Final Nintendo Wii U Hardware Specs May Be Leaked

By Wolfgang Gruener
published

VGLeaks has published specifications of the upcoming Wii U console, which the site claims are now published on the Nintendo developer website.

The information posted by VGLeaks have not been verified, so it is a good idea to take them with a grain of salt. Of course, it is always intriguing to speculate, and the specs should be able to at least spark some discussions. From VGLeaks:

CPU: "Espresso" CPU on the Wii U has three enhanced Broadway cores
GPU: "GPU7" AMD Radeon-based High Definition GPU. Unique API = GX2, which supports Shader Model 4.0 (DirectX 10.1 and OpenGL 3.3 equivalent functionality)
Memory: Mem1 = 32MB Mem2 = 1GB (that applications can use)
Storage: Internal 8 GB with support for SD Cards (SD Cards up to 2GB/ SDHC Cards up to 32GB) and External USB Connected Hard Drives
Networking: 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
Video Output: Supports 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p and 480i
Video Cables Supported: Compatible cables include HDMI, Wii D-Terminal, Wii Component Video, Wii RGB, Wii S-Video Stereo AV and Wii AV.
USB: Four USB 2.0 Ports

If the information is accurate, then the most interesting part may be the GPU and especially lack of DX11 support. However, Nintendo promised substantially upgraded graphics horsepower to enable HD gaming. As far as the CPU is concerned there is little detail available at this time, and it appears that the Wii U will not offer and exotic hardware features to set it apart from its rivals.

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Wolfgang Gruener
62 Comments Comment from the forums
  • plasmastorm
    One word "Meh".
    Reply
  • whooleo
    "CPU: "Espresso" CPU on the Wii U has three enhanced Broadway cores" Then its basically a triple core wii CPU with some enhancements.... Or in other words an enhanced triple core PowerPC 750CXe....
    Reply
  • notuptome2004
    it has already been confirmed by Developers that the Wii U has 1gb of ram just for apps so that is true and it has been confirmed by watson ib twitter page the Wii U uses a Power 7 based CPU

    http://twitter.com/IBMWatson/status/240241146213842944

    @DeSero "WiiU has 45nm custom chip ... a SOI design & packs same processor tech found in #IBMWatson" http://engt.co/l9uQLv - @engadget



    https://twitter.com/IBMWatson/status/78473693843562498
    Follow

    IBM Watson
    ‏@IBMWatson
    @TheDavidHansen #WiiU uses same #power7 chips.
    Reply
  • master_chen
    VGLeaks
    Am I the only one who facepalmed heavily after reading that?
    Reply
  • notuptome2004
    since i cant edit i dont think also if it uses 3 core braodway chip a G3 based CPU it be a wast for IBM to make sucha chip as it be slower then crap and not provide enough power to any of the games we have seen Zombie U ASC 3 Batman AC and such and other that are GPU heavy in graphics also it not be able to power the Wii U gamepad it be crappy performance


    so as i posted above it been confirmed by IBM the CPU is a Power 7 architecture based chip there newswest chip
    Reply
  • thecolorblue
    consoles are looking crappier and crappier with each generation when compared to PCs

    ..that's Personal Computers M$ft
    Reply
  • Azimuth01
    3 core processor, 1 gig of ram, a 4870 graphics card, and an 8 gig ssd hard drive?
    The next gen console with hardware from 3 generations ago....
    Reply
  • ubercake
    Aside from an innovative controller that's already been surpassed in the same gen by Kinect, it's hard to get excited about anything Nintendo has to offer.

    I wonder if they'll go for the 8-bit look that's been making a comeback in the android market?
    Reply
  • Filiprino
    It was confirmed by IBM that Wii U has Watson technology (POWER 7).
    The AMD R700 GPU is not that bad. DX11 API level added tesellation and multithreaded rendering along with other minor tweaks. With the tesellation hardware already implemented in R700 you just need a different API that uses it, same for multithreaded rendering.
    The major change in features was from DX9.0c to DX10 and DX10.1 API level (R700).
    Current consoles do not have multithreaded rendering, they use only one thread to render graphics.
    Reply
  • tipoo
    Three enhanced Broadway cores...The Broadway CPU is based on the Gamecube, we're talking about some really old stuff there. I think G3 era, IIRC. So much for the hype that it shared the same technology as Watson, which would be Power7 based.

    So the statements from some developers that the GPU was a step forward for consoles but the CPU is a bit weaker than the PS360 may just be true.
    Reply