VGLeaks Durango specs: x64 8-core CPU @1.6GHz, 8GB DDR3 + 32MB ESRAM, 50GB 6x BD...

One thing that confuses me is that the insiders are saying the devs are really happy with tools and how all the chips and eSRAM and special sauces work together ect.....

Yet I was told a few days ago that no dev has any of the final hardware in the kits. So I can only conclude that the "confidence" in the Durango is entirely/mostly paper based?
Most of the people here that are talking about devs preferring Durago have an MS-related history, if I'm not mistake. Also add to that the fact that with Vita Sony pretty much consulted only with WWS and devs only learned of the specs with the dev-kits. I think that's what happening with Orbis as well, seeing that we are only getting proper info on it now for the first time with the dev kits being sent out. MS probably went to the likes of Epic and Crytek to consult.
 
I think it actually means that it's not built in the system, and is separate. Probably bundled instead of being something that comes with every sku.

Which would eliminate some of the "cheap cuz of kinect built in" theories.

I don't think the magical "move" purple thingy has anything to do with memory. The diagram shows it as being a data controller between CPU and GPU, with no access to RAM at all. Probably a co-processor and it reminds me of this
figure_01.gif

It would be funny if this square from the CPU to the GPU would be in one die. Then all bets are off, and nobody can predict what this thing can accomplish graphically.

About the HDMI-in, if it survives to the retail version of the console, I think that it's for Kinnect only (HDMI 1.4 has a data/LAN track) which will be upgraded to not only receive but to project also (Illumiroom, hence 3GB of RAM to the OS) and not for connecting other A/V equipment, because HDCP.

The diagram if true is very impressive, but still Orbis is up to eleven on paper and more focused.
 
Lol? How? You don't add bandwidths together like that. At least I don't think so.

Think of how the bandwidth can be split up and utilized at the same time. Slow lanes for slower cars, fast lanes for faster cars and a traffic system which ensures the cars all get there in the best possible time with, most importantly, no gaps in-between them - i.e. no stalling. You can only do this when your ROPs are no longer limited to eSRAM only
 
A person in the know I spoke with said the diagram is missing a cross-buffer between the North Bridge, Data Move Engine, and DDR3. This cross-buffer adds an extra vertex layer to the GPU, essentially doubling the throughput of the ESRAM. This innovative feature is a virtualization, so to speak, of trans-core communication.

Sounds like techno-babble.
 
I kind of expect MS to upgrade GPU month before launch, just like they did with X360.

I don't think they did that with Xenos and I don't expect this to happen with Durango, unless they want to delay the launch.

It's not going to have 8gb of ram. In the developer's box, probably. Consumer version will have 4gb instead.

It'll be in the retail unit, but not all will be accessible to developers.
 
This thread is such a clusterfuck. It's obvious that some of the so-called insiders have a horse in the race and have been communicating that by propping up their future console of choice. Not only that, but I believe Microsoft has been way more forthcoming with what is going to be in their console and have been in direct contact with developers more than Sony has. All of this "secret sauce" talk (god, I hate that the phrase has gained traction) is just a way for people to cover their bases if something is added to either of these consoles at the last second. "See, I told you there was a secret sauce component all along!"
 
One thing that confuses me is that the insiders are saying the devs are really happy with tools and how all the chips and eSRAM and special sauces work together ect.....

Yet I was told a few days ago that no dev has any of the final hardware in the kits. So I can only conclude that the "confidence" in the Durango is entirely/mostly paper based?

The only overhead would be for 12 versus 8 gigs of ram. But they obviously know they are not playing with that much ram for games. So no, definitely not paper based if that is the main change, which it looks to be at this point.
 
This illumiroom thing was a tech demo this year, its not going to be in consumer projects until consumers know about it, want it and can get hyped for it.
 
This thread is such a clusterfuck. It's obvious that some of the so-called insiders have a horse in the race and have been communicating that by propping up their future console of choice. Not only that, but I believe Microsoft has been way more forthcoming with what is going to be in their console and have been in direct contact with developers more than Sony has. All of this "Wizard Jizz" talk (god, I hate that the phrase has gained traction) is just a way for people to cover their bases if something is added to either of these consoles at the last second. "See, I told you there was a secret sauce component all along!"

Fixed
 
This thread is such a clusterfuck. It's obvious that some of the so-called insiders have a horse in the race and have been communicating that by propping up their future console of choice. Not only that, but I believe Microsoft has been way more forthcoming with what is going to be in their console and have been in direct contact with developers more than Sony has. All of this "secret sauce" talk (god, I hate that the phrase has gained traction) is just a way for people to cover their bases if something is added to either of these consoles at the last second. "See, I told you there was a secret sauce component all along!"

