Wii Massively More Powerful Than Expected? New Specs Emerge
Hope for fans. Mario questions answered?
According to reports breaking of late, the Nintendo Wii could be much more powerful than even the most optimistic fan might have hoped. Several sources, believed to be taking information from western developers equipped with near-final development kits for Wii, have seemingly leaked some impressive specs for the machine that, if true, slash the power void between Nintendo and its two home console rivals.
According to an article on Daily Tech, widely ignored during E3 but since gathering some pace, "...the Wii will ship with a PowerPC 750GX CPU jointly developed between IBM and Nintendo. Nintendo says the codename of the processor is Broadway and was manufactured using a 90nm fabrication process. IBM claims the 750GX GPU is based on the 750FX processor designed by the company several years ago. The chip can run at frequencies up to 1.1GHz and includes a 4-way set-associative single core with 1MB L2 cache."
The big news here is the mooted use of a PowerPC 750GX CPU running at 1.1GHz with 1MB L2 cache well beyond the expectations of most.
The piece continues, "On Nintendo's official Wii hardware "specifications" page, the GPU of the console is listed as still being developed with ATI. Whether this means that the GPU is still being tuned or there was simply a grammatical error on the site is up in the air. Very little is known about the Wii's GPU, codenamed Hollywood except that it is part of ATI's R520 family."
The mention of the R520 has sent shockwaves of quivering anticipation around gaming circles, as if the news proves true, Nintendo would essentially be able to boast a massive leap forward from the GameCube with the Wii possessing the graphical grunt of a well-equipped gaming PC. The outlined chipsets are also highly versatile, a feature Nintendo will likely employ to throttle the Wii for standby use during WiiConnect dormant sessions.
For reference, Nintendo's own blurb on the performance of the Wii, an interesting if guarded read, can be found here.
The merging belief that there were two kinds of Wii hardware on show at this year's E3 has brought some understanding to the gulf in visual quality between certain titles. It does seem likely that the majority of Wii software was running on modified GameCube development kits, with other titles, specifically Mario Galaxy looking as though they were delivering far beyond what the Wii's predecessor could ever have achieved. This was in stark contrast to titles such as Metroid which looked unchanged from its GameCube outings.
We'll update you on the progress of all things Wii at time trickles on.
According to an article on Daily Tech, widely ignored during E3 but since gathering some pace, "...the Wii will ship with a PowerPC 750GX CPU jointly developed between IBM and Nintendo. Nintendo says the codename of the processor is Broadway and was manufactured using a 90nm fabrication process. IBM claims the 750GX GPU is based on the 750FX processor designed by the company several years ago. The chip can run at frequencies up to 1.1GHz and includes a 4-way set-associative single core with 1MB L2 cache."
The big news here is the mooted use of a PowerPC 750GX CPU running at 1.1GHz with 1MB L2 cache well beyond the expectations of most.
The piece continues, "On Nintendo's official Wii hardware "specifications" page, the GPU of the console is listed as still being developed with ATI. Whether this means that the GPU is still being tuned or there was simply a grammatical error on the site is up in the air. Very little is known about the Wii's GPU, codenamed Hollywood except that it is part of ATI's R520 family."
The mention of the R520 has sent shockwaves of quivering anticipation around gaming circles, as if the news proves true, Nintendo would essentially be able to boast a massive leap forward from the GameCube with the Wii possessing the graphical grunt of a well-equipped gaming PC. The outlined chipsets are also highly versatile, a feature Nintendo will likely employ to throttle the Wii for standby use during WiiConnect dormant sessions.
For reference, Nintendo's own blurb on the performance of the Wii, an interesting if guarded read, can be found here.
The merging belief that there were two kinds of Wii hardware on show at this year's E3 has brought some understanding to the gulf in visual quality between certain titles. It does seem likely that the majority of Wii software was running on modified GameCube development kits, with other titles, specifically Mario Galaxy looking as though they were delivering far beyond what the Wii's predecessor could ever have achieved. This was in stark contrast to titles such as Metroid which looked unchanged from its GameCube outings.
We'll update you on the progress of all things Wii at time trickles on.
Companies:
Nintendo
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Comments
Pistolman 23 May 2006 08:38
1/10
Nice Find!!!
It would be cool if the specs go up a little but i dont care much. I am content with the looks of Mario Galaxy, thank you very much.
