X-Box 2 may contain AMD Proc.

[Ticktanium2038]

Info from a friend. Pretty interesting though.

Microsoft is considering using AMD in the X-Box2 (aka X-Squared)

A special Athlon XP 32 bit CPU chip that is PIN COMPATIBLE with the Opteron may be used. It will be an exclusive deal between Microsoft and AMD. The chip will be a hybrid of Opteron and existing Athlon XP's. The design containing embedded North and South Bridge unlike regular Athlons. Making interfacing the ATI graphics chip a simple design.

The design is to be only 3 items on the motherboard. CPU, RAM, and VIDEO Chip. All upgradable via sockets.

This gives the X-Box 2 an upgrade path making them the first upgradable console to future technology.

This may be a marketing gimmick toward the every 3-4 years instead of buying the next game console just upgrade it.

ITS JUST A CONSIDERATION. THOUGHT IT WAS INTERESTING INFO. GO DEVILS!!!

 

[Wingznut]

Well, of course MS will consider all vendors when choosing hardware. They will go with whomever gives them the best chance to make money.

But I'm not buying the upgradable cpu/ram/video theory for one minute.

 

[bjc112]

But I'm not buying the upgradable cpu/ram/video theory for one minute.

I agree, that doesn't look right..

And it definitely won't pan out.

 

[Ticktanium2038]

I agree It does but it is a neat idea. Not sure how memory addressing would work with data lines on a motherboard as far as cross talk on higher speeds. But Im not an engineer.

What I was most happy to hear is that the X-Box 2 will allow you to play WMV files you created on Windows XP. So you can use your PC to create home movies that can be played back on your X-Box.

But by 2005 everyone would just burn a DVD so too little to late.

 

[Wingznut]

Originally posted by: Ticktanium2038
What I was most happy to hear is that the X-Box 2 will allow you to play WMV files you created on Windows XP. So you can use your PC to create home movies that can be played back on your X-Box.

You'll be able to do that in about two weeks on the current Xbox with Xbox Music Mixer.

Take Xbox's already awesome gaming and DVD capabilities, and add in Xbox Music Mixer to unleash an entirely new category of digital entertainment. Create your own playlists and soundtracks, record and playback your performances anytime, access your library of digital music and photos from your PC, and even download new songs and visual effects from Xbox Live!

 

[Ticktanium2038]

LOL I have to get that. Thats awesome.

 

[DivideBYZero]

The chip will be a hybrid of Opteron and existing Athlon XP's.

This is indeed a chip that in due next year. It's a 754 pin XP with integrated mem controller. The need for one less major chip, i.e., the north bridge would be a very cost effective draw for a console manufacturer. That matched with the XP's price/performance, which will be hiked with the IMC and this could indeed be a good fit.

Then again they might just get a bung from the big 'I' to stick with them, who knows, years to go yet.

More roumors.

 

[Pentium]

i dont believe upgradability.

They wanna keep selling you their new consoles anyway

 

[mrgoblin]

ANd if you make upgradeablility a necessity, then it will work fine. If x only works with x and you develop y, guess what...:beer:

 

[Creig]

Where is the line when it stops being a console and becomes a computer?

 

[Sahakiel]

Originally posted by: Creig
Where is the line when it stops being a console and becomes a computer?

You got it backwards. You should be asking when does a PC stop being a PC and becomes a console on steroids.

 

[Soulkeeper]

they'll just pick whoever gives them the best bid.

 

[Sid59]

i think when xbox 2 is ready to be released .. MS should start thinking about whether they want to use 64bit CPUs and start writing a nice GUI and code that will make gaimg that much better.

 

[Ticktanium2038]

I think thats part of the thinking Sid. Microsoft loses money on the consoles so maybe an upgradable console maybe makes sense to them.

It sort of makes sense to me that the upgradable components to the Box would come from sources other than Microsoft. This could cut back on the losses of upgrading the Xbox2 to XBox3???

Even if they just build in the option of upgrading but never use or scrap the idea down the road of upgrading it that is still an interesting concept.

Sure would make production simple though because of Hyper Transport.

One of the things they would have to consider is if AMD can produce enough chips for production. You cant have a shortfall of processors. Thats where Intel might win the X2 contract.

Repairing an X2 would be simpler then wouldnt it?

What I am wondering is how do they plan on addressing it so pirates cant simply replace the bios with a hacked one this time around? Im guessing they would signiture each of the components this time around and have it burned into the bios somehow. Maybe leverage smart card technology for component recognition. Will be very interesting.

 

[draggoon01]

x-squared huh? then maybe x-cubed would be perfect name for when/if nintendo goes third party?


anyhow, how difficult and efficient would it be to have upgradeable gpu?

i could see this upgrade thing working. xbox comes out in 2005. then in 2009 they announce the upgrade kit which you can have done at local store. this would be more cost effective way of expanding life of console, while also getting head start over competition from ps4 or gamecube3. also, those are the only 3 things that would probably change from console generation (cpu, ram, gpu). xbox2 will probably have tivo features (tv tuner), so i can't think of any new feature they could add.

but on the other hand, msft did a crappy job educating/advertising the advantages of xbox over other consoles this generation. how many consumers realize xbox has a hard drive and what the benefits are? but likewise, msft hasn't taken advantage of the hard drive that much either. aside from the small stuff, only thing i think of is blinx. final fantasy 7 took full advantage of cd's. it's a shame that msft or a third party hasn't come up with a great game using hard drive. but anywho, based on that, i'd say it's bad idea for msft to add upgradeability (which was also rumored for xbox1).

