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[jeff_rigby]

Yeah, I think I'm with Jeff on this one. Sony feel like they need to think ten years down the line. 8 series> 7 series in terms over future proofing.

Having said that, by that measure 9 series > 8 too. I just wonder whether the Wii U being so expensive might have urged them to seek that little bit extra.

Cost benefit decisions and the 7000 series is GCN, 8000 series is GCN2 with 9000 series GCN2.1. 8000 series vs 7000 series big jump in HSA features but 8000 to 9000 only a small feature change primarily impacting second GPU if I am understanding AMD slides. We know nothing of the 9000 series but it's supposed to come at 20nm when TSVs and wide IO memory is available so some of the 9000 designs might already have TSVs incorporated.

 

[systemfehler]

http://www.techpowerup.com/176529/AMD-Pushes-Radeon-HD-8000-quot-Sea-Islands-quot-Launch-to-2Q-2013.html

Old news? I guess AMD should really start getting their stuff together. There is no Playstation 4 on the market and I still regret the decision of Sony going with AMD...

 

[deadlast]

I'm under the impression that we'll see some 7xxx / 8xxx hybrid. Hopefully we will find out soon.

 

[DieH@rd]

I hope for customized 8xxx series.

 

[RoboPlato]

I hope for customized 8xxx series.

I'm thinking this as well, if only for the power useage improvements.

 

[deadlast]

http://www.techpowerup.com/176529/AMD-Pushes-Radeon-HD-8000-quot-Sea-Islands-quot-Launch-to-2Q-2013.html

Old news? I guess AMD should really start getting their stuff together. There is no Playstation 4 on the market and I still regret the decision of Sony going with AMD...

Well if final Dev Kits hit this summer then this timeframe lines up with the PS4 getting an 8000 series. But I would expect a custom 7000 with some of the benefits of the 8000.

 

[Racer30]

Jeff; what kind of gpu memory bandwith are we talking about here you think?

 

[jeff_rigby]

Jeff; what kind of gpu memory bandwith are we talking about here you think?

At least GDDR5 bandwidth. That's what Developers were told according to bgassassin. He and I went back and forth on this. There are only a few choices, GDDR5, eDRAM and slower DDR3 or stacked 512 bit wide 2.5D connected to the SoC via an interposer. The most economical choice long term is what the industry thinks and I cited (two of them= 2.5D Ultra wide 512 bit); none think GDDR5 except some on BY3D and some here.

 

[Elios83]

I hope for customized 8xxx series.

Considering the 8000 series is 28nm, there's no doubt that the PS4 GPU will be based on the 8000 architecture.

 

[Racer30]

At least GDDR5 bandwidth. That's what Developers were told according to bgassassin. He and I went back and forth on this. There are only a few choices, GDDR5, eDRAM and slower DDR3 or stacked 512 bit wide 2.5D connected to the SoC via an interposer. The most economical choice long term is what the industry thinks and I cited (two of them= 2.5D Ultra wide 512 bit); none think GDDR5 except some on BY3D and some here.

Ok, so 200gb/s is not out of the question? Give or take...

 

[phosphor112]

Ok, so 200gb/s is not out of the question? Give or take...

They'll be higher, regardless. There is no way bandwidth will go down. I know Sony, no doubt, will want higher bandwidth to push out higher resolution games. One thing that comes natively with higher resolution rendering would be 3D support. They'll want that in all their big name titles.

 

[Ashes]

Considering the 8000 series is 28nm, there's no doubt that the PS4 GPU will be based on the 8000 architecture.

The 7000 series is 28nm too. Southern island is also referred to as next gen by AMD if that helps.

 

[Elios83]

The 7000 series is 28nm too. Southern island is also referred to as next gen by AMD if that helps.

Yeah but considering that the manufacturing process is the same it makes no sense not to use the most advanced architecture they have, the main advantage is the lower TPD which is a key factor in a console.
That of course does not mean that the PS4 GPU will have the same computational power of the high end PC boards of the 8000 family, just that it's based on the same architecture and feature set.

The big mistery is the memory configuration.
If they're using separated CPU and GPU it would be easy to have 4GB of DDR3 main memory and 2GB of GDDR5 video memory.
If they're using a single APU balancing quantity and bandwidth will be tricky.

