processors, which have always been better than their general-purpose long instruction set x86 counterparts for gaming consoles.

I'd say the only way this has any chance of being true is if Intel buys ATI from AMD in its final death throes. Latest news out of Intel for Larrabee have not been good, and even worst for their integrated GPU/CPU.
 

taltamir

Lifer
Mar 21, 2004
13,576
6
76
Originally posted by: SickBeast
IMO this is very bad news for Sony and the PS4.

Larabee is unproven technology, and IMO it will be inferior to what AMD and NV have.

Sony used to make good consoles. The PS and PS2 were both fantasic, and IIRC, they created their own custom "emotion engine" graphics components.

AMD seems to make the best console GPUs ATM. Xbox3 FTW. :beer:

I can't possibly imagine HOW. The sony is currently running a cell processor, where there is 1 CPU like core and 8 larabee like cores... replacing it with something capable of x86 code means it has the same structure only much easier to program for.

Besides, every single new technology ever made is by definition untested when it is first made, by the time it is thoroughly tested it is obsolete. This is more of a "does intel have the experience and knowledge to actually BUILD a GPU or are they just taking on a contract that they cannot fulfill".
The answer is most likely:
1. if they cannot fulfill it sony will benefit greatly from the "unable to fulfill" clause of the contract
2. they most likely can fulfill it because they have the money to hire competent engineers, programmers, etc who can create it...
 

SickBeast

Lifer
Jul 21, 2000
14,377
19
81
Originally posted by: taltamir
Originally posted by: SickBeast
IMO this is very bad news for Sony and the PS4.

Larabee is unproven technology, and IMO it will be inferior to what AMD and NV have.

Sony used to make good consoles. The PS and PS2 were both fantasic, and IIRC, they created their own custom "emotion engine" graphics components.

AMD seems to make the best console GPUs ATM. Xbox3 FTW. :beer:

I can't possibly imagine HOW. The sony is currently running a cell processor, where there is 1 CPU like core and 8 larabee like cores... replacing it with something capable of x86 code means it has the same structure only much easier to program for.

Besides, every single new technology ever made is by definition untested when it is first made, by the time it is thoroughly tested it is obsolete. This is more of a "does intel have the experience and knowledge to actually BUILD a GPU or are they just taking on a contract that they cannot fulfill".
The answer is most likely:
1. if they cannot fulfill it sony will benefit greatly from the "unable to fulfill" clause of the contract
2. they most likely can fulfill it because they have the money to hire competent engineers, programmers, etc who can create it...

I guess I just fail to see how a bunch of puny Atom-like CPUs can somehow emulate a GPU and run somewhat fast. I just don't like the direction intel is going with; Larabee does not look to be a good product to me. It's too radical. I don't know why Sony keeps going with radical designs lately.
 

tcsenter

Lifer
Sep 7, 2001
18,949
572
126
Cell is one of the best things going for PS3. The stream and distributed computing clients that PS3 is being used to reach top FLOP performance rankings hardly touch the GPU except for real-time visualization. They're running almost entirely on PPC + Cell.
 

mmnno

Senior member
Jan 24, 2008
381
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0
Originally posted by: BFG10K
I really can't see Sony committing to such untried technology.

As absurd as this statement sounds, you have to think Sony will go down a more conservative route this time around. Even though the PS3 wasn't a success, do they really want another radical architecture change in this market? Unless making games for it is as easy as making toast, they're going to stick with the known product for the PS4.