Rumor: Xbox 3 = 6-core CPU, 2GB of DDR3 Main RAM, 2 AMD GPUs w/ Unknown VRAM, At CES

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Kaltagesta said:
In this thread: people who know very little about the realities of building a console tell those that do why they're wrong.

Because the people at Microsoft surely know what they're doing.
 
I think people are underestimating how much Sony's current financial woes are going to affect the approach and thinking behind the PS4.

Their share price was bad and has just been getting worse. I just don't see Sony going to 'head to head' with MS in some kind of do or die situation when it comes to launching the next gen systems.

Erethian said:
Sony has more reason than Microsoft to go for a system that can start making back money quickly.

They certainly don't want a PS3 situation where they end the generation without recouping their initial losses.

This is a good point. Pretty much what I was going to say.
 
Caramello said:
I don't buy this rumour at all.. DDR3? Obviously people not sure what they're talking about.. If the system does have 2GB of a DDR*insert number* RAM then I also expect 1GB of dedicated Video RAM as well.

In my mind I sort of expect something like the following in the RAM department:

Nintendo: 1 - 1.5GB
Microsoft: 3GB
Sony: 4GB

I don't think 4GB of RAM is really $599 US DOLLARS territory at all. For Sony, the Blu Ray, card reader, large HDD and the Cell were all factors that contributed more to the cost (perhaps not all in absolute terms but certainly in payoff).

I think having a 4GB console with the trimmings we expect to come with that launching in 2013 would be quite easily offered at $399.

Microsoft on the other hand will have Kinect to consider (bundling will drive up costs), Blu Ray which they haven't had before (increased costs over a DVD drive) and potentially launch a year earlier.

Also remember that 4K resolution support may be required at some point on the life cycle of these systems. I kind of doubt they'll support it but Sony like to be able to push their other products through PlayStation. 2GB of RAM seems a bit paltry for that.

Yeah 4 gig's doesn't bring a console into the 599 territory. The additional costs are minimal.

I don't think 4K will be any factor in the next cycle. In comparison 1080p/i back then it's just too early. And are we sure there is an actual standard yet for 4k? (just asking) Or a proper way for cabling?
 
Kaltagesta said:
In this thread: people who know very little about the realities of building a console tell those that do why they're wrong.

In this thread juniors try to make clever comments and elevate above the rest of the field... and fail...
 
Nuclear Muffin said:
Would a 28nm GPU be ready by November 2012 though? (because there's no way that they'll be using a dual GPU setup in the final console. No way in hell. Needless extra heat, motherboard complexity, size increase and expense)
They should've been ready this month but AMD delayed them.
 
I'm not sure how would DDR3 work as VRAM. And I'm pretty sure MS wouldn't go back to separate pools. Perhaps MS and Nintendo will actually use bigger and slower (cheaper) memory... :/
 
I was expecting 4GB myself, but this makes sense and also hints at sensible launch pricing. Console RAM is not the same as PC RAM. We're talking about 2GB of GPU-grade RAM, which is not cheap.

Also, Microsoft will likely keep the EDRAM approach, so they don't need GDDR5 for insane fillrate. How much does a 2GB GDDR5 GPU costs again?

The difference between 2GB and 4GB for games is much smaller than 256MB vs 512MB. Just for reference for those who cling to PC comparisons: Windows XP struggled to run with 512MB while Windows 7 (32-bit) runs comfortably with 2GB, as does Windows 8.
 
I think it will have 4GB of memory if CliffyB steps in again and shows " Gears of War 4 Off it's tits addition " :P

Serious though, I hope it's 6 core with 4GB DDR4 at least with 1GB VRAM based on 6000 series AMD.
 
[Nintex] said:
They should've been ready this month but AMD delayed them.

Oh, ok. I don't really keep up with the latest fab processes, I just remembered hearing about a delay. So that theory of yours actually does sound fairly plausible.
 
slidewinder said:
People who are scoffing at DDR3, is it simply because you are assuming that it's going to be shared video memory?
Nah, it's just people talking about stuff they don't understand. A Power7 also uses DDR3, but with it's insane memory interface, it blows most graphic cards with GDDR5 out of the water in the bandwidth department.
 
