Playstation 4 using PowerVR-gpu?

[MarcVenice]

http://fgnonline.webs.com/

This website claims to have 2 exclusives. They know what cpu the PS4 will be using, but they also claim to know what gpu the PS4 will be using.

"IMGTEC's PowerVR technology uses an advance technique called TBDR which can outperform a competing IMR product from nVidia/ATi by 3-5 fold whilst maintaining equal die size and price point. TBDR was the primary reason the SEGA DreamCast was capable of such astonishing graphical feats as early as 1998."

This sounds to good to be true? Can anyone shed some light on this?

 

[Painman]

I recall the name PowerVR. TBDR sounded pretty cool, but it never really took off. Wiki.

It fared better than Glaze3D, if that's saying anything.

 

[lopri]

Does this mean Sony saw no hope in Larrabee? Thought Intel was working hard to get in the console business.

 

[MarcVenice]

I just figured that it was quite a bold claim, 3/5 times more performance on the same die size? If they can put something powerfull enough into a ps4, they can release something for desktops, no?

 

[lopri]

NVM. Wrong post.

 

[BFG10K]

I just figured that it was quite a bold claim, 3/5 times more performance on the same die size? If they can put something powerfull enough into a ps4, they can release something for desktops, no?

They did; it was called the Kyro/Kyro 2. Unfortunately it wasn’t that great. Among other things, it required a lot of driver hacks to get games working on it.

 

[MarcVenice]

They did; it was called the Kyro/Kyro 2. Unfortunately it wasn’t that great. Among other things, it required a lot of driver hacks to get games working on it.

But 3/5 times more performance on the same die size. They could wipe nvidia/ati out if they had the right drivers?

 

[faxon]

thats pretty intriguing. one would think though that if IMGTEC were really capable of putting out that level of performance in a chip of equal size to say an RV770 GPU that they would be dominating the entire high end market by now. one cant deny their involvement in intel's development of their IGP hardware (which admittedly sells really well), but if they could put that much performance under the hood you would think that they would find a way to put it on a dual slot card with a 350mm by 350mm die and 2 6 pin PCI-e power connectors, toss it in a box with some flashy CG chick with disproportonatly large tits and soul piercing eyes on the box, and position it in the market like an assault rifle in colonial america.

 

[EarthwormJim]

I thought PowerVR was going to be used in the next Sony portable. Can anything from PowerVR be scaled up to the levels of modern desktop/console GPUs? I thought they were mainly just power efficient designs.

 

[Painman]

Well, leave it to Sony to fuck up good technology with bad marketing. At least they got a clue with Blu-Ray and licensed it out.

 

[nemesismk2]

They did; it was called the Kyro/Kyro 2. Unfortunately it wasn’t that great. Among other things, it required a lot of driver hacks to get games working on it.

Kyro2 used to outperform the Geforce2 when using 32Bit and 4x FSAA

I had a Videologic VividXS Kyro 2 32bit and Hercules Kyro 2 4500 64mb and all of my games worked fine without any problems. Yeah the drivers were not so good when the Kyro2 was first released but towards the end with the introduction of Enhanced T&L that corrected alot of the problems with games not working properly.

 

[nemesismk2]

But 3/5 times more performance on the same die size. They could wipe nvidia/ati out if they had the right drivers?

That is a nice thought, although I have had ATI video cards for the past 5 years I would trade them all in for a Kyro 4 with DX11

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Sounds like a load of hogwash the guy made up. You'd think that we would have seen more from TBDR in console or PC gaming in the past ~8 years if it was a viable technology. If they could barely get a working product out back then with where 3D rendering was then, I find it hard to believe they could get something working now, certainly not without making any noise in the interim.

 

[Lonyo]

Sounds like a load of hogwash the guy made up. You'd think that we would have seen more from TBDR in console or PC gaming in the past ~8 years if it was a viable technology. If they could barely get a working product out back then with where 3D rendering was then, I find it hard to believe they could get something working now, certainly not without making any noise in the interim.

Is there any need for deferred rendering if we have efficient z-culling?

 

[Genx87]

But 3/5 times more performance on the same die size. They could wipe nvidia/ati out if they had the right drivers?

IMO being that much faster in the console market is pretty irrelevant. They code to the lowest common denominator unless it is an exclusive.

 

[Daedalus685]

The Cell was supposed to provide power how many times higher than the Intel/AMD of the time?

