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

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clutch.as.it.gets. said:
Doesn`t change the fact that 2 gb of Ram for a game console launching late 2012 are unacceptable, and assuming a 6/7 year lifespan.... no, thats just ridiculous. Also the OS will be considerably bigger with the rumors of windows 8 coming and all those entertainment fuctions MS is planning.

Stop. It's not going to be "Windows 8", it's going to be custom kernel build from Win8, so it's not going to have 1/10th the ram footprint that a full-blown Windows has, multimedia features or not. MS did an excellent job with designing the 360's OS to be small yet functional, I doubt they are going to suddenly go backwards.
 
clutch.as.it.gets. said:
Doesn`t change the fact that 2 gb of Ram for a game console launching late 2012 are unacceptable, and assuming a 6/7 year lifespan.... no, thats just ridiculous. Also the OS will be considerably bigger with the rumors of windows 8 coming and all those entertainment fuctions MS is planning.

I don't see OS dashboard in game taking too much more RAM unless they are doing something radically different than 360. What more can they add to functionality?
 
see5harp said:
I don't see OS dashboard in game taking too much more RAM unless they are doing something radically different than 360. What more can they add to functionality?
Pause game, start up Netflix, watch a movie, close Netflix, make a Skype call and go back to playing the game while talking to a buddy on Skype. Basically running all Apps in the background while the game is paused.
 
gatti-man said:
I wouldnt mind. Does it really matter how big your console is?

yes. Ashtetics is one of the big point in me buying any electronics. I would be putting that in my front room I do not want ugly looking electronics in there.
 
Anyone else wishing next gen console specs will be somewhat conservative so they will be cool, quiet, and more reliable?
 
Pimpbaa said:
Anyone else wishing next gen console specs will be somewhat conservative so they will be cool, quiet, and more reliable?

Me too, surely they dont need to be too much more powerful to go full 1080p and 60fps?

I was thinking of upgrading my graphics card on my PC but if the next gen of console is 12 months away i'll hang on.
 
Pimpbaa said:
Anyone else wishing next gen console specs will be somewhat conservative so they will be cool, quiet, and more reliable?

Nope. You can always want 2 or more years for the slim version.
 
snap0212 said:
Pause game, start up Netflix, watch a movie, close Netflix, make a Skype call and go back to playing the game while talking to a buddy on Skype. Basically running all Apps in the background while the game is paused.

Please tell me you are joking. You can already save you game, hop directly into netflix while remaining in party/private chat. Why would you want Netflix constantly running in the background? Movies already auto resume. You can already chat while installing a game, shopping, downloading, watching movies/espn....I just don't see how more than 2 GB of ram is necessary just because of windows 8...i imagine it just being a portal on the dash like windows media currently works.
 
crazy monkey said:
yes. Ashtetics is one of the big point in me buying any electronics. I would be putting that in my front room I do not want ugly looking electronics in there.
Make it black. Thats all that really matters for me. Making it large would just mean it looks like a receiver/ In my HT both the ps3 and 360 are smaller than any other component sans cable box. My HDDVD, power reg/surge protector, and receiver are all larger by a wide margin.


see5harp said:
Please tell me you are joking. You can already save you game, hop directly into netflix while remaining in party/private chat. Why would you want Netflix constantly running in the background? Movies already auto resume. You can already chat while installing a game, shopping, downloading, watching movies/espn....I just don't see how more than 2 GB of ram is necessary just because of windows 8...i imagine it just being a portal on the dash like windows media currently works.
There are already games that take up 1.4gb of vram on pc. Assuming we want current games on pc for our console future (i would hope for better) then its a 2gb minimum. I personally would hope for 3-4. I think 3GB GDDR5 or XDR with a high bus speed would be adequate for a full generation. 2gb will be dissappointing.
 
snap0212 said:
Pause game, start up Netflix, watch a movie, close Netflix, make a Skype call and go back to playing the game while talking to a buddy on Skype. Basically running all Apps in the background while the game is paused.
Skype, sure. But that's hardly memory intensive, not even a little.

Watching a movie whilst your game is paused? What are you smoking? Even if they might, which they wont, they would do it by shifting your game state to the HDD rather than keeping it in RAM whilst you're watching a film.
 
i-Lo said:
I think it'll be pretty sad if the next gen base resolution was not 1080p given even today there are quite a few high profile games that don't even run at 720p.