More I think about, more I can envisage a scenario where even the DDR3 doesn't seem completely implausible.

IF bean-counters are more powerful in the Xbox division now vs 2005 (as I think is probably the case) and IF the Xbox division was high on the success of Kinect around the time planning for next-gen started, then it's not hard to imagine a scenario where they opt for a relatively modest box coupled to next-gen Kinect as the centrepiece for 2012, targeting a small loss or even break-even.

6 next-gen xenon cores + 2GB could fit that bill. With the balance (and bulk) of the processing budget spent on the GPU.

The only thing that would make me hesitate about the DDR3 in that scenario is that if they want to go relatively high on the GPU side, it could bottleneck that effort. But maybe fixing at a 1080p resolution would alleviate that (?)

That's assuming there's any credibility to these rumours. But as a scenario, it doesn't seem like an outrageous one. But I think it's only one of a number of possible scenarios.
 
gofreak said:
More I think about, more I can envisage a scenario where even the DDR3 doesn't seem completely implausible.

IF bean-counters are more powerful in the Xbox division now vs 2005 (as I think is probably the case) and IF the Xbox division was high on the success of Kinect around the time planning for next-gen started, then it's not hard to imagine a scenario where they opt for a relatively modest box coupled to next-gen Kinect as the centrepiece for 2012, targeting a small loss or even break-even.

6 next-gen xenon cores + 2GB could fit that bill. With the balance (and bulk) of the processing budget spent on the GPU.

The only thing that would make me hesitate about the DDR3 in that scenario is that if they want to go relatively high on the GPU side, it could bottleneck that effort. But maybe fixing at a 1080p resolution would alleviate that (?)

That's assuming there's any credibility to these rumours. But as a scenario, it doesn't seem like an outrageous one. But I think it's only one of a number of possible scenarios.

Easy BC is another reason to believe in this rumour.

Seems like a fairly Wii style upgrade (as far as the CPU and RAM goes)
 
Hopefully this translates to more than a doubling of CPU power.

2GB RAM is disappointing because it'll be shared RAM and that's really not enough. 3GB of shared RAM would be enough though.
 
I presume this 6 core CPU will have 2 hardware threads, like the 360 CPU..?

12 (notional) cores would be one heck of a powerful number cruncher...just hope they don't cripple it with lack of Mem Cache.

Also looks like it will have full backwards compatibility with 360 games, seeing as they are sticking with evolved CPU/GPU hardware from the same manufacturers.
 
The biggest question could be what kind of hexacore it will be...

Because my current CPU is a hexacore AMD thing. I wouldn't be surprised if they'd make the jump back to x86.

I also expect this be one of those threads at which I look back in a few years and think: "How could we be THIS wrong."
 
MS is using the hashtag #Xbox10 on Twitter to celebrate the 10th Anniversary. Banners at the campus saying: "10 Years of Fun". I stilll feel like they're going viral with this new thing before CES right around the time of the 10 year anniversary or VGA's.
 
[Nintex] said:
MS is using the hashtag #Xbox10 on Twitter to celebrate the 10th Anniversary. Banners at the campus saying: "10 Years of Fun". I stilll feel like they're going viral with this new thing before CES right around the time of the 10 year anniversary or VGA's.
Hmmmaybe. Major Nelson is also going to CES according to tweets, but I suppose they are there every year.
 
I will eat my hat if this thing is true. MS is a very forward thinking company. When the original 360 was designed- everything from the controller, the look, the specs, and the online was dissected to a tee. There is no way in hell they are putting 2 gigs of TOTAL ram in this bitch.

If they are, they are launching at 299, which than begs the question, will Sony respond with 4 GBs of Ram and a GTX 580 equivalent?
 
derFeef said:
Hmmmaybe. Major Nelson is also going to CES according to tweets, but I suppose they are there every year.
I was convinced the rumors about CES were right when G4TV and Gametrailers were announced as official broadcast partners. There's not much else that they could focus on at CES.
 