Metroid though, needs more work. FP games afterall MUST be pretty.
As for the hardware secret, i dont think thats it. Its not Nintendo to pull the curtain and say "Ha ha, look at those graphics! Arent they wonderfull?"
It would be cool if the specs go up a little but i dont care much. I am content with the looks of Mario Galaxy, thank you very much.
Metroid though, needs more work. FP games afterall MUST be pretty.
As for the hardware secret, i dont think thats it. Its not Nintendo to pull the curtain and say "Ha ha, look at those graphics! Arent they wonderfull?"
majin dboy 23 May 2006 12:50
2/10
i agree with pistol man,why would nintendo lie?have they?interesting one.i think the opinion of "would be nice if true,but not nessesary" will remain amoung us ninty fans.
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jadnice 23 May 2006 13:28
3/10
I believe there is some truth to this since the spec that was made public by IGN was of an early or second cycle Dev kit. I was clearly stated that the final Dev kit will not make its rounds till late May into June. I do like the fact that the CPU has improved...but my main concern is what about the memory??? Yes an improved GPU and CPU is a welcome but memory is very important now that Wii will be sporting a new interface, web functionality etc.
I hope this is true. Time will tell.
I hope this is true. Time will tell.
majin dboy 23 May 2006 17:07
4/10
i think its 512mb of internal memory and SD card support to enhance that
ozfunghi 23 May 2006 22:04
5/10
That 512 Mb is flash memory. It's for storage (gamesaves, patches, classic games downloads...). It has nothing to do with RAM, system power or graphics...
majin dboy 23 May 2006 23:09
6/10
well,yes that what i meant.
Joji 24 May 2006 00:39
7/10
Good news but I think I'm hapy with what I've seen so far. The graphics race is just aboout over so it's all about the games for me.
elmer92413 26 May 2006 03:21
8/10
Perhaps you, Spong newswriter, should try to read the entire source article before making broad claims...
Here's the source article on DailyTech...
If you notice at the bottom of the article is was updated on the 15th of May...
Quote:
Updated 05/15/2006: We previously reported that ATI's Hollywood is based on the R520 family of GPUs. This is incorrect, Hollywood is actually rooted in a separate graphics family than desktop GPUs at ATI.
/Quote
I've never been to this site before, I was given a link to this "news" in another forum...
But I highly doubt I'll be coming back if this is any indication of the general site's reporting...
...
..
.
Here's the source article on DailyTech...
If you notice at the bottom of the article is was updated on the 15th of May...
Quote:
Updated 05/15/2006: We previously reported that ATI's Hollywood is based on the R520 family of GPUs. This is incorrect, Hollywood is actually rooted in a separate graphics family than desktop GPUs at ATI.
/Quote
I've never been to this site before, I was given a link to this "news" in another forum...
But I highly doubt I'll be coming back if this is any indication of the general site's reporting...
...
..
.
way 29 May 2006 13:19
9/10
Yeah, much more powerful than expected. Come on, what happened to the even more faster spec leaked last year, short memory. We know they had different configurations they could choose from, even the more powerful processor spec was a lot less than what XBOX360 and PS3 have got. But it is good, this gives it a fighting chance, compared to the recently leaked spec, that I said seemed like the spec that the GBA2 could have used. Even this present spec might be able to be put into a large portable in 2-5 years (depending on desired battery life).
This R520 core, as I said they would be working on getting the latest, and if it is still being worked on by the end of the year it might have the Vista like GPU functions, which is a major boost, which was expected. But what is this based on, the R500 series that the xbox 360 started, or the weak R500 series the PC was given? If the former, a portable version might take 5 years (because of massive power requirements for the complex circuit) if a low power consumption weakened PC version, then a portable version might be possible in 2 years (remember Nintendo has indicated, a few years ago, that future consoles were to be aimed at portable markets). Lets hope it is based on the R500 console series, the PC is due to get a more powerful one before the end of the year called the R600 series.
