Wii U CPU and GPU Rendered in High-Res
By - Source: WiiU Daily
|
53 comments
Information about Nintendo's Wii U CPU is being unveiled by the slice.
Today we got a decent rendering of the Wii U CPU and GPU that complements the previous blurry chip shots. It is not an actual photo, but rather a photoshopped recreation of the package.
The image includes the PowerPC 750-based tri-core Wii U CPU as the smaller version of the two chips, as well as the larger GPU and 32 Mb of GPU memory. The 1.23 GHz CPU has been widely criticized for its lackluster performance, while it has been praised for its low power consumption of about 33 watts under load.
The Wii's GPU reportedly runs at 550 MHz.
Discuss
Ask a Category Expert
does nintendo pay you guys 'per story'
higher power VRM and power components of the motherboard to supply the higher clock CPU + better CPU cooling isnt gonna cost another $50.
higher power VRM and power components of the motherboard to supply the higher clock CPU + better CPU cooling isnt gonna cost another $50.
does nintendo pay you guys 'per story'
Consensus on Neogaf seems to be 480 shaders or less, with the 32MB eDRAM on-die it's not big enough for 800 by far.
Because it's Nintendo, that's why. Slightly higher clocks may not have cost much more, but they want to hit certain price points and they were already taking a small loss on Wii U hardware, and taking a loss on hardware isn't Nintendos style. They got to a level where it can get most ports from the 360/ps3 gen, and that's good enough for them, forget about next gen. Same strategy as the Wii.
I do agree though, I'd rather it draw 70 watts or even more for higher clocked parts and better cooling, the difference is like half a lightbulb, switch one off or to a CFL if it's the planet you're worried about.
I would at least bet money that when the Wii U gets towards EOL, most smartphones will probably be right there neck and neck with it on hardware capability.
I doubt it, but I think it's close enough that smartphones will close in within two or three years. They were already a generation or two away from beating the PS3 and 360 in raw performance, and the Wii U doesn't seem far from there. With the SGX Rogue series and Cortex 15s, I think phones will be close to the Wii U.
As for why it's not more powerful yet, remember that current ARM cores have pretty narrow front ends to save power, etc. And the GPUs are still not there by a quite a margin, current smartphone GPUs may hit 30Gflops, the Rogue series will hit the 200 the PS360 have.
Not necessarily, the first revision PS3s had a pretty standard electronics failure rate, I think it was like 1-3%. Good design can offset high thermals. It was one of the quietest too. The 360 was just poorly designed, the GPU heatsink was tiny and under the DVD drive with low airflow, and the fans didn't directly touch the heatsinks at all, they just sucked air out the back of the case with some airflow over the heatsink as a result. The Wii U uses a similar method, but at far lower wattage.
I wouldn't mind if the next gen was also 200 watt boxes. Heck, so long as the reliability and fan noise were taken care of, I wouldn't care if they went higher. The power draw is still small beans compared to say all the lightbulbs in your house.