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What we know so far about the Nintendo NX with sources

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AmyS

Member
I somehow really doubt the handheld will use anything from Qualcomm.

I'm betting on two seperate SoCs from AMD. Both ARM based. Both GCN 1.1 or 1.2 based (re: not Polaris). ARM cores and the GPU will be clocked much higher in the console. There will be more CUs/TMUs/etc in the console.
 

BitStyle

Unconfirmed Member
Rösti;193035983 said:
Due to the avoidance of ichnograms, I've been able to illapse on a few intricate resources. I cannot in terms of things to come promise any copacetic results, but with a little bit of sanguineness I might be able to corrade a few seeds prosperous to our cause, so we may deliciate. Just have some patience; I would not fancy the dragon's igniparous emanations.

Monday.

Mondayton? Let's get those hype gears turning!

edit: will lower expectations
 

-Horizon-

Member
Rösti;193035983 said:
Due to the avoidance of ichnograms, I've been able to illapse on a few intricate resources. I cannot in terms of things to come promise any copacetic results, but with a little bit of sanguineness I might be able to corrade a few seeds prosperous to our cause, so we may deliciate. Just have some patience; I would not fancy the dragon's igniparous emanations.

Monday.
This is like the opposite of a certain buttocks poster haha
 

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
I somehow really doubt the handheld will use anything from Qualcomm.

I'm betting on two seperate SoCs from AMD. Both ARM based. Both GCN 1.1 or 1.2 based (re: not Polaris). ARM cores and the GPU will be clocked much higher in the console. There will be more CUs/TMUs/etc in the console.
Here's the thing, though - pre-Polaris GCN won't have much chance against the established mobile contenders (read: the Adrenos and Rogues, and, heck, why not the Malis; the Tegras are cursed with a bad blood). And since QCOMM are the closest to AMD in both IP and culture, then an AMD home + QCOMM hh would be a very viable combo. I'm not saying it's the only one, of course. Just that it's possible.

On an unrelated tangent: ARM clusters are of up to 4 cores. Keep that in mind for your forecasts : )
 

Neoxon

Junior Member
About the name, they just need to call it:

Console:
NNX (Nintendo NX)

Handheld
GNX (Gameboy NX)
If I recall correctly, the Game Boy name was ditched because Nintendo wanted something more gender-neutral. Even then, the NX name is just a codename. It's about as likely to be the platform's final name as Revolution or Cafe.
 

Hilarion

Member
Given the DS' popularity among girls, which no previous Nintendo handheld had, I think they might've been right in ditching the name Game Boy.
 
Rösti;193035983 said:
Due to the avoidance of ichnograms, I've been able to illapse on a few intricate resources. I cannot in terms of things to come promise any copacetic results, but with a little bit of sanguineness I might be able to corrade a few seeds prosperous to our cause, so we may deliciate. Just have some patience; I would not fancy the dragon's igniparous emanations.

Monday.

And this is just one of the reasons why you're one of my favorite posters.

Bravo
 

Thraktor

Member
Here's the thing, though - pre-Polaris GCN won't have much chance against the established mobile contenders (read: the Adrenos and Rogues, and, heck, why not the Malis; the Tegras are cursed with a bad blood). And since QCOMM are the closest to AMD in both IP and culture, then an AMD home + QCOMM hh would be a very viable combo. I'm not saying it's the only one, of course. Just that it's possible.

Qualcomm's success in providing phone SoCs is almost completely tangential to what makes a good handheld console chip, though. They're popular because of the breadth of phone-oriented hardware they integrate right on the die, which allows OEMs to minimise their time to market (a big deal when some customers like Sony have as little as a 6 month turnaround on new flagships). They're typically beaten on the graphics front by the PowerVR-powered Apple AX series. And although Adreno is technically branched from AMD's GPUs, they will have diverged so far apart by this point that I can't imagine there'd be any worthwhile advantage over any other mobile GPU in terms of cross-development with an AMD home console.

My vote's still with AMD for the handheld chip. They might not compete with something like PowerVR at 28nm, but they don't need to. Take Mullins, swap the Puma cores out for ARM, even drop the GPU frequency a bit, and you've still got something massively more powerful than the 3DS (and significantly more powerful than Vita). In the unlikely event that they're going with 14nm, then AMD should be more than capable of putting something very competitive together. Plus you obviously get the benefit of using precisely the same GPU architectures between the handheld and home console.