 

[Ashes]

Yeah but considering that the manufacturing process is the same it makes no sense not to use the most advanced architecture they have, the main advantage is the lower TPD which is a key factor in a console.
That of course does not mean that the PS4 GPU will have the same computational power of the high end PC boards of the 8000 family, just that it's based on the same architecture and feature set.

Makes sense.

My ideas have desktop parts too instead of mobile parts that jeff thinks is likely.

 

[Ashes]

The big mistery is the memory configuration.
If they're using separated CPU and GPU it would be easy to have 4GB of DDR3 main memory and 2GB of GDDR5 video memory.
If they're using a single APU balancing quantity and bandwidth will be tricky.

Oh I think it will be apu + gpu. Even though it appears now that I may be wrong, I'm going to stick with it. There were leaks of the 8000 series earlier this year, that seemed to suggest the 8000 series would be at a cheaper msrp bracket. A combination of the power savings, future proofing, performance benefits, and a simpler outlook is what I'm going with very > exotic hardware.

But I also think we're going to see SSDs in next gen consoles too.

It would be kind of cool to have a beefy apu ps4. Basically a graphic card with a bluray player.

 

[gofreak]

It it not really risky pursuing an unknown architecture over a known one?

7xxx series architecture is a known quantity, has been for a while, which presumably makes a derived chip easier to customise, test etc.

If AMD doesn't even know exactly how the 8xxx series will turn out, and won't until next year...why would Sony or anyone not intimately party to its development trust the outcome of that process? Sometimes things 'go wrong'.

Has a 8xxx chip taped out yet? When did that happen if so? AMD would need to have brought some good evidence of viability some time ago for it to be a safe bet for a client with a mass produced product on a tight schedule.

 

[i-Lo]

It it not really risky pursuing an unknown architecture over a known one?

7xxx series architecture is a known quantity, has been for a while, which presumably makes a derived chip easier to customise, test etc.

If AMD doesn't even know exactly how the 8xxx series will turn out, and won't until next year...why would Sony or anyone not intimately party to its development trust the outcome of that process? Sometimes things 'go wrong'.

Has a 8xxx chip taped out yet? When did that happen if so? AMD would need to have brought some good evidence of viability some time ago for it to be a safe bet for a client with a mass produced product on a tight schedule.

The Sea Island will be an evolution of Southern Island. As such, it shouldn't be a complete unknown. Also, given Sony will be using a customised GPU, I am pretty sure they'll be in the know with AMD to find an ideal solution that unduly doesn't force a big obsolescence. Also, given that AMD's production of series 8XXX GPU have been delayed to Q2 2013, there's a good chance that they are hitting the obstacles now for which they are trying to find solutions. Perhaps, parallel to that, custom GPU for PS4 and XB3 are being created. I don't think prior to E3 we'll know for certain.

 

[phosphor112]

It it not really risky pursuing an unknown architecture over a known one?

7xxx series architecture is a known quantity, has been for a while, which presumably makes a derived chip easier to customise, test etc.

If AMD doesn't even know exactly how the 8xxx series will turn out, and won't until next year...why would Sony or anyone not intimately party to its development trust the outcome of that process? Sometimes things 'go wrong'.

Has a 8xxx chip taped out yet? When did that happen if so? AMD would need to have brought some good evidence of viability some time ago for it to be a safe bet for a client with a mass produced product on a tight schedule.

Considering they're selling the 8xxx chips Q2 of 2013, I suspect they'll be fine with customizations for Q4 2013 or Q1 2014 launches.

 

[Elios83]

It it not really risky pursuing an unknown architecture over a known one?

7xxx series architecture is a known quantity, has been for a while, which presumably makes a derived chip easier to customise, test etc.

If AMD doesn't even know exactly how the 8xxx series will turn out, and won't until next year...why would Sony or anyone not intimately party to its development trust the outcome of that process? Sometimes things 'go wrong'.

Has a 8xxx chip taped out yet? When did that happen if so? AMD would need to have brought some good evidence of viability some time ago for it to be a safe bet for a client with a mass produced product on a tight schedule.