I'll believe these numbers when i see it in action. I am skeptical to say the least.

 

[Idontcare]

The Cell was supposed to provide power how many times higher than the Intel/AMD of the time?

I'll believe these numbers when i see it in action. I am skeptical to say the least.

First thought that came to my mind as well.

 

[akugami]

PowerVR SGX GPU's are used in Apple iPhones so it's not outlandish to think they could power next gen hand held gaming devices.

PowerVR being used in the PS4 seems a little risky but Sony is a company who over-engineered their gaming console to the point that a guaranteed winning product flopped. At least it's a flop when you consider the money they spent on it and the return on investment.

The switch to a Power7 CPU seems plausible since the console gaming industry as a whole seems to be moving towards using IBM CPU's. Especially in light of the cancellation of CELL (now there's a good investment by Sony).

 

[Dribble]

Every PS that comes out is always hyped beyond all believe by Sony + fanboys then proceeds to spend the next few years failing to live up to it.

 

[dguy6789]

I really, really doubt Power VR has a technology like that(3-5x faster than what Nvidia and AMD have now). If they did, why aren't they competing in the desktop graphics market right now? It takes a heck of a lot of time, money, and engineering genius to create modern desktop GPUs at the performance level they are at.

That said, Power VR was the graphics used in Dreamcast, which was really good at the time.

 

[T2k]

They did; it was called the Kyro/Kyro 2. Unfortunately it wasn’t that great. Among other things, it required a lot of driver hacks to get games working on it.

Errr, even Kyro II did not have HW T&L for starter - they always had numerous shortcomings due to their lack of R&D resources.

PowerVR never been really competitive in discrete desktop graphics, no wonder they quit soon thereafter and went after less cutting-edge (= less R&D-intensive) markets (integrated/mobile/etc.)

PS: their tile based deferred rendering was always swimming against main DirectX streams - however it is the method their SGX chip uses in the Satio and iPhone.

 

[T2k]

PowerVR SGX GPU's are used in Apple iPhones so it's not outlandish to think they could power next gen hand held gaming devices.

Sony Ericsson's Satio - a waaay superior phone when compared to the iCrap - uses the same chip: http://developer.sonyericsson.com/s...newssept09/p_sony_ericsson_satio_opengl2.jsp#
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RsyrX6skmE

PowerVR being used in the PS4 seems a little risky but Sony is a company who over-engineered their gaming console to the point that a guaranteed winning product flopped. At least it's a flop when you consider the money they spent on it and the return on investment.

Well, Sony completely botched PS3's RSX chip too - they had to turn to NV for a working design in the 11th hour hence their PS3's rather lame graphics chip (essentially a GeForce somewhere between 7800's and 7900's featureset.)
All Sony is good at is pulling out these laughably pompous names like "Reality Synthesizer" aka RSX for a sub-GF7900 chip...

The switch to a Power7 CPU seems plausible since the console gaming industry as a whole seems to be moving towards using IBM CPU's. Especially in light of the cancellation of CELL (now there's a good investment by Sony).

I agree. Cell was another pathetical overestimation of their own skills - Sony long lost the brainpower and other R&D costs for such complex designs like a CPU or a GPU architecture.

 

[exar333]

First thought that came to my mind as well.

LOL - same here! Lots of promises, and not a lot delivered. If it sounds too good to be true...

PowerVR SGX GPU's are used in Apple iPhones so it's not outlandish to think they could power next gen hand held gaming devices.

PowerVR being used in the PS4 seems a little risky but Sony is a company who over-engineered their gaming console to the point that a guaranteed winning product flopped. At least it's a flop when you consider the money they spent on it and the return on investment.

The switch to a Power7 CPU seems plausible since the console gaming industry as a whole seems to be moving towards using IBM CPU's. Especially in light of the cancellation of CELL (now there's a good investment by Sony).

IBM CPUs used in the current consoles are crap. Remember when Anand reviewed them and provided benchmarks a couple years back? Thats right, the whole thing was "pulled". They are cheap, plain and simple.

 

[Wreckage]

Finally Sega Dreamcast II

I bet the next Xbox will use Larrabee.

 

[exar333]

Finally Sega Dreamcast II

I bet the next Xbox will use Larrabee.

DC II would be awesome.

It would be even cooler if the next Xbox used a Larrabee manufactured at GF.