The R500 used in the xbox 360, will likely be mostly non priority by the end of the year, due to the planned release of Vista and DX10. I think the cat might even be out of the bag as far as licensing is concerned. Even though DX10 depends on the Vista OS release, and Vista is potentially going to slip into next year, plans are very advanced for Vista DX10 GPU cores, Nvidia is months away, the ATI R600 is almost end of the year, but so powerful, and maybe 1Ghz (imagine if it was 1.1Ghz, would be an amazing coincidence). Now, notice the release date for Nintendo keeps slipping to similar times frames as Vista's DX10, this may indicate what I was saying about being dependent on the MS hardware 3D tech licenses for their OS. Vista was supposed to be release months ago, as with Vista, it was supposed to be released at the end of the year, so is the Nintendo, now Vista may slip till next year.
Now what they need is HD, and home brew Linux or Intent VOS!
MS VS 1080p gaming.
Microsoft claims that no games system can do 1080p is the biggest load of Bull out, why have computers being running 3D games at equivalent 2 million pixel resolutions and high frame rates for years. Actually you can make an Atari VCS play a game of pong at 1080p resolution if you could connect it to a frame buffer, a commodore 64 could maybe do it in 3D. Resolution doesn't really stop you, it is the amount of details you put in to fill it.
The name:
Whee! Pardon us, while we take our wee, Wii, out for a little wee wee ;).
Oh Why, Oh Why, did they name it Wii!
(Oh Wi, Oh Wi, did they name it Wii !)
- The Way 2006.
This R520 core, as I said they would be working on getting the latest, and if it is still being worked on by the end of the year it might have the Vista like GPU functions, which is a major boost, which was expected. But what is this based on, the R500 series that the xbox 360 started, or the weak R500 series the PC was given? If the former, a portable version might take 5 years (because of massive power requirements for the complex circuit) if a low power consumption weakened PC version, then a portable version might be possible in 2 years (remember Nintendo has indicated, a few years ago, that future consoles were to be aimed at portable markets). Lets hope it is based on the R500 console series, the PC is due to get a more powerful one before the end of the year called the R600 series.
The R500 used in the xbox 360, will likely be mostly non priority by the end of the year, due to the planned release of Vista and DX10. I think the cat might even be out of the bag as far as licensing is concerned. Even though DX10 depends on the Vista OS release, and Vista is potentially going to slip into next year, plans are very advanced for Vista DX10 GPU cores, Nvidia is months away, the ATI R600 is almost end of the year, but so powerful, and maybe 1Ghz (imagine if it was 1.1Ghz, would be an amazing coincidence). Now, notice the release date for Nintendo keeps slipping to similar times frames as Vista's DX10, this may indicate what I was saying about being dependent on the MS hardware 3D tech licenses for their OS. Vista was supposed to be release months ago, as with Vista, it was supposed to be released at the end of the year, so is the Nintendo, now Vista may slip till next year.
Now what they need is HD, and home brew Linux or Intent VOS!
MS VS 1080p gaming.
Microsoft claims that no games system can do 1080p is the biggest load of Bull out, why have computers being running 3D games at equivalent 2 million pixel resolutions and high frame rates for years. Actually you can make an Atari VCS play a game of pong at 1080p resolution if you could connect it to a frame buffer, a commodore 64 could maybe do it in 3D. Resolution doesn't really stop you, it is the amount of details you put in to fill it.
The name:
Whee! Pardon us, while we take our wee, Wii, out for a little wee wee ;).
Oh Why, Oh Why, did they name it Wii!
(Oh Wi, Oh Wi, did they name it Wii !)
- The Way 2006.
way 6 Jun 2006 14:39
10/10
I thought I would follow this up with some links to information on the R520 and Wii.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radeon_R520
They even have wiki entry for Wii.
Here this is saying it is not from the desktop line, but with ATI this could mean even from the Nintendo line:
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=2227
Some major bad sounding news on the PS3 front though, broken CELL, and throttled half speed GPU.
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=32171
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=32159
Even though they forecast this as doom and gloom, I think that such problems can be fixed up in time to place the parts in the boards, while setup and manufacture of other components can start before hand. It all sounds weired though, considering the length of time it has been under development.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radeon_R520
They even have wiki entry for Wii.
Here this is saying it is not from the desktop line, but with ATI this could mean even from the Nintendo line:
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=2227
Some major bad sounding news on the PS3 front though, broken CELL, and throttled half speed GPU.
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=32171
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=32159
Even though they forecast this as doom and gloom, I think that such problems can be fixed up in time to place the parts in the boards, while setup and manufacture of other components can start before hand. It all sounds weired though, considering the length of time it has been under development.