 

[glugglug]

Translation:

THe X-box 2 will use an Opteron, but will still be running a 32-bit OS, so it won't take advantage of Opteron features other than lower latency & 128-bit memory bus.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: Ticktanium2038
I think thats part of the thinking Sid. Microsoft loses money on the consoles so maybe an upgradable console maybe makes sense to them.

It sort of makes sense to me that the upgradable components to the Box would come from sources other than Microsoft. This could cut back on the losses of upgrading the Xbox2 to XBox3???

Even if they just build in the option of upgrading but never use or scrap the idea down the road of upgrading it that is still an interesting concept.

Sure would make production simple though because of Hyper Transport.

One of the things they would have to consider is if AMD can produce enough chips for production. You cant have a shortfall of processors. Thats where Intel might win the X2 contract.

Repairing an X2 would be simpler then wouldnt it?

What I am wondering is how do they plan on addressing it so pirates cant simply replace the bios with a hacked one this time around? Im guessing they would signiture each of the components this time around and have it burned into the bios somehow. Maybe leverage smart card technology for component recognition. Will be very interesting.

FYI the current XBOX uses Hypertransport, and surface mount is always cheaper than socket mount/upgradable components.

 

[Ticktanium2038]

So what costs $5.00 now is a free ride next time around. It has potential but I wonder how or who would do the upgrades? Local PC shops? Sent out? Home Kit?

If so I would hope they use BGA instead of pins. Home users are pretty clumsly. I would suspect the heatsinks would be permenantly mounted to prevent someone from clipping one one wrong.

 

[Seamus0714]

First nidia now Intel, no loyalty over at MS I guess.

 

[Ticktanium2038]

I think Intel is not out yet. AMD would have to address chip supplies first before Microsoft even considers them.

Thus I am just glad Microsoft is weighing their options and doing thier homework.

 

[yodayoda]

just because a component is upgradable doesn't me it will be available for the consumer to upgrade. having interchangable parts makes a lot of sense from MS's position--they can flip flop between AMD and Intel and anyone else for the CPU/northbridge as long as it can talk to the GPU, the memory, the hard drive, and the DVD. likewise, they can go between ATI and nVidia for the GPU, infineon, crucial, samsung, hynix, etc for RAM, or maxtor, hitachi, WD for the HD. it is just commoditization of all parts.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: Creig
Where is the line when it stops being a console and becomes a computer?

Isn't it obvious? It's a mass produces part that does not vary as PCs do, heck, not even all Dell desktops are identical from their high end to low end, this is obvious on its own let alone accross different manufacturers and self built rigs. Because the consoles are all pretty much 100% identical software developers can specifically design their software to run on this hardware and tap it's resources to the fullest and most efficient extent. You simply cannot do this with PCs as you have to center your work to the largest core of targeted consumers and therefore have to consider low end / average rigs just as much if not moreso than high end rigs. And then there's the dozens of GPUs and 2 major CPUs of which there are several flavors of amongts P4s and Athlons, then the chipsets, then the memory amount and speed... It's just a beyotch to be honost. Now consoles keep that mumbo jumbo fairly similar and teams can work with the same system for several software titles until they can get it down to a science and are able to work with it and anihilate bugs and what not with greater efficiency and create a much more polished product. It's why we can see Halo played nearly flawless on what is essentially a 733MHz Celeron and a GeForce 3 of which the GPU and CPU share 64MB of memory...and how you practically need a GPU more powerful than a GF3 and a recent P4 or Athlon to even run the game @ 640x480 or 800x600 with details all the way up, the Xbox game was made to tap that console's power and it does so with amazing efficiency unlike it's PC counterpart accross different platforms as it wasn't made to be perfect for every single system configuration as it was for the Xbox.

Originally posted by: Pentium
i dont believe upgradability.

They wanna keep selling you their new consoles anyway

Yeah uh no. There is a reason why the companies can drop their console's price from $199-$299 to $100-150 and not flinch. Heck, even at $299 they're usually losing money selling the systems as the hardware costs a lot of money. How then do they make their money? DUH, software. Charging $50 a pop for a video game is really genious considering how cheap it is to mass copy/produce titles onto a Disc medium, this is a huge reason why the Nintendo 64 struggled throughout it's life due to the death of carts which costed too much to produce to compete with Sony and their PSX's discs which could have been sold for $20 a pop instead of $50 and still raked in a profit.

As long as they have a decent system out they can very very cheaply produce software and sell that software for HUGE profit and therefore more than nullify losses on hardware sales. The only reason we see new systems is because we get bored with the games the old systems provide for us, or at least that's what they want us to believe. NES games can still be incredibly fun but we've always got to have newer and more realistic games which I could care less for. The games I enjoy most provide for a great story and/or lengthly play that is addictive, something you don't need realistic or drop dead graphics for, such visual and audio effects only make for a more enjoyable experience for the most part, this is why we see new hardware so developers can keep giving us the same old games that are longer and prettier and from time to time a bit more innovative and possibly more fun.