When they started designing the PS4 GPU even the 7000 series was unknown, what if that turned out a disaster like the Geforce 5 series?
You can't totally avoid risks when you're designing a system, otherwise they would just wait until the year before launch and then buy an off the schelves 'safe' part as it is. That's impossible for a console unless you're just building a PC.
Sony would really like to have a part with much lower TPD with similar specs, it would lower their costs considerably, hence the risk is well worth it.
Also I thought that AMD is basically ready to launch the 8000 series in early 2013, there are not many unknow variables afaik.

 

[gofreak]

When they started designing the PS4 GPU even the 7000 series was unknown, what if that turned out a disaster like the Geforce 5 series?

When first kits started going out it wouldn't have been so unknown...and problems with would have been flagged long, long before planned launch, giving time for reaction.

I think with 8 series we're talking about them more or less crossing their fingers on it up until maybe a few months before launch?

Also I thought that AMD is basically ready to launch the 8000 series in early 2013, there are not many unknow variables afaik.

I'd be curious to know when it taped out and whether it was considered 'good' when it did. That would help inform this debate a lot more.

I've said it before but I wouldn't be so concerned about the series affinity anyway. Performance is far more important. Yes, perf per watt might be better with a newer series, but I don't think there's a going to be make-or-break difference between what a 7 or 8 series chip can deliver in a console for the same budget.

 

[Ashes]

When first kits started going out it wouldn't have been so unknown...and problems with would have been flagged long, long before planned launch, giving time for reaction.

I think with 8 series we're talking about them more or less crossing their fingers on it up until maybe a few months before launch?



I'd be curious to know when it taped out and whether it was considered 'good' when it did. That would help inform this debate a lot more.

I've said it before but I wouldn't be so concerned about the series affinity anyway. Performance is far more important. Yes, perf per watt might be better with a newer series, but I don't think there's a going to be make-or-break difference between what a 7 or 8 series chip can deliver in a console for the same budget.

That kind of thing gets done ages before not months before. Here's an early leak with an update.

And top of the line 8000 series cards:

 

[z0m3le]

That kind of thing gets done ages before not months before. Here's an early leak with an update.



And top of the line 8000 series cards:

^That chart is fake. It was never even intended to be taken as fact, and it's original source rightfully calls it a guess.

Just look at it, bigger chip, higher clock speeds, more shaders and transistors yet... lower wattage? seriously the guy who made that chart is dreaming that physics doesn't matter.

 

[Ashes]

^That chart is fake. It was never even intended to be taken as fact, and it's original source rightfully calls it a guess.

I see. What about the update?

edit: I'm now not sure what you mean. Leaks are er rumours, so not fact per se. Unless somebody thinks it's a table by amd themselves or something, so what's fake about it?
edit: Ha ha.

 

[i-Lo]

^That chart is fake. It was never even intended to be taken as fact, and it's original source rightfully calls it a guess.

Just look at it, bigger chip, higher clock speeds, more shaders and transistors yet... lower wattage? seriously the guy who made that chart is dreaming that physics doesn't matter.

Yea, you're correct. There'll definitely will be performance boost but I'm not expecting it to be so outrageously big.

But I don't see a chip with this kind of die size being a too big of an issue to be integrated (theoretically) given RSX's was 258mm^2.

 

[itsgreen]

I see. What about the update?

edit: I'm now not sure what you mean. Leaks are er rumours, so not fact per se. Unless somebody thinks it's a table by amd themselves or something, so what's fake about it?

It's unrealistic... significant die size increase and significant price drop? No way in hell.

Together with a significant power drop and significant performance increase... not going to happen...

 

[Ashes]

It's unrealistic... significant die size increase and significant price drop? No way in hell.

Together with a significant power drop and significant performance increase... not going to happen...

It's really out there. ha ha.

edit: Not to say newer graphic cards don't perform better but the 'leaked' jump in performance is quite extravagant.

 

[i-Lo]

It's unrealistic... significant die size increase and significant price drop? No way in hell.

Together with a significant power drop and significant performance increase... not going to happen...

Do we even know if the die size is actually going to increase for a fact? It seems to be all speculation at this point.

It's really out there. ha ha.

I'm not saying it's improbable.... but it is improbable.

 

[Biggzy]

It's unrealistic... significant die size increase and significant price drop? No way in hell.

Together with a significant power drop and significant performance increase... not going to happen...

Either AMD have found a way to defy the laws of physics, or the guy who came up with this chart was high on drugs at the time. I am going to go with the latter.