I don't think the base resolution will be 1080. 1080p is over 2x as many pixels as 720p, so a huge chunk of the system's added "power" will be eaten up by just drawing more pixels.

A lot of games will be 1080p, yea. But I don't think developers will be afraid of dropping down to 720p if they feel like the benefits are worth it.
 
diffusionx said:
I don't think the base resolution will be 1080. 1080p is over 2x as many pixels as 720p, so a huge chunk of the system's added "power" will be eaten up by just drawing more pixels.

A lot of games will be 1080p, yea. But I don't think developers will be afraid of dropping down to 720p if they feel like the benefits are worth it.
I disagree. I think 1080p will be the standard. A 1080p image will in many cases require less post processing due to less jaggies and a cleaner image. For example at 2560x1600 I dont need AA on my 30" monitor bc the image is already so clean. I hardly notice it if it is on. The benefits of a full 1080p will be night and day to those of us who hate jaggies.


BurntPork said:
So you really wouldn't mind another RRoD situation as long as it means you get tons of eye candy?
Does it mean I get a 3 year warranty on my launch console like this gen? Because if it does then fuck yeah.
 
gatti-man said:
Does it mean I get a 3 year warranty on my launch console like this gen? Because if it does then fuck yeah.
That 3 year warranty only covers RRoD beyond the first year IIRC.

No, excuse me while I bang my head on the wall.
 
genjiZERO said:
ok, but you could you explain the differences for those of us who don't know, but are still interested in the topic.
Consoles (as well as high-end PC graphics cards) typically use super fast, low latency RAM that's significantly more expensive than the standard DDR RAM you find in consumer PCs. Also, consoles use RAM more efficiently, so they don't usually need as much.
 
genjiZERO said:
ok, but you could you explain the differences for those of us who don't know, but are still interested in the topic.
Generally PC's are made with some of the cheapest run of the mill RAM out there. You can buy a lot of it for very very cheap. It's shit, but cheap.

Consoles tend to go for much faster, but much more expensive (comparatively) RAM. This RAM lets call it GDDR5 can do a workload much faster than the other lets call it DDR3, meaning you don't need as much to do the same job.
 
BurntPork said:
So you really wouldn't mind another RRoD situation as long as it means you get tons of eye candy?

Size and power consumption isn't directly related to heating issue. Otherwise your refrigerator would be burning down your house right now.
 
BurntPork said:
That 3 year warranty only covers RRoD beyond the first year IIRC.

No, excuse me while I bang my head on the wall.
Right which was the issue we were speaking of. I had far less support when my ps2 died 14 months in and I had to turn do all kinds of crap to make it work.
 
I expect Xbox3 to have 4 GB RAM and launch in fall 2013. With that said, I wouldn't be THAT surprised if it launched in fall 2012.

I expect a 2GB+2GB configuration. I'm not a fan of unified memory if the VRAM pool could be faster.
 
snap0212 said:
Pause game, start up Netflix, watch a movie, close Netflix, make a Skype call and go back to playing the game while talking to a buddy on Skype. Basically running all Apps in the background while the game is paused.


That's what a save state function would be for. Not in-game OS, it would be an stupid way of spending resources IMO.

If anything, an internet browser and a reduced version of the game/friend/achievement menues and maybe access to the marketplace while ingame. It's not really necessary though.
 
genjiZERO said:
Burtpork and Thunder Monkey - appreciate the information
No prob man.

Both of our explanations were oversimplifications, but the basis was sound.

Part of the reason I stand firm they'll have a much better system if they go with a unified memory pool of 2 gigs GDDR5. For one you get blazing fast RAM, and enough of it for devs to not be pissed. That kind of RAM makes the 6 gigs of what these guys use nothing.*

*a little hyperbolic
 
Thunder Monkey said:
No prob man.

Both of our explanations were oversimplifications, but the basis was sound.

Part of the reason I stand firm they'll have a much better system if they go with a unified memory pool of 2 gigs GDDR5. For one you get blazing fast RAM, and enough of it for devs to not be pissed. That kind of RAM makes the 6 gigs of what these guys use nothing.*

*a little hyperbolic
Hyperbole is my job. >:(
 
Pimpbaa said:
Anyone else wishing next gen console specs will be somewhat conservative so they will be cool, quiet, and more reliable?

