-We know they're all PowerPC processors.
-And we know the Wii's processor is _very_ similary to the Gamecube's, but it is clocked at 1.1Ghz (instead of 485Mhz). Its got a few extra instructions, but for the most part, it is exactly the same. [This is a Good Thing].
-Xbox360 and PS3 both have the same general purpose PowerPC cores, except for one thing: Xbox360's general purpose cores can execute two threads each. So it can have a total of six threads being executed simultaneously. Usefulness of this feature is undecided.
-PS3's general purpose core can't do 6 threads, it can only do one. And it has to worry about keeping the SPE's filled with information as well. Usefulness for things other than physics is minimal. Perhaps AI can be implemented using matrix algebra, I don't know. But the PowerPC core will be busy trying to coordinate everything going on in the hardware: listening to the hard drive, loading that information into the RAM, loading that into Video RAM, and filling the SPE's. How much time do you think will be left to do actual computation? Not much, if any at all, especially considering it only supports IOE.
And people come out and bash the Wii when it has the only REAL processor that can actually DO anything useful. The Xbox360 and Cell's core processors are crap. Xbox360 at least has three of the PS3 core CPU's (though only 1MB of L2 cache for all six threads), but the PS3's processing unit is a joke.
The next-gen Gekko is everything that the Gekko was and more: OOE, plenty of cache (now it has 1MB), 1.1 Ghz, and even _more_ instruction optimizations.
You don't exactly laugh at a 1.1Ghz G4 processor, when the maximum speed produced was what, 1.8Ghz/2.0Ghz? So we've got something that, especially with the 1MB L2 cache (that can be used for useful things like OOE) I'd say it is about the equivalent of an Athlon64 2000+ (if such a thing existed).
The Gamecube's GPU was just a bit limited by the Gekko. I think it is safe to say the same will be the case this time around, otherwise Nintendo would throw less money into the CPU. Know what kind of games you could play before you were CPU limited on an Athlon 64 2000+? Some pretty fine looking ones I bet you. We're not on a PC, so that means even more.
Nintendo keeps downplaying their role in the graphics war, but in all honesty, the Wii really is a serious hardware upgrade. People thought the GC was the weakest console at first, but it ended up having the prettiest games. Granted Nintendo was trying to stay current with the GC, but the overly-simplistic PowerPC cores that the Xbox360 and PS3 use are so crippled that they aren't all that much better (50% maybe?) than the Wii's next-gen Gekko.
Give me a graphically updated F-Zero GX with some more tracks and online play and I wouldn't need many other games. I have yet to see any Xbox360 games as impressive as F-Zero GX's Firefield: Undulation track replay. Its just too pretty and fun.
-And we know the Wii's processor is _very_ similary to the Gamecube's, but it is clocked at 1.1Ghz (instead of 485Mhz). Its got a few extra instructions, but for the most part, it is exactly the same. [This is a Good Thing].
-Xbox360 and PS3 both have the same general purpose PowerPC cores, except for one thing: Xbox360's general purpose cores can execute two threads each. So it can have a total of six threads being executed simultaneously. Usefulness of this feature is undecided.
-PS3's general purpose core can't do 6 threads, it can only do one. And it has to worry about keeping the SPE's filled with information as well. Usefulness for things other than physics is minimal. Perhaps AI can be implemented using matrix algebra, I don't know. But the PowerPC core will be busy trying to coordinate everything going on in the hardware: listening to the hard drive, loading that information into the RAM, loading that into Video RAM, and filling the SPE's. How much time do you think will be left to do actual computation? Not much, if any at all, especially considering it only supports IOE.
And people come out and bash the Wii when it has the only REAL processor that can actually DO anything useful. The Xbox360 and Cell's core processors are crap. Xbox360 at least has three of the PS3 core CPU's (though only 1MB of L2 cache for all six threads), but the PS3's processing unit is a joke.
The next-gen Gekko is everything that the Gekko was and more: OOE, plenty of cache (now it has 1MB), 1.1 Ghz, and even _more_ instruction optimizations.
You don't exactly laugh at a 1.1Ghz G4 processor, when the maximum speed produced was what, 1.8Ghz/2.0Ghz? So we've got something that, especially with the 1MB L2 cache (that can be used for useful things like OOE) I'd say it is about the equivalent of an Athlon64 2000+ (if such a thing existed).
The Gamecube's GPU was just a bit limited by the Gekko. I think it is safe to say the same will be the case this time around, otherwise Nintendo would throw less money into the CPU. Know what kind of games you could play before you were CPU limited on an Athlon 64 2000+? Some pretty fine looking ones I bet you. We're not on a PC, so that means even more.
Nintendo keeps downplaying their role in the graphics war, but in all honesty, the Wii really is a serious hardware upgrade. People thought the GC was the weakest console at first, but it ended up having the prettiest games. Granted Nintendo was trying to stay current with the GC, but the overly-simplistic PowerPC cores that the Xbox360 and PS3 use are so crippled that they aren't all that much better (50% maybe?) than the Wii's next-gen Gekko.
Give me a graphically updated F-Zero GX with some more tracks and online play and I wouldn't need many other games. I have yet to see any Xbox360 games as impressive as F-Zero GX's Firefield: Undulation track replay. Its just too pretty and fun.
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