 

[Ashes]

I saw this earlier and was wondering whether to post it. More so to highlight the cpu bottleneck, than the comparison to Ivy bridge:

AMD Trinity vs. Intel Ivy Bridge with Radeon HD 7970M

http://youtu.be/YJecUDvJrfc

 

[i-Lo]

One thing on the software side I wanted to talk about is Smartglass. Given Sony and Google share android platform, and there are dime a dozen android phones and tablets, how realistic is it to expect some sort of smartglass like software being introduced for PS4 made by Sony and disseminated through any and all hardware running Android?

I saw this earlier and was wondering whether to post it. More so to highlight the cpu bottleneck, than the comparison to Ivy bridge:

AMD Trinity vs. Intel Ivy Bridge with Radeon HD 7970M

http://youtu.be/YJecUDvJrfc

I hope choosing AMD APU doesn't come back to bite them in the ass.

 

[Giant Panda]

One thing on the software side I wanted to talk about is Smartglass. Given Sony and Google share android platform, and there are dime a dozen android phones and tablets, how realistic is it to expect some sort of smartglass like software being introduced for PS4 made by Sony and disseminated through any and all hardware running Android?



I hope choosing AMD APU doesn't come back to bite them in the ass.

Why would people buy consoles controlled with tablets when most already have tablets that play games themselves. I don't see smartglass stuff being too successful, consoles will need to stand out, not blend in. Also AMD and IBM were really their only two choices for a CPU.

 

[i-Lo]

Why would people buy consoles controlled with tablets when most already have tablets that play games themselves. I don't see smartglass stuff being too successful, consoles will need to stand out, not blend in. Also AMD and IBM were really their only two choices for a CPU.

Controlling media functionalities and dual screen features not related to games directly.

Trust me, I didn't think I needed a tablet till I got it and recently, when I used it to control youtube app on PS3, it felt magnificent primarily because of its ease of use over the UI of the PS3's youtube app. You don't need it until you use it. That's what I have found with this latest tech.

 

[Vol5]

So you can currently use an APU (CPU+GPU) + discrete GPU for AMD's Dual Graphics technology. It's possible to pair a 7750D inside an A10 APU with a 7950 (for example) to increase your output.

So what are we saying guys, that PS4 definitely won't have a CPGPU+GPU combo?

 

[DieH@rd]

So you can currently use an APU (CPU+GPU) + discrete GPU for AMD's Dual Graphics technology. It's possible to pair a 7750D inside an A10 APU with a 7950 (for example) to increase your output.

So what are we saying guys, that PS4 definitely won't have a CPGPU+GPU combo?

In PC space, crossfire between APU and dedicated GPU can be done only if GPU architectures are identical. For example, mobile 8000 radeon series cannot join forces with new A10 APUs because apu's use 7xxx graphics.

 

[mrklaw]

Controlling media functionalities and dual screen features not related to games directly.

Trust me, I didn't think I needed a tablet till I got it and recently, when I used it to control youtube app on PS3, it felt magnificent primarily because of its ease of use over the UI of the PS3's youtube app. You don't need it until you use it. That's what I have found with this latest tech.

Same here. Controlling my TiVo from my iPad is amazing. Just playing something and pausing etc is fine on a remote, but as you add more content it becomes difficult to manage. Using a tablet is perfect for that.



I-lo you mentioned the google/android connection. I wonder if we'll see Sony integrate googleTv or something similar onboard as their pitch for the living room. Sony have released google TV set top boxes already

 

[Elios83]

When first kits started going out it wouldn't have been so unknown...and problems with would have been flagged long, long before planned launch, giving time for reaction.

I think with 8 series we're talking about them more or less crossing their fingers on it up until maybe a few months before launch?



I'd be curious to know when it taped out and whether it was considered 'good' when it did. That would help inform this debate a lot more.

I've said it before but I wouldn't be so concerned about the series affinity anyway. Performance is far more important. Yes, perf per watt might be better with a newer series, but I don't think there's a going to be make-or-break difference between what a 7 or 8 series chip can deliver in a console for the same budget.

