Some New Details for the Wii U

[Red Hawk]

Dunno if anyone has posted this yet. Nintendo has released some information about the Wii U's hardware and pictures of its innards. Here's Eurogamer's breakdown. In particular, the graphics chip and the CPU are going to being housed in the same multi-chip module (MCM). Essentially, the CPU and GPU are housed in the same package akin to how Intel HD Graphics was integrated into some Nehalem chips, but it's not a full die integration like Llano, Sandy Bridge, or the current Xbox 360.

If you're like me you immediately notice that the supposedly triple-core CPU looks miniscule next to the GPU. We're not getting a CPU powerhouse with the Wii U, folks. The GPU may be alright though. Another detail Eurogamer mentions is that the GPU apparently has 32 MB of eDRAM, 22 MB more than the 360. That's a distinct advantage, but hardly a huge one.

Thoughts on the Wii U's hardware and what it means for the industry/console market?

 

[RussianSensation]

"Sadly, it seems that the Wii U will actually not run Black Ops 2 at a native 1080p resolution. Yesterday, on October 12, this information was revealed by GotGame. Through an e-mail response from Activision, it is stated that Black Ops 2 is not natively 1080p on the Wii U. From the looks of it, it appears that the Wii U will be up-converting Black Ops 2 to 1080p, not running it natively." ~ Source

Looking for PS4 and Xbox next to possibly help move the gaming industry forward, if not, it'll take some serious cajones from Crytek, Dice and CD-Project and some handful of developers to push PC gaming to the next level.

The Wii U power consumption I believe is just 75W. Not a real next generation console from a hardware perspective. I expect to see more console ports in the next 12 months. It's probably more powerful GPU wise than PS3/360 as just about any HD series GPU would be but I believe it's not even DX11 capable and if the console can't even run COD game at 1080P at 60 fps, that's bad bad news for the Wii U as far as next generation games are concerned.

 

[BenSkywalker]

The WiiU is the most powerful current gen console. Too bad it is seven years late

 

[-Slacker-]

Seeing how small the cpu is when compared to the GPU, then maybe the 3 core broadwell rumors weren't so crazy after all...

 

[superjim]

Supposedly the Wii U is running an HD 5000 series GPU (link). Probably ~5670. Other sites say it's from the 6000 series. I don't understand why Nintendo just doesn't come out and give specs.

"DirectX 11 equivalent functionality 'potentially possible' on Wii U"
http://gonintendo.com/?mode=viewstory&id=186139

 

[Anarchist420]

embedding the frame buffer in the GPU is stupid. I won't be buying one of those PoSs.

 

[SPBHM]

The WiiU is the most powerful current gen console. Too bad it is seven years late

THe Wii was behind the Xbox1 in some aspects... so... nothing new coming from Nintendo...

I think the Wii U will be more "current gen" compared to the next xbox and PS4 than the Wii ever was,

so, it's an RV730 based GPU?

 

[BenSkywalker]

embedding the frame buffer in the GPU is stupid.

For a fixed hardware platform, why? There are some *HUGE* performance benefits from having on die eDRAM. This comes at the cost of flexibility, but that isn't an issue on the consoles as your resources are explicit.

I think the Wii U will be more "current gen" compared to the next xbox and PS4 than the Wii ever was

I'm not convinced on that. Perhaps if MS and Sony actually go x86 they may well end up being closer then the Wii was, but multiple developers have come out and said that the CPU is actually weaker then the 360's, let alone the PS3's.

Right now we have rumored specs from the least reliable rumor site not named SemiAccurate there is. I'm not believing much of anything regarding final specs of the machines until around Q2 of next year(which is roughly when they will likely actually be finalized).

 

[Olikan]

Right now we have rumored specs from the least reliable rumor site not named SemiAccurate there is. I'm not believing much of anything regarding final specs of the machines until around Q2 of next year(which is roughly when they will likely actually be finalized).

HardCop, was the first to say that sony would use an APU

anyway, a faster cpu in today consoles won't give much benefits...
just a more advanced AI and physics...

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

I don't think Nintendo is really competing with the future PS4 and Xbox Next; this just barely puts them on par with current consoles. They care mostly about pushing their gimmicks on people, not actually competing in the traditional way with Sony and Microsoft.

HardCop, was the first to say that sony would use an APU

anyway, a faster cpu in today consoles won't give much benefits...
just a more advanced AI and physics...

Lets not ignore the fact that a faster CPU will allow for larger levels and more action on screen at once. Do not discount the benefits of a faster CPU.

 

[BenSkywalker]

HardCop, was the first to say that sony would use an APU

Not really-

Looking towards the Sony PS4, we hear it is still unsettled between some kind of Bulldozer (would most likely be an APU) variant and a newer updated 32nm IBM cell processor. This one appears to have flip flopped back and forth a few times but it will likely firm up very soon.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/07/07/e3_rumors_on_next_generation_console_hardware/

Kotaku is the one that said it was a done deal, and they are better then Charlie. That's about the best I can say for their rumor record

With AMD's current situation, I find it highly unlikely Sony would sign a deal for x86 parts sourced by AMD. The GPU they can license the IP and fab it themselves if need be, that isn't an option with x86. MS could still pull it off, but they can go toe to toe with Intel, Sony doesn't have leverage for that fight.

 

[Olikan]

Lets not ignore the fact that a faster CPU will allow for larger levels and more action on screen at once. Do not discount the benefits of a faster CPU.

errr...more action is included in physics and AI

larger levels is more a memory bottleneck and gpu than cpu (in current consoles)....sure, with more memory and gpu, the bottleneck goes back to cpu....

but still, the WiiU is probably more gpu bottleneck than anything else

 

[Red Hawk]

If levels are very interactive, with destructible environments, moving elements, etc., the bottleneck would very much be on the CPU. The bigger a level got, the more the CPU bottleneck.

 

[BenSkywalker]

but still, the WiiU is probably more gpu bottleneck than anything else

It's rather interesting that you say that as the WiiU has a lesser CPU then the seven year old consoles, but a *much* stronger GPU. Not saying that your statement is inaccurate, although I do think it is misplaced.

Console development is not like PC development. When you are creating a PC game you try to hit your general desires within your performance target. When you are making a console game, particularly an exclusive, if you hit your general desires and have resources left over you tend to utilize them for things you may have had no intention of doing in the first place.

 

[Olikan]

If levels are very interactive, with destructible environments, moving elements, etc., the bottleneck would very much be on the CPU. The bigger a level got, the more the CPU bottleneck.

It's rather interesting that you say that as the WiiU has a lesser CPU then the seven year old consoles, but a *much* stronger GPU. Not saying that your statement is inaccurate, although I do think it is misplaced.

yes guys, cpu are a bottleneck, there will always have a bottleneck...
but you guys have to see the trade offs, consoles are very power limited...

for today consoles, an increase of 10W on memory will give alot more results than an increase of 10W for cpu.
if RTS games were more popular than shooters, the oposite would be "more true", since cpu speed is what RTS's love