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[Izzy]

PS3 GRAPHICS CHIP MOST POWERFUL YET - SAY NVIDIA

nVidia claim PS3 GPU "far more powerful" than anything they've previously worked on

11:26 While the arrival of PS3 is still far off into the mists of 2006, the images we're getting in our heads of how delicious the visuals are going to look are getting better and better.

After nVidia confirmed the long-held assumption that they were working with Sony on the PS3's graphics (get the lowdown here), further details about just how powerful the chip will be have emerged.

Speaking at a Silicon Valley press conference, nVidia president Jen-Hsun Huang confirmed that the company has already been working on the chip for an extended time and suggested that it would be in the region of 50 times more powerful than the PS2's graphics chip.


This was backed up by nVidia's executive vice president of marketing Dan Vivoli in comments made to the San Jose Mercury. ``This chip is going to be far more powerful than anything we've done before," he said, before reinforcing that work has been in progress for around 18 months.

nVidia have years of experience producing advanced graphics chips for PC gaming. While the PS3 chip will incorporate many elements of nVidia's next-generation PC graphics technology, it is being designed as a standalone unit and is not based on existing PC architecture.

nVidia's previously developed the GPU (graphical processing unit) for Microsoft's Xbox. Despite rivals ATI securing the contract to develop the GPUs for Xbox 2 and Nintendo's next-gen console (catch up here) the PS3 contract could be hugely lucrative for nVidia as their technology will also be used in Sony's consumer electronics devices like DVD players and digital TVs.

More jargon-loaded graphics news for all the next-gen consoles as it appears.

 

[sprsk]

what.





/train

 

[Baconäger]

'CARS' GRAPHICS.

 

[Azih]

the PS3 will be able to control 50 nuclear warheads SIMULTANEOUSLY.

And the initial stages of the feared Sony hype campaign proceeds on scheudle.

 

[Vennt]

A pointless marketing metric, IMO. A soundbite if you will.

Anyone trying to extrapolate such a figure into anything meaningful is undertaking an exercise in extreme futility.

 

[teepo]

"nVidia have years of experience producing advanced graphics chips for PC gaming. While the PS3 chip will incorporate many elements of nVidia's next-generation PC graphics technology, it is being designed as a standalone unit and is not based on existing PC architecture."


THANK GOD

 

[PhatSaqs]

Commence Al Qaida orders to Sony for PS3s

 

[Shogmaster]

BUT TEH KEN KUTAKUMKUM PROMISED 1000X TEH POWER OF PS2 FOR PS3 BACK IN 2000!!! BOMB BOMB BOMB....

 

[Lord Error]

PS2 has zero pixel shading.

50 x zero = zero

OMG, PS3 will not have pixel shading!!

 

[AirBrian]

'CARS' GRAPHICS.

:lol :lol

 

[acklame]

While the PS3 chip will incorporate many elements of nVidia's next-generation PC graphics technology, it is being designed as a standalone unit and is not based on existing PC architecture.

so is it cell based?

 

[Gattsu25]

PS2 = 10000X PSX!!!

It's TRUE!!

acklame: if you go by the word of a poster here with an inside source: no

his word might have been confirmed and I fully expect it to be

 

[sprsk]

While the PS3 chip will incorporate many elements of nVidia's next-generation PC graphics technology, it is being designed as a standalone unit and is not based on existing PC architecture.

This is probably the best (and only real) news out of the article.

 

[Guns N' Poops]

Lol, Sony and Nvidia are a great hype team. Oh well, as long as the graphics are something along Unreal 3 Warfare or little bit better I'm a happy sexual harassment panda.

 

[G4life98]

maybe now we can finally get those "toy story" graphics :lol

 

[Bregor]

It will be just like plugging your brain into the Matrix!

 

[Gattsu25]

maybe now we can finally get those "toy story" graphics :lol

The ones promised in the Geforce 3 demonstration/Doom3 unvieling?

 

[Lord Error]

In all seriousness, I'm watching the Nalu video again, and I'm afraid to even think what Team Ico will be able to do with a hardware a lot more powerful than that.

Afraid to think, I tell ya.

 

[gofreak]

so is it cell based?

We just don't know. And damnit, it's frustrating..

 

[Fafalada]

and suggested that it would be in the region of 50 times more powerful than the PS2's graphics chip.

OMG PS3 to have 120GPixel fillrate!!!!! Xenon with 4GPix is doo%@^%$med.

 

[G4life98]

The ones promised in the Geforce 3 demonstration/Doom3 unvieling?

shit, they were touting "toy story" quality with the :lol emotion engine :lol

 

[sprsk]

OMG PS3 to have 120GPixel fillrate!!!!! Xenon with 4GPix is doo%@^%$med.

you heard it here first folks

 

[ourumov]

Doomed or not...If PS3 has 50 times more fillrate than PS2 then we'll sure see interesting things there.
Impressing numbers.

 

[Nerevar]

50 times with what? fillrate? texture compression? Vertex / shader pipelines? A metric like this is worthless. If they're pushing 50x the poly's, but still have horrible support for pixel / vertex shaders (or whatever will be big next gen), then it will still be crap.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Sony also claimed that the PS2 was 50x as powerful as the DC.

:/

 

[OniShiro]

50x more powerful than PS2? that means what? that it is like the current gen PC graphic cards? We need real numbers, fillrates, polycount, shader support...

 

[marsomega]

A pointless marketing metric, IMO. A soundbite if you will.

Anyone trying to extrapolate such a figure into anything meaningful is undertaking an exercise in extreme futility.

If you look at the performance claims of previous parts, 50 times doesn't seem like such a big jump. The original Geforce 256 was claimed to be able to do 15 to 20 million polygons per second. :lol

To be honest, the numbers don't make the difference to me anymore, for me the Art will make the biggest difference. I hear numbers but I'm just blank I mean "So what?". Games running at playable frame rates should not be a goal, it should be a standard. Physics and AI should be the next two things to be shown off. As far as consoles go.

 

[Doogdogg]

More of Sony's BS x 50 then to the 2nd power.

 

[Lord Error]

that it is like the current gen PC graphic cards?

From the article:

This was backed up by nVidia's executive vice president of marketing Dan Vivoli in comments made to the San Jose Mercury. ``This chip is going to be far more powerful than anything we've done before," he said, before reinforcing that work has been in progress for around 18 months.

 

[Outdoor Miner]

OMG! They're working on something more powerful than they've done before.

Damn, teh inn0v8tors! Always making cards more powerful than the last. Color me shocked.

ATI are working on something that's less powerful than an x800xt pe, they're so screwed.

 

[mrklaw]

50 times with what? fillrate? texture compression? Vertex / shader pipelines? A metric like this is worthless. If they're pushing 50x the poly's, but still have horrible support for pixel / vertex shaders (or whatever will be big next gen), then it will still be crap.

GS didn't do the polys, that was the EE. I'd assume that its fillrate/shader/texturing stuff. Although the fillrate on GS was already plenty, and there were no shaders, so its a dumb measure.

Not based on PC architecture just means based on PS3 architecture. Still makes me think of EE+GS model, with Nvidia doing the GS side of things and CELL doing the poly transforms.

 

[Dagless M.D.]

Why do people use multiplication when describing new graphics cards. Its not as simple as saying '500 times more powerful than whatever'. There are so many variables that until you see the specs, you wont be able to get a true idea of what it will be able to turn out.

 

[MetatronM]

"50x" is a slight step down from "1000x," isn't it?

 

[open_mouth_]

"This chip is going to be far more powerful than anything we've done before

Well, I would certainly hope so! Why would Sony want something less powerful than what Nvidia has done before???

 

[Koshiro]

Whoa, people still believe this sort of shit? Amazing.

 

[nubbe]

Only 50x…?
*Cancels Pre-order*

 

[AlphaSnake]

shit, they were touting "toy story" quality with the :lol emotion engine :lol

No they didn't.

Sony also claimed that the PS2 was 50x as powerful as the DC.

No they didn't.

 

[GhaleonEB]

No they didn't.




No they didn't.

Yes, they did on both counts. I recall distinctly, on this board, a press release from Sony calling out that the EE could "process 50x the 3D data" as the DC. I'll try to find an archive.

 

[SantaC]

This chip is going to be far more powerful than anything we've done before

That's what Nvidia has hyped every new graphics card with. Geforce FX anyone. :lol

(I like the Geforce 6800 gt though)

 

[GhaleonEB]

That's what Nvidia has hyped every new graphics card with. Geforce FX anyone. :lol

(I like the Geforce 6800 gt though)

Yeah, like they are going to say, "It's about as powerful as our last card."

What a thin boast.

 

[lexi]

That's what Nvidia has hyped every new graphics card with. Geforce FX anyone. :lol

:lol It was as if they were begging ATI to eat up some of their market share. Releasing the FX was 3dfx-esque stupid

 

[Shrike_Priest]

When will people stop using baseless PR-figures to judge consoles' power? Using a figure like that and then trying to calculate some kind of specs is beyond moronic. Especially when half the stuff the GS did, the PS3 won't do, or will do differently, and we don't even know if it's going to be a separate GPU for graphics only (a la XGPU) or some kind of hybrid CPU/GPU like the EE+GS. It's just pointless.

And good luck trying to find a press-release of Sony saying either of those things, Ghaleon.

I'll be very impressed if you do find something, because no one has done it so far.

 

[Laurent]

moondance was looking for non-hype information concerning PlayStation 3. There he go... :lol

 

[CrimsonSkies]

The PS2 had a GPU?

 

[DarienA]

confirmed that the company has already been working on the chip for an extended time and

Considering the previous thread this was the only statement I was interested in.

 

[AlphaSnake]

Yes, they did on both counts. I recall distinctly, on this board, a press release from Sony calling out that the EE could "process 50x the 3D data" as the DC. I'll try to find an archive.

What you recall is media bullshit. It never came out of Sony's mouth. It was something made up by the press. You can keep looking for both quotes, but you'll never find an official statement from Sony regarding that.

 

[Vennt]

To be honest, the numbers don't make the difference to me anymore, for me the Art will make the biggest difference. I hear numbers but I'm just blank I mean "So what?". Games running at playable frame rates should not be a goal, it should be a standard. Physics and AI should be the next two things to be shown off. As far as consoles go.

Yeah, I agree, this generation has already proven that development & resource limitation is more of a factor than any technical limits, this divide will only incease in the next cycle in my opinion.

 

[Kleegamefan]

I was at the GDC 1999 "Next Generation PlayStation" presentation by SCEA...they never said the words "Toy Story" graphics...no the *true* hype masters (that would be magazines and online sites like IGN/Gamespot) were the ones who first coind the term Toy Story Graphics....people alway like to blast Sony for something the mags say but never take responsibility for...funny that....

BTW, anyone who has that original GDC SCEA press release will notice the words "Movie-like Images" when talking about PS2 technology.....

It was inspecific on purpose....

 

[kaching]

"50x" is a slight step down from "1000x," isn't it?

That's just the GPU, silly! That means the CPU only needs to be 20x times more powerful than the EE and TAH DAH!

 

[teiresias]

The only place I ever saw the words "Toy Story" used in relation to the PS2 was an article in Next Generation magazine, and it was not a Sony quote and was obviously the writer making the claim.