There are always risks, even if they're using the same building blocks of well known PC chips, these are still highly customized parts built for a closed system.
Otherwise they would already have final hardware in their hands, it's a work in progress which goes in parallel to what AMD is doing in the PC market.
Final hardware won't be available until a few months before launch anyway.
Considering that AMD is ready to launch the 8000 series, they have already announced it and they already have fully working chips, it seems reasonable to expect that a product coming at the end of 2013 at the earliest, is based on that architecture and the main reason is the TPD which is expected to be considerably lower compared to the 7000 series using the same manufacturing process. That's a giant plus for consoles manufacturers, it means that they can either reduce the manufacturing costs with the same hardware power or they could increase their power at the same costs. That's something that I really see Sony and Microsoft going behind.
And it's consistent with what happened in the past with the Xbox, Xbox 360 and PS3 GPUs. They all used the latest architecture available at the time.
So yeah, it's good not to bet the whole farm on unproven technologies like Sony did with Blu Ray, but I wouldn't go to the opposite extreme, these companies are still designing something original on a tight schedule and will always have to take risks.

 

[jeff_rigby]

Mobile is more efficient and could be clocked higher in a game console.

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD) is focused to revive its market shares, AMD’s shares surge more than 32% in previous 30 days, as on Tuesday, it released its next-generation Radeon HD 8000M series mobile graphics chips (GPUs).

The firm declared it’s consisting of the Radeon HD 8500M, 8600M, 8700M and 8800M series which are mid-range parts that are probable to find its means into laptops early coming year. It could also happen closer than that Engadget newly spotted an Asus VivoBook, and the shipping of that chips at the end of the month with a Radeon HD 8550M.

Whereas the higher-end series declared on Tuesday, the Radeon HD 8800M looks like a rebadged and optimized version of the earlier 7800M series, the other models is new parts. The firm declared that these next-gen GPUs approach with 384 cores different then the 640 found on the 8800M. However, clock speeds varies depending on the model, with the 8700M maxing out at 850MHz.

AMD did not go into the specifics regarding these new graphics chips the firm is it appears that saving this information for after that month’s CES. It also implicit that there will be another main GPU launch in Q2 2013, which could be the fanatic-class part, while the 8900M series that’s missing in today’s declaration.

Thebe (PS4 AMD internal project name) is a Moon of Jupiter which might explain Orbis, a River in Egypt and more see bottom. If the Thebe name is a Solar system family name then it may be a APU with small GPU connected to a larger planet GPU. I thought all had accepted that both consoles would have Jaguar CPUs? Besides we are talking Mobile here and I don't think a desktop APU is going to have the same interface needed by a mobile chip. 2011 APUs had PCIe for mobile and Hypertransport for desktop APU.

According to data SweClockers aware of AMD will shortly announce new GPUs in the Radeon HD 8000M series, especially designed for laptops and other compact platforms. The new circuits are included in the family and the Solar System are named after planets, starting with Mars and Venus.

In conjunction with electronics fair CES 2013 in January, is planning at least one manufacturer to introduce the all-in-one PCs with graphics cards from the Radeon HD 8000M series. The specifications indicate support for DirectX 11.1, OpenGL 4.3 and OpenCL 1.2. It is not clear whether it is the existing architecture Graphics Core Next (GCN) or new GCN2.

ATI Evergreen: HEMLOCK XT/PRO (RADEON HD 5970/5950), CYPRESS XT/PRO/XGL/PGL (RADEON HD 5870/5850), JUNIPER XT/PRO/LE/XGL/PGL (RADEON HD 5770/5750), REDWOOD XT/PRO/LE/XT GL/PRO GL (RADEON HD 5670/5650), CEDAR XT/PRO/LE/XT GL/PRO GL (RADEON HD 5550/5350), LEXINGTON XGL/XT, BROADWAY XGL/PRO/LP/XT, MADISON XT/PRO/LP/XT GL/PRO/LP GL, PARK PRO/XT/LP/PRO/XT GL/LP GL, ROBSON PRO/XT/LP, Granville PRO/LP, Capilano XT/PRO/LP/CE.
AMD Northern Islands: CAYMAN GL/XT/PRO/LE, ANTILLES PRO/XT, BLACKCOMB XT/PRO/LP, BARTS GL/XT/PRO, WHISTLER XT/PRO/LP, ONEGA, TURKS XT/PRO, SEYMOUR XT/PRO/LP, CAICOS GL/PRO, CASPIAN.
AMD Southern Islands: Radeon HD 7950 (TAHITI PRO), Radeon HD 7970 (TAHITI XT), Radeon HD 7990 (NEW ZEALAND), IBIZA, COZUMEL, KAUAI.
AMD London series: WIMBLEDON, PITCAIRN, HEATHROW, CHELSEA.
AMD THAMES, LOMBOK, GREAT WALL, SUMMER PALACE, CAPE VERDE.
AMD Sea Islands: Oland, Bonaire, Hainan, Curacao, Aruba.
AMD Solar Systems: Mars, Sun, Neptune, Venus.
AMD Fusion: SUMO, WRESTLER, TRINITY DEVASTATOR/SCRAPPER, RICHLAND, THEBE, KRYPTOS.
AMD Kabini, Samara, Kaveri, Pennar.