On an unrelated tangent: ARM clusters are of up to 4 cores. Keep that in mind for your forecasts : )

So were Jaguar clusters, but the didn't stop both PS4 and XBO from using eight cores in two clusters (not to mention the many dual-cluster hex-core and octo-core ARM chips).

Edit:
I don't know how reliable that AMD rumor is. I cannot track down the original source. And those websites who are reporting it do not seem to have a good track record. It all basically seems to boil down to statements from AMD that they are working on two semi-custom designs (one x86, one ARM) for undisclosed customers. Connections to Nintendo seem to be conjecture.

The problem with assuming AMD aren't providing either of the SoCs is that you have to explain who else is going to launch a gaming console late this year. Here are some of the relevant quotes:

Devinder Kumar said:
...we projected earlier this year that we would have at least one to two semi-custom design wins and I’m pleased to report that we have those design wins, the work to design the products that has already started, the contract assigned and those parts get introduced in 2016.

[...]

I’m not going to give too much detail. I’ll say that one is x86 and one is ARM, and atleast one will be on gaming, right. But that’s about as much as you going to get out me today, because the customers from the standpoint to be fair to them. It is their product. They launch it.

(Link)

Lisa Su said:
Demand for gaming consoles looks strong through 2016 and we remain on track to generate additional revenue from new Semi-Custom business in the second half of 2016.

(Link)

As far as I see it, there are two possibilities given the above:

1. At least one NX form factor uses an AMD APU

2. Another company is planning to introduce a new console later this year that is both powerful enough to warrant a semi-custom APU and is expected to sell enough to justify the R&D costs involved (i.e. likely 10 million+ units).

Given that the second scenario involves a company developing a console in secret for a year and a half without anyone even getting the slightest hint of it, the logical assumption has to be that AMD is providing an APU for at least one of the NX form-factors.

And this isn't even taking Nintendo's inertia into account, having effectively followed the same GPU team since the N64.
 

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
Qualcomm's success in providing phone SoCs is almost completely tangential to what makes a good handheld console chip, though. They're popular because of the breadth of phone-oriented hardware they integrate right on the die, which allows OEMs to minimise their time to market (a big deal when some customers like Sony have as little as a 6 month turnaround on new flagships).
I see your point. But I don't agree that their 'turn-key' chipsets is their sole merit in the handheld domain.

They're typically beaten on the graphics front by the PowerVR-powered Apple AX series. And although Adreno is technically branched from AMD's GPUs, they will have diverged so far apart by this point that I can't imagine there'd be any worthwhile advantage over any other mobile GPU in terms of cross-development with an AMD home console.
While QCOM and AMD tech has diverged significantly since the AMD Mobile division acquisition, their engineering is still ex-ATI at its kernel.

My vote's still with AMD for the handheld chip. They might not compete with something like PowerVR at 28nm, but they don't need to. Take Mullins, swap the Puma cores out for ARM, even drop the GPU frequency a bit, and you've still got something massively more powerful than the 3DS (and significantly more powerful than Vita). In the unlikely event that they're going with 14nm, then AMD should be more than capable of putting something very competitive together. Plus you obviously get the benefit of using precisely the same GPU architectures between the handheld and home console.
At 14nm (ergo Polaris) - yes. The crux of the issue is - will nintendo go 14nm. I don't think they will. Ergo Adreno and Rogue will be the better propositions at 28nm.

So were Jaguar clusters, but the didn't stop both PS4 and XBO from using eight cores in two clusters (not to mention the many dual-cluster hex-core and octo-core ARM chips).
Of course. I was saying that purely in the context of hypothetical cluster configs people would come up with, not how many clusters there'd be.
 

udivision

Member
About the name, they just need to call it:

Console:
NNX (Nintendo NX)

Handheld
GNX (Gameboy NX)

I don't think Nintendo needs the Gameboy branding. Like the Wii name, it would probably do more harm than good, and I want them to avoid that kind of thing.
 

