Nintendo Revolution specs unvealed

[Nostromo]

http://revolution.ign.com/articles/699/699118p1.html

Insiders stress that Revolution runs on an extension of the Gekko and Flipper architectures that powered GameCube, which is why studios who worked on GCN will have no problem making the transition to the new machine, they say. IBM's "Broadway" CPU is clocked at 729MHz, according to updated Nintendo documentation. By comparison, GameCube's Gekko CPU ran at 485MHz. The original Xbox's CPU, admittedly a different architecture altogether, was clocked at 733MHz. Meanwhile, Xbox 360 runs three symmetrical cores at 3.2GHz.
Revolution's ATI-provided "Hollywood" GPU clocks in at 243MHz. By comparison, GameCube's GPU ran at 162MHz, while the GPU on the original Xbox was clocked at 233MHz. Sources we spoke with suggest that it is unlikely the GPU will feature any added shaders, as has been speculated.

"The 'Hollywood' is a large-scale integrated chip that includes the GPU, DSP, I/O bridge and 3MBs of texture memory," a studio source told us.

The overall system memory numbers we reported last December have not greatly fluctuated, but new clarifications have surfaced. Revolution will operate using 24MBs of "main" 1T-SRAM. It will additionally boast 64MBs of "external" 1T-SRAM. That brings the total number of system RAM up to 88MBs, not including the 3MB texture buffer on the GPU. By comparison, GameCube featured 40MBs of RAM not counting the GPU's on-board 3MBs. The original Xbox included 64MBs total RAM. Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 operate on 512MBs of RAM.

A real powerhouse. Lets hope the whacky controller will make up for it.

[Gatekeeper]

Sarcasm, right?

[Snotty]

Clearly, numbers don't mean everything, but on paper Revolution's CPU falls performance-wise somewhere well beyond GameCube and just shy of the original Xbox. However, it's important to remember that there is no way to accurately gauge the performance difference between GCN's PowerPC-based architecture and the the Intel-based CPU of Xbox. Further, even if we could, these numbers are only one part of the equation.

[Fake Boris]

on Nintendo

[DinoDoc]

I'd be more interested in info on the launch games and how access to the catalog of downloadable games might work.

[alva]

New cell phones come close to those specs.

[Verto]

I don't think anyone should be surprised by these numbers. Nintendo has already said that their focus is not on simply improving graphics, but changing the way the games are played. Only when their console launches, and we get a chance to test just how much they've changed things, will anyone be able to fairly judge it.

[Bkeela]

I've found the Gamecube graphics quite sufficient. There is no point in photo-realistic graphics if the gameplay is the same old deal. For all its power, the Xbox 360 doesn't offer anything really new, and it seems all the best games will be available for PC anyway.

That being said, the Revolution controller looks stupid. Japs will love it, but damned if I'm going to sit infront of the TV prancing and waving an increasingly tired arm about. My arm and wrist already suffers from too much Civilization IV.

[Verto]

Your arm and wrist have been suffering long before Civ IV.

[Verto]

Originally posted by Bkeela
I've found the Gamecube graphics quite sufficient.

Yeah, and though I'm too lazy to check the exact numbers, I'd read that, numberwise, the GC was only "half as powerful" as the Xbox - but looking at the games, they are evenly matched graphics-wise. Now, numberwise, the Revolution is slightly ahead of the Xbox. Of course, you cannot just look at the numbers alone and determine how the graphics will look, but I think there's enough reason not to shoot down any hopes of the Revolution producing respectable graphics when compared to the 360/PS3 (assuming Sony launches it). Add in the fact that the Revolution's price hasn't skyrocketed like the 360 or the PS3, that its games are expected to sell 10-20$ less than MS/Sony, and its backwards compatibility and catalog of "legacy" games and you have a very attractive platform. All the better if the Revolution is actually able to provide some real change WRT its controller - and from what I've been reading, this sounds like its much more than a simple gimmick. I've got high hopes for Nintendo.

[Jon Miller]

you know, I think that Nintendo is the Apple of the Consol world

JM

[Jon Miller]

I think that Sony might see a bigger relative drop with respect to the PS3 than Nintendo does with respect to the Revolution

JM
(of course, it is all about the games)

[OzzyKP]

Agreed Verto & Jon.

Nintendo
Thinking Different

[reds4ever]

I suppose a system doesn't need to be that powerful to run cartoon games for the under-tens....

[Verto]

Actually making money off each console sold