AMD Family 12h Fusion/Llano (FS1, FM1, FP1)
AMD Family 14h Brazos/Bobcat: Ontario, Zacate (FT1)
AMD Family 14h (FT2)
AMD Family 15h Bulldozer: AM3r2 (Zambezi), G34r1 (Interlagos), C32r1 (Valencia)
AMD Family 15h Trinity/Piledriver: FP2, FS1r2, FM2
AMD Kaveri/Steamroller
AMD Kabini/Jaguar

If the AMD stockholder's conference call is true + Sweetvar26's Jaguar CPU then the base design is either: Kabini (28nm 2013), Samara (20nm GNB 2013), Pennar (20nm GNB).

For the moon of Jupiter, see Thebe (moon).
Thebe (Θήβ&#951 is a feminine name mentioned several times in Greek mythology, in accounts that imply multiple female characters, four of whom are said to have had three cities named Thebes after them:
Thebe, daughter of Asopus and Metope,[1][2] who became wife of Zethus, and gave her name to Boeotian Thebes.[3] She is also said to have consorted with Zeus.[4]
Thebe, daughter of Zeus and Iodame, given in marriage to Ogygus.[5]
Thebe, daughter of Prometheus and also a possible eponym of the Boeotian Thebes.[6]
Thebe, daughter of Cilix and wife of Corybas (son of Cybele).[7]
Thebe, eponym of Thebes, Egypt.[8] She was the daughter of either Nilus, Epaphus, Proteus, or Libys;[9] rare versions of the myth make her a consort of Zeus and mother of Aegyptus[5] or Heracles.[10]
Thebe, daughter of the Pelasgian Adramys, the eponym of Adramyttium, or of the river god Granicus. She married Heracles, who named Hypoplacian Thebes after her.[11]
Thebe, daughter of Zeus and Megacleite, sister of Locrus.[12]

 

[Globox_82]

So thebe is PS4, Kryptos is nextbox?

 

[jeff_rigby]

So thebe is PS4, Kryptos is nextbox?

Where have you been? <grin>

Sweetvar26 first brought the names to our attention, Outgoing AMD financial officer mentioned the Sony project name was Thebes and HWinfo.com had an update for supported AMD hardware that their software can interface with and report.

SemiAccurate then wrote an article to clear up project names.

OnQ123, bgassassin and myself developed several theories as to what the names might mean and tried to prove Sweetvar26 statements months ago. I found the HWinfo.com information 8 days after Serronx

http://semiaccurate.com/forums/showpost.php?p=172526&postcount=412

 

[systemfehler]

I just hope that it isn't a bad sign that so many (leading) AMD technicians suddenly join MS. Could be due to the fact that AMD is laying off quite a lot of people - but I hope that neither situation affects Sony too much in the console race.

 

[THE:MILKMAN]

I just hope that it isn't a bad sign that so many (leading) AMD technicians suddenly join MS...

I thought it was IBM techs? Or is it both?

 

[systemfehler]

I thought it was IBM techs? Or is it both?

Both - from AMD as a lead engineer on the HD8xxx series to a XBOX engineer. Don't know if AMD would really lay off a person that highly involved in their future GPUs.

 

[THE:MILKMAN]

Both - from AMD as a lead engineer on the HD8xxx series to a XBOX engineer. Don't know if AMD would really lay off a person that highly involved in their future GPUs.