Champion

Member
Didn't Nintendo have like a random emergency stream/event last year when they announced NX? Cant they do one of those again?
No.

It was to announce they were purchasing/partnering with DeNA and making mobile games. The NX info was to reassure consumers that dedicating gaming platforms were still a primary focus for them.
 

sinxtanx

Member
edit: email tags suck now apparently

half-assed interpretation of Rösti

By being careful, I've been able to find some details. I cannot promise that what I've got is anything special, but with a little bit of optimism I might be able to get something interesting for us to discuss. Just have some patience; I don't want to get banned.

Monday.

c'mon baby
 

iMax

Member
Qualcomm's success in providing phone SoCs is almost completely tangential to what makes a good handheld console chip, though. They're popular because of the breadth of phone-oriented hardware they integrate right on the die, which allows OEMs to minimise their time to market (a big deal when some customers like Sony have as little as a 6 month turnaround on new flagships). They're typically beaten on the graphics front by the PowerVR-powered Apple AX series. And although Adreno is technically branched from AMD's GPUs, they will have diverged so far apart by this point that I can't imagine there'd be any worthwhile advantage over any other mobile GPU in terms of cross-development with an AMD home console.

My vote's still with AMD for the handheld chip. They might not compete with something like PowerVR at 28nm, but they don't need to. Take Mullins, swap the Puma cores out for ARM, even drop the GPU frequency a bit, and you've still got something massively more powerful than the 3DS (and significantly more powerful than Vita). In the unlikely event that they're going with 14nm, then AMD should be more than capable of putting something very competitive together. Plus you obviously get the benefit of using precisely the same GPU architectures between the handheld and home console.



So were Jaguar clusters, but the didn't stop both PS4 and XBO from using eight cores in two clusters (not to mention the many dual-cluster hex-core and octo-core ARM chips).

Edit:


The problem with assuming AMD aren't providing either of the SoCs is that you have to explain who else is going to launch a gaming console late this year. Here are some of the relevant quotes:



(Link)



(Link)

As far as I see it, there are two possibilities given the above:

1. At least one NX form factor uses an AMD APU

2. Another company is planning to introduce a new console later this year that is both powerful enough to warrant a semi-custom APU and is expected to sell enough to justify the R&D costs involved (i.e. likely 10 million+ units).

Given that the second scenario involves a company developing a console in secret for a year and a half without anyone even getting the slightest hint of it, the logical assumption has to be that AMD is providing an APU for at least one of the NX form-factors.

And this isn't even taking Nintendo's inertia into account, having effectively followed the same GPU team since the N64.

Couldn't this just be a new APU for future "slim" revisions of PS4/XBO?
 

Thraktor

Member
I see your point. But I don't agree that their 'turn-key' chipsets is their sole merit in the handheld domain.

My point wasn't that they'd use an off-the-shelf SoC, but that if you're looking for someone to design a semi-custom SoC for a handheld console, I can't see the reason in going to a vendor which specialises in integrating modems and networking hardware.

While QCOMM and AMD tech has diverged significantly since the AMD Mobile division acquisition, their engineering is still ex-ATI at its kernel.

In my mind the benefit from sourcing both SoCs (and GPUs, in particular) from the same vendor is the notion that, in general, optimisation work performed on the home console version of a game will also optimise the handheld version, and vice vera.

Taking the shader architecture, for example, Adreno and Radeon diverged around the Terascale 1 VLIW architecture. AMD obviously ditched VLIW when they moved to a RISC-style ISA with GCN in 2012, and Qualcomm dropped VLIW for their own scalar instruction set in 2013 with the 300 series. Even aside from any other differences in the GPU design, if you're operating on completely separate shader ISAs you lose the ability to say that a technique that runs efficiently on one GPU will also run efficiently on the other.

At 14nm (ergo Polaris) - yes. The crux of the issue is - will nintendo go 14nm. I don't think they will. Ergo Adreno and Rogue will be the better propositions at 28nm.

But at 28nm the question is whether Nintendo would choose the higher-performance option for their handheld, or the lower-performance one which uses an identical architecture to their home console. Given that they've never pushed for performance in the handheld sector, even when they had competition, and their comments about making cross-platform development easier, I'd have to assume they'd choose the second option.