[Nintex] said:
MS is using the hashtag #Xbox10 on Twitter to celebrate the 10th Anniversary. Banners at the campus saying: "10 Years of Fun". I stilll feel like they're going viral with this new thing before CES right around the time of the 10 year anniversary or VGA's.

Ahh, good find there. That does tie in perfectly with the Xbox Ten rumour...
 
So gofreak and wsippel, because you seem like some of the more knowledgeable guys who post in these threads, or anybody else of that sort, would you venture any kind of summary as to the relative cost, performance, and other tradeoffs between "eDRAM framebuffer + unified memory" compared to "dedicated (fast, wide-bus) GPU memory/dedicated system memory" with regard to a closed, fixed (for a long time), stationary appliance like a console at the present time?

I understand that most of the argument about MS sticking with eDRAM and unified memory is that that's what they've done in the past, and that is not to be dismissed, but it's also not necessarily the final word.
 
Also realised I've been out of the loop as this is the first time I have heard the rumoured next gen XBox name.
 
thuway said:
I will eat my hat if this thing is true. MS is a very forward thinking company. When the original 360 was designed- everything from the controller, the look, the specs, and the online was dissected to a tee. There is no way in hell they are putting 2 gigs of TOTAL ram in this bitch.

If they are, they are launching at 299, which than begs the question, will Sony respond with 4 GBs of Ram and a GTX 580 equivalent?
*cough* D-pad *cough*
 
wait, hexcore is 6 cores? I thought that would be 8 cores.

This rumour is pretty much confirmed then and PC market will suffer a bit less.
 
gofreak said:
I don't mean balls-to-wall in a $1000 dollar system sense (ala PS3). I mean balls-to-the-wall more in a ~$500/2013 sense. That would make for a more interesting mix among the three than if they went for a ~$400/2012 combo (which would probably yield something very like what's rumoured here). edit - and to be clear, I'm not saying here what I THINK Sony will do, but just what I would personally prefer them to do, perhaps...

I think one thing to bear in mind about MS and its system and spec and cost, and why they might 'only' go with 2GB etc. - is that they may allocate a lot more to interface tech in their budget than they might otherwise have done. If they want to put a kinect 2.0 in every box, which may be the case, that will eat into their budget for other things. People asking 'why not more' might want to bear that in mind - assuming any of this is true.
Not going to happen. If the Vita is any indication, it means the PS4 will have off self cheap components. There is no way Sony wants to lose a 100$ on each console. I expect next gen´s price to be 400$. And there is no way in hell that Sony will release its console a year after MS and Nintendo. I expect PlayStation meeting in February/January, that´s when they will announce the next Playstation.
 
Shadow of the BEAST said:
way to little.

Im guessing they are not looking for a ten year life span next gen.
a lot of people said such things for the 360 launch with 512 ram, look at what we are still getting.

I think 2GB for a console is fine, drives will be faster and games can still data stream.
 
subversus said:
I think you won't because no way hex-core CPUs will be a standard component for PCs in 2012-2013.

On the other hand I don't think devs will be able to utilize all cores on launch. I expect this console to put a dent in high-end PC gaming anyway for a year or two at least. By dent I mean PCs won't be able to run best-looking console games.
An off the shelf dual core Sandy Bridge would run rings around 6 of the 360's cores. The number of CPU cores is just about meaningless without knowing what those cores are, the PS3 already has an 8 core CPU.

As to the rumour itself? MS aren't going to use slower RAM than they do in the 360, I'd disregard this for now.
 
The 360 is still a great console. In these days of economic hardship Microsoft will need to do something absolultely beyond-epic ninja shit for us to want us to fork out the money to buy the new machine straight off..

..and MS after spending millions on the RROD they need their next machine to be solid and reliable from the off - and to maximise the profits lost in the current gen having to replace all those 360s.

They must know what they're doing if they do indeed ship with 2gb.. because they cant afford to make any core mistakes with the hardware specification of their new console.
 
brain_stew said:
An off the shelf dual core Sandy Bridge would run rings around 6 of the 360's cores. The number of CPU cores is just about meaningless without knowing what those cores are, the PS3 already has an 8 core CPU.