I guess it could mostly be for the tablet side of their business. But with IBM and AMD techs going to MS in their droves recently, I can only think that MS are going all guns blazing with Xbox 720.

 

[Karak]

I guess it could mostly be for the tablet side of their business. But with IBM and AMD techs going to MS in their droves recently, I can only think that MS are going all guns blazing with Xbox 720.

Some are most likely for tablet but I know for a fact that a couple are for the new system. I reconnected with my cousin, works at MS on integrating tech, who is now working with a handful of new peeps from AMD, IBM, and another soon to be announced partner, on some tech for the new system. He moves between projects as his expertise is needed and his own impression of the attitude on the teams was "Fighting for utter dominance."

Whether that ends up being anything more than hyperbole is yet to be seen but he has been right on the money whenever I could get him to spill. Which includes taking him out to play ultimate frisbee and then getting some pizza and bear into him after.

He did say that there is 1 big misconception about the new Xbox system(he refused to call it either of the popular names). He wouldn't tell me what and he doesn't frequent gaf at all but does frequent Beyodn3d forums so I assume he meant from there.. It was fun talking to him and even though he wasn't super specific on the technical details his explanation of how the teams worked together, within MS, was actually NOT what I assumed occurred within MS at all. In fact I was pretty surprised compared to the stories that came out of MS during the 360's hardware dev phase.

 

[aegies]

My understanding is that Thebe and Kryptos are appropriate trees to bark up.

My personal conjecture given what I've heard over the last 12 months is that Durango is using a heavily engineered part from AMD that is not easily comparable to any current GPU out there right now. Sony is more likely to use a more directly consumer-derived part, because it's much cheaper and faster to implement, which I'm led to believe because all the PS4 movement devkit-wise has been really, really recent.

 

[Globox_82]

My understanding is that Thebe and Kryptos are appropriate trees to bark up.

My personal conjecture given what I've heard over the last 12 months is that Durango is using a heavily engineered part from AMD that is not easily comparable to any current GPU out there right now. Sony is more likely to use a more directly consumer-derived part, because it's much cheaper and faster to implement, which I'm led to believe because all the PS4 movement devkit-wise has been really, really recent.

I just hope they are not pulling CELL 2.0 in some way, delivering some over engineered nonsense.
thanks for info

Where have you been? <grin>

Sweetvar26 first brought the names to our attention, Outgoing AMD financial officer mentioned the Sony project name was Thebes and HWinfo.com had an update for supported AMD hardware that their software can interface with and report.

So he is not posting anymore? Did he give any other hint?

 

[RoboPlato]

I just hope they are not pulling CELL 2.0 in some way, delivering some over engineered nonsense.

They're probably doing something similar to Xenos at the time for the 360.

 

[phosphor112]

My understanding is that Thebe and Kryptos are appropriate trees to bark up.

My personal conjecture given what I've heard over the last 12 months is that Durango is using a heavily engineered part from AMD that is not easily comparable to any current GPU out there right now. Sony is more likely to use a more directly consumer-derived part, because it's much cheaper and faster to implement, which I'm led to believe because all the PS4 movement devkit-wise has been really, really recent.

Thanks for the info, man.

 

[THE:MILKMAN]

Some are most likely for tablet but I know for a fact that a couple are for the new system. I reconnected with my cousin, works at MS on integrating tech, who is now working with a handful of new peeps from AMD, IBM, and another soon to be announced partner, on some tech for the new system. He moves between projects as his expertise is needed and his own impression of the attitude on the teams was "Fighting for utter dominance."

Whether that ends up being anything more than hyperbole is yet to be seen but he has been right on the money whenever I could get him to spill. Which includes taking him out to play ultimate frisbee and then getting some pizza and bear into him after.

He did say that there is 1 big misconception about the new Xbox system(he refused to call it either of the popular names). He wouldn't tell me what and he doesn't frequent gaf at all but does frequent Beyodn3d forums so I assume he meant from there.. It was fun talking to him and even though he wasn't super specific on the technical details his explanation of how the teams worked together, within MS, was actually NOT what I assumed occurred within MS at all. In fact I was pretty surprised compared to the stories that came out of MS during the 360's hardware dev phase.

Sounds intriguing. I wonder which tech partner..........

 

[aegies]

They're probably doing something similar to Xenos at the time for the 360.

Ding.