I agree that 14nm is unlikely, but I don't think that impacts their decision all that much.

Couldn't this just be a new APU for future "slim" revisions of PS4/XBO?

That wouldn't be a "design win" in the context of the quotes, both because it's not a new chip, just a shrink of an existing one, and it wouldn't involve AMD winning any business in late 2014, as die shrinks would have already been covered by MS and Sony's existing contracts with them.
 

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
My point wasn't that they'd use an off-the-shelf SoC, but that if you're looking for someone to design a semi-custom SoC for a handheld console, I can't see the reason in going to a vendor which specialises in integrating modems and networking hardware.
Well, mine wasn't either ; )

QCOM is a turn-key phone chipset provider - and that is a major advantage of their business - here we completely agree. But that's not their sole advantage in the industry. QCOM are also one of the few ARM architecture licensees who can (and traditionally do) make better uarchs than ARM themselves. And one of the top-four mobile GPU IP holders (Rogue/Tegra/Mali/Adreno). They make a myriad of Adreno + A53/A57/Kryo SoCs as we speak. On all relevant fabnodes - apparently the mobile GPU landscape might change come Polaris and Samsung GF's 14LPP. But QCOM would be among the top candidates for a semi-custom hh SoC design from the POV of a platform holder, nintendo or otherwise.

In my mind the benefit from sourcing both SoCs (and GPUs, in particular) from the same vendor is the notion that, in general, optimisation work performed on the home console version of a game will also optimise the handheld version, and vice vera.

Taking the shader architecture, for example, Adreno and Radeon diverged around the Terascale 1 VLIW architecture. AMD obviously ditched VLIW when they moved to a RISC-style ISA with GCN in 2012, and Qualcomm dropped VLIW for their own scalar instruction set in 2013 with the 300 series. Even aside from any other differences in the GPU design, if you're operating on completely separate shader ISAs you lose the ability to say that a technique that runs efficiently on one GPU will also run efficiently on the other.
Ok, so you're arguing from a GPU ISA-centric POV, I understand. I might have agreed with you if it wasn't for the concessions that nintendo would need to do to achieve that.

But at 28nm the question is whether Nintendo would choose the higher-performance option for their handheld, or the lower-performance one which uses an identical architecture to their home console. Given that they've never pushed for performance in the handheld sector, even when they had competition, and their comments about making cross-platform development easier, I'd have to assume they'd choose the second option.

I agree that 14nm is unlikely, but I don't think that impacts their decision all that much.
Well, let's wait and see : )

That wouldn't be a "design win" in the context of the quotes, both because it's not a new chip, just a shrink of an existing one, and it wouldn't involve AMD winning any business in late 2014, as die shrinks would have already been covered by MS and Sony's existing contracts with them.
Exactly. AMD wouldn't announce that as a new design win.
 

Datschge

Member
Ok, so you're arguing from a GPU ISA-centric POV, I understand. I might have agreed with you if it wasn't for the concessions that nintendo would need to do to achieve that.
Do you think a unified platform is feasible with diverging GPU architectures? Gaming is already much dependent on making the most of available graphics capabilities. Still having different GPU architectures between handheld and home console wouldn't be much improvement compared to status quo even if the hardware is abstracted more and the development environment unified.
 

Persona7

Banned
Rösti;193035983 said:
Due to the avoidance of ichnograms, I've been able to illapse on a few intricate resources. I cannot in terms of things to come promise any copacetic results, but with a little bit of sanguineness I might be able to corrade a few seeds prosperous to our cause, so we may deliciate. Just have some patience; I would not fancy the dragon's igniparous emanations.

Monday.

what are some of these words
 

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
Do you think a unified platform is feasible with diverging GPU architectures? Gaming is already much dependent on making the most of available graphics capabilities. Still having different GPU architectures between handheld and home console wouldn't be much improvement compared to status quo even if the hardware is abstracted more and the development environment unified.
Actually that's a very good question. I bears noting that GPU ISA homogeneity would hardly make devs more inclined to write asm for that ISA, but it could help for a much more predictable toolchain behaviour, if it's the same uarch (which would be the case with, say, a "little" and a "big" Polaris). GPU compilers are not every bit as advanced as CPU compilers yet - even when it's the same compiler save for the backend - the latter can make or break a compiler's output quality, and GPU backends are .. complicted. A hh/home hw ecosystem sharing the same GPU uarch would definitely make toolchain writers' lives, and in turn, game devs lives simpler.

My problem with that is that such a GPU does not quite exist in AMD space, yet.
 
Higher than we'd expect (480) but lower than we'd hope (720).

It also scales quite well, being one quarter of a 1080p frame.

Ugh, I know it makes sense, especially because its Nintendo, but I'm still really hoping for 720p. I mean, for Christ's sake, 540p going past 2020?
 

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
Ugh, I know it makes sense, especially because its Nintendo, but I'm still really hoping for 720p. I mean, for Christ's sake, 540p going past 2020?
What's the problem? We're talking of a ~4-5" screen.
 

Datschge

Member
Actually that's a very good question. I bears noting that GPU ISA homogeneity would hardly make devs more inclined to write asm for that ISA, but it could help for a much more predictable toolchain behaviour, if it's the same uarch (which would be the case with, say, a "little" and a "big" Polaris). GPU compilers are not every bit as advanced as CPU compilers yet - even when it's the same compiler save for the backend - the latter can make or break a compiler's output quality, and GPU backends are .. complicted. A hh/home hw ecosystem sharing the same GPU uarch would definitely make toolchain writers' lives, and in turn, game devs lives simpler.
Regardless of devs willingness to write asm most systems are already moving away from giving direct low level access, instead wrapping it with an intermediate level api. So "much more predictable toolchain behaviour" as you say is exactly why I'd still go for it, predictable performance scaling across multiple performance levels in an otherwise unified platform imo is a must. While an abstracted api layer can ensure compatibility with different uarches, it won't be able to make performance predictable.

Nintendo already showed early eagerness to make use of GPGPU even having picked a for this purpose outdated VLIW based uarch for Wii U, with NERD reportedly working GPGPU related technologies. Iwata mentioned NX would build upon Wii U which I'd expect to refer specifically to the GPU capabilities. Keeping PowerPC and using that on handheld is very unlikely. AMD being involved for offering an x86 based CPU for both form factors imo is even more unlikely, and AMD keeps referring to its plans to eventually offering ARM based solutions as well. So that with the news that AMD got a major design win makes me expect NX' GPU being another result of the long standing partnership with ArtX/ATi/AMD.

My problem with that is that such a GPU does not quite exist in AMD space, yet.
Right. My current guess is that NX will be first released as a GCN+ARM based console (potentially additionally including Wii U's 3 core PowerPC for backward compatibility with some platform software bridge so much of the eShop software works on both) and later using the 14nm Polaris shrink for handheld NX and more powerful console revisions which would all be compatible and release in an about yearly fashion similar to Apple practices. If the handheld NX is planned to be released together with the home console NX I don't expect them to be on sale before 2017.
 

Oersted

Member
Question:

Did Nintendo ever say NX is a 3DS and/or WiiU successor or that they are working on a 3DS and/or WiiU successor?
 
Question:

Did Nintendo ever say NX is a 3DS and/or WiiU successor or that they are working on a 3DS and/or WiiU successor?

They said NX is not a replacement for Wii U and 3DS but something totally new. Same was said about DS replacing GBA, we know the real answer though. Wii U is not a viable business anymore so what they said in regards to NX is PR to squeeze out some more sales.
 
D

Deleted member 465307

Unconfirmed Member
Question:

Did Nintendo ever say NX is a 3DS and/or WiiU successor or that they are working on a 3DS and/or WiiU successor?

To my knowledge, no. They have talked about NX as as dedicated game hardware and I believe as something that will exist alongside their other systems. As of now, it has reminded me a lot of how they talked about the DS before it launched (and then replaced the Game Boy).

That said, there are quotes in the OP that talk about absorbing the Wii U hardware, which to me suggests that they were talking about a home console successor. I don't believe the NX name was used at that time, however, so technically, that could be separate.

Well, that was true at the time, until sales for the DS exploded. It's not really a fair comparison.

The thing is, if they didn't intend for the DS to replace the GBA, they wouldn't have included a GBA slot. The DS absorbed the GBA; it was never