Besides the crazy 100MB EDRAM rumor, the Nextbox specs don't seem that extravagant. I don't see a reason why Nextbox can't be all the above with the current listed specs.
 
BruceLeeRoy said:
Doesn't the 360 have 512mb of ram right now? 2gb seems like a endless ocean comparatively
But it's probably less than twice as much as Wii U, so not everyone will see it as a full gen leap!
 
People are obsessed with numbers without even seeing how capable a system is. If they showed stuff like Uncharted 3 or Gears 3 at launch, people would have shit a brick. When iPad 2 reviews came out and people saw how quick it was they were amazed..when people started to suspect it had 512 megs of RAM they started acting salty like Apple robbed them. I couldn't care less about the PC audience getting held back because of multiplatform console development.
 
genjiZERO said:
ok, but you could you explain the differences for those of us who don't know, but are still interested in the topic.

To add to what has been said already, there's other issues in people expecting larger amounts of ram. There's also things like traces on the motherboard that need to be taken into account. Sure you could use 16 ram chips, but the cost of manufacturing the motherboard is going to jump big time. Currently the high end types of ram like GDDR5 are topping off at 2 gigbit chip sizes, which is equal to 256 megabytes. So 1 gig of GDDR5 ram needs 4 ram chips. It's not as simple as my PC has 16 gigs of ram so should my Xbox3!


To give you an idea of price differences, back in 2009 when iSupply did a breakdown of the PS3 the XDR ram chips used in it (64 megabyte sized) were estimated to be 10 bucks a chip. (the PS3 uses 4 of these) That comes out to a cost of $160 for 1 gig. At the same time 1 gig of DDR2/DDR3 ram was around $30 - $40.

EDIT

Don't have the iSupply link, but wanted to add a link showing ram prices in 2009
http://www.sharkyextreme.com/guides/WMPG/article.php/10706_3794471__8
 
BurntPork said:
But it's probably less than twice as much as Wii U, so not everyone will see it as a full gen leap!

Last time I checked the WiiU rumor thread, the performance was supposed to be better than PS3/360, but not a full generational leap from those consoles, has something changed? Even if they have the same amount of ram, the designs of the two consoles could be different enough due pricing and design philosophy to have completely different levels of performance.

Personally, I want exactly what the 360 did, a console that balances power with price, it wasn't as powerful as the PS3, but it was close enough it didn't matter.
 
I don't think we'll actually need anymore RAM, because it's a console. GPU's are more important anyway, because we already get amazing looking games on current consoles.
 
Shin Johnpv said:
So 1 gig of GDDR5 ram needs 4 ram chips. It's not as simple as my PC has 16 gigs of ram so should my Xbox3!

Didn't the original launch 360's allow for size/budget of 10 chips...and that's about the same size/budget expected this generation? 3gb of GDDR5 would put it at 12 ram chips, so it's probably unlikely.
 
The Wii U isn't going to be a powerhouse, it doesn't need to if it has the same compatibly as the 360 it should be good.
 
Shin Johnpv said:
To add to what has been said already, there's other issues in people expecting larger amounts of ram. There's also things like traces on the motherboard that need to be taken into account. Sure you could use 16 ram chips, but the cost of manufacturing the motherboard is going to jump big time. Currently the high end types of ram like GDDR5 are topping off at 2 gigbit chip sizes, which is equal to 256 megabytes. So 1 gig of GDDR5 ram needs 4 ram chips. It's not as simple as my PC has 16 gigs of ram so should my Xbox3!


To give you an idea of price differences, back in 2009 when iSupply did a breakdown of the PS3 the XDR ram chips used in it (64 megabyte sized) were estimated to be 10 bucks a chip. (the PS3 uses 4 of these) That comes out to a cost of $160 for 1 gig. At the same time 1 gig of DDR2/DDR3 ram was around $30 - $40.

EDIT

Don't have the iSupply link, but wanted to add a link showing ram prices in 2009
http://www.sharkyextreme.com/guides/WMPG/article.php/10706_3794471__8

You are a gentleman and a scholar. I'm bookmarking your post so I can use this break down in the future.
 
Hay guys, my pc has 8 gigs of ram, why can't the xbox just buy some on newegg??

Seriously though, for me it's pretty interesting to think about what will happen with xbl. Will there be some backward compatibility with XBL? They are really pushing it as a platform, so releasing a whole new platform will really hamper adoption of the platform imo.
 
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