The CELL had secret sauce didn't it?

Just look at what that achieved! The games look at least 800x better than the 360 and discovered the God particle long before the LHC.
 
This thread is such a clusterfuck. It's obvious that some of the so-called insiders have a horse in the race and have been communicating that by propping up their future console of choice. Not only that, but I believe Microsoft has been way more forthcoming with what is going to be in their console and have been in direct contact with developers more than Sony has. All of this "secret sauce" talk (god, I hate that the phrase has gained traction) is just a way for people to cover their bases if something is added to either of these consoles at the last second. "See, I told you there was a secret sauce component all along!"

through pm i can confirm only 3 people are within the industry or have a friend that is leaking massive info to them.
 
through pm i can confirm only 3 people are within the industry or have a friend that is leaking massive info to them.

I would like to see this.

Edit: I'm not saying that the information we are getting from these insiders is wrong, but I don't think they're fully in the loop at the same time. Especially when it comes to Sony's console. It's amazing to me that the PS4 hasn't leaked, for example. They seem to be infinitely more tight-lipped.
 
The only overhead would be for 12 versus 8 gigs of ram. But they obviously know they are not playing with that much ram for games. So no, definitely not paper based if that is the main change, which it looks to be at this point.

AFAIK, the dev kits are just standard PC parts and the CPU wasn't/isn't even AMD. The Durango SoC is highly customised and a few days ago I asked if any final silicon was in dev kits and the answer was "No".
 
This thread is such a clusterfuck. It's obvious that some of the so-called insiders have a horse in the race and have been communicating that by propping up their future console of choice. Not only that, but I believe Microsoft has been way more forthcoming with what is going to be in their console and have been in direct contact with developers more than Sony has. All of this "secret sauce" talk (god, I hate that the phrase has gained traction) is just a way for people to cover their bases if something is added to either of these consoles at the last second. "See, I told you there was a secret sauce component all along!"

Agreed which is why it's been fun to read. Hate this secret sauce talk as well, though I fear it may stay that way if MS doesn't fully disclose hardware details.

It makes sense.
The GPU can access esram and ddr3 simultaneously so it can effectively access 170gb/s.

But you don't access both pools for the same thing....even though that wouldn't really make much sense to even do such a thing. I agree that we shouldn't be adding it up like that. It would help if we knew what the eSRAM was being used for and that way we can properly dissect where the bandwidth is being used and for what.
 
It makes sense.
The GPU can access esram and ddr3 simultaneously so it can effectively access 170gb/s.

From ROPs point of view, writing to relatively small areas of memory at a time, maybe.

From an input point of view? It's way more complicated.

On the face of it you'll be wrestling for less bandwidth than you'd get 'easy' from a simpler setup.
 
No. Not at all. Regardless of how much insider information you have, that's simply not the case.

Indeed... everything that gets pulled from the DDR3 will be limited by DDR3 speed, it is very simple "weakest link" terminology that everyone should be able to understand. I am sure having ESRAM being connected directly to GPU might remove some limitations that might be there when they have to use North Bridge, but when pulling from 8 GB of RAM, it will be limited to DDR3 speed and not somehow magically tripled.

How important is the bandwidth - 170 vs 110 vs 64 (or whatever is that exactly) I have no idea because I am not game developer, but what I can be sure of is that it wont be able to access memory at faster speed than memory speed, in this case DDR3.
 
I know you have a theory, I've read it. I also think it's possible, but why say it as if you know anything?

You don't know man.

Well I was just jocking. I think it would be kinda cool though if Cell will be used as DSP processor in the PS4. Then PS4 would wipe the floor with Durango. Do not understimate the power of the Cell!
 
One thing that confuses me is that the insiders are saying the devs are really happy with tools and how all the chips and eSRAM and special sauces work together ect.....

Yet I was told a few days ago that no dev has any of the final hardware in the kits. So I can only conclude that the "confidence" in the Durango is entirely/mostly paper based?
I won't be surprise there might be very few Durango kit out there. I'm sure many devs don't have it yet.
 
Agreed which is why it's been fun to read. Hate this secret sauce talk as well, though I fear it may stay that way if MS doesn't fully disclose hardware details.

Developers will speak openly about it once the console is released and we will also learn why it's likely a technique that wont be possible in a PC.
 
From ROPs point of view, writing to relatively small areas of memory at a time, maybe.

From an input point of view? It's way more complicated.

On the face of it you'll be wrestling for less bandwidth than you'd get 'easy' from a simpler setup.

You wouldn't necessarily need to be wrestling if the ROPs themselves are more than just simply ROPs
 
The CELL had secret sauce didn't it?

Just look at what that achieved! The games look at least 800x better than the 360 and discovered the God particle long before the LHC.

Cell played a huge role in it's ability to even keep up with the 360. Not only did it have a ram disadvantage, but the GPU was clearly inferior to the one in the 360... and the lack of eDRAM.
 
The opposit would be the case.
Well it is Durango thread. I have no idea both either but I think most of their kits are in 1st party studio. Maybe one or none at all on some of high-grade studios from big 3rd party publishers. In summer, thing will be different because i'm sure you can order for more and get new revision kit.
 
You wouldn't necessarily need to be wrestling if the ROPs themselves are more than just simply ROPs

Unless they can magically put data where it needs to be to accomodate my application's read and write needs, and never runs into problems because of the eSRAM's limited size in doing that, then no, you'll still be wrestling relative to a simpler setup.
 
Next-gens probably going to be disappointing. At a glance I'd guess they're both going for cheaper, cooler, smaller boxes since relatively they're packing way less than they did in 2005/2006. A better mass-market move, a disappointing move personally.
 
I think even if they did fully disclose the hardware we still wouldn't really know the real world performance. We gotta see the games.

Agreed. We had the specs broken down for the PS3 and 360 and still to this day we have people believing one is more powerful than the other.

It's a lost cause IMO even when games will be shown.

Developers will speak openly about it once the console is released and we will also learn why it's likely a technique that wont be possible in a PC.

They'll speak about aspects that aren't covered in NDAs. There's a reason why developers are rather open to talk about the Cell in the PS3 or the Xenos in the 360 but not the other chips in such detail.

As for what isn't possible on the PC, I think that's all PR hyperbole. There's nothing these consoles will be able to do that current PCs can't. The only difference here is publishers will devote the proper budgets to these next gen games so they do end up looking better than any PC game before.
 
It makes sense.
The GPU can access esram and ddr3 simultaneously so it can effectively access 170gb/s.
No, it doesn't make sense. It's not like having 8GB of memory with a bandwidth of 170 GB/s. It's like having 8 GB of memory with 70 GB/s and 32 MB with 100 GB/s. Which is very different.

Sure, combining the bandwidth makes sense in some comparisons, since you can use all of it at the same time. But one of these setups is far harder to use effectively than the other, and comes with a set of "gotchas" that a unified, fast memory pool simply doesn't have.
 
Unless they can magically put data where it needs to be to accomodate my application's read and write needs, and never runs into problems because of the eSRAM's limited size in doing that, then no, you'll still be wrestling relative to a simpler setup.

What if there were specific tools available and customizations made to the hardware to accommodate this thus turning simple ROPs into... programmable data moving engines

They'll speak about aspects that aren't covered in NDAs. There's a reason why developers are rather open to talk about the Cell in the PS3 or the Xenos in the 360 but not the other chips in such detail.

As for what isn't possible on the PC, I think that's all PR hyperbole. There's nothing these consoles will be able to do that current PCs can't. The only difference here is publishers will devote the proper budgets to these next gen games so they do end up looking better than any PC game before.

I honestly think this setup will be so obvious it will be spoken about it in something as simple as DF breakdown eventually.

And the PC thing is no hyperbole. This is a hardware specific customization from the looks of it. Unless they change the way PCs are put together you wont be able to replicate the same setup
 
Indeed... everything that gets pulled from the DDR3 will be limited by DDR3 speed, it is very simple "weakest link" terminology that everyone should be able to understand. I am sure having ESRAM being connected directly to GPU might remove some limitations that might be there when they have to use North Bridge, but when pulling from 8 GB of RAM, it will be limited to DDR3 speed and not somehow magically tripled.

How important is the bandwidth - 170 vs 110 vs 64 (or whatever is that exactly) I have no idea because I am not game developer, but what I can be sure of is that it wont be able to access memory at faster speed than memory speed, in this case DDR3.

This is not how computers work, there is some logic that allows 8gb of system ram to be used at speeds of the small 4MB of cache. Caches make cpus run much more efficiently than the slow memory inside your computer. Cache and such is complicated but no, the system ram is no the bottleneck when there is a cache. This is why 2400mhz ddr3 runs your computer the same as 1333mhz ram.

In this specific case its a completely new design and I don't doubt they can achieve good bandwidth from it. No idea what the efficiency of such a system is. Its not like GDDR5 is reading at max speed 99% of the time anyways. It all comes down to efficiency and not peak performance numbers people quote.
 
Top Bottom