As to the rumour itself? MS aren't going to use slower RAM than they do in the 360, I'd disregard this for now.

yeah, somehow I thought that hexacore = 8 cores, lol
 
Dan27 said:
The 360 is still a great console. In these days of economic hardship Microsoft will need to do something absolultely beyond-epic ninja shit for us to want us to fork out the money to buy the new machine straight off..

..and MS after spending millions on the RROD they need their next machine to be solid and reliable from the off - and to maximise the profits lost in the current gen having to replace all those 360s.

They must know what they're doing if they do indeed ship with 2gb.. because they cant afford to make any core mistakes with the hardware specification of their new console.
The bulk of the Courier team is working on this. So no engineers cutting out GPU cooling components to make the DVD-drive fit into the nice box that some Japanese desiger made after being inspired by a coffee machine. Also no Bach and Moore upping production and wasting resources chasing 'Sony is going to launch in 2005(!!)' ghosts.
 
Let's not forget one thing. Specs might not be final, or they are lying on purpose (fake leak) to fool Sony. To give them fake picture of where they are going.
I really doubt nexbox will have 2gb. 4gb minimum. Ram is dirty cheap atm. My old PC has 6gb. Yeah yeah I know PC is different but regardless. Devs around mid life cycle start complaining about RAM, when it comes to the consoles. Why not make it future proof?
 
Beam said:
Not going to happen. If the Vita is any indication, it means the PS4 will have off self cheap components. There is no way Sony wants to lose a 100$ on each console. I expect next gen´s price to be 400$. And there is no way in hell that Sony will release its console a year after MS and Nintendo. I expect PlayStation meeting in February/January, that´s when they will announce the next Playstation.

I think we'd be hearing more solid rumours about PS4 now if it was coming next year. And they already have a system launch scheduled for next year (in two territories), I doubt they'd have another scheduled within 12 months of that.

Again, though, I was talking about what I'd like to see for some greater diversity in the systems next gen..not necessarily what'll actually happen :\ Dunno if a $500 budget would be out of the question though. It would let them retail at $400 with a 25% loss - and that's before other factors that might help them recoup costs (like, perhaps, a less generous storage system than PS3 - see: Vita). Something like a 20 or 25% loss at launch would be nothing like the PS3 situation, and probably quite similar to Vita's (which IIRC is said to be breaking even at launch 'overall' - meaning, likely, after a game sale or two, after peripherals etc.).
 
Globox_82 said:
Let's not forget one thing. Specs might not be final, or they are lying on purpose (fake leak) to fool Sony. To give them fake picture of where they are going.
I really doubt nexbox will have 2gb. 4gb minimum. Ram is dirty cheap atm. My old PC has 6gb. Yeah yeah I know PC is different but regardless. Devs around mid life cycle start complaining about RAM, when it comes to the consoles. Why not make it future proof?

lol, two years ago I'd laugh at that but in this age of leaks this might be true. I doubt though that Sony can be fooled that easy.
 
BigNastyCurve said:
2GB is great for a dedicated console, people. It's more like 4 in PC-land.
We say that now, but some years down the road and we'll hear "Nah, we can't implement this feature, too little RAM".
 
My ideal next Gen Console with Fall 2012 launch:

5-8 GB of Total Ram ( Graphics + system)
4-8X Bluray drive
High end 2011 GPU( PS3's RSX when it was announced was twice as fast as Nvidias best card on the market- 2012 consoles having a high end card from the year prior doesn't seem unreasonable)
for PS4 - 4 PPU's and 32- 40 Spus. Each core updated with more cache and new instructions.
For MS I-7 +

If not, I may need to go PC for a few yrs.
 
subversus said:
lol, two years ago I'd laugh at that but in this age of leaks this might be true. I doubt though that Sony can be fooled that easy.
There's more talk about the new Xbox lately than there is about the Wii U. Microsoft is going to bury it if Nintendo really waits for E3 2012 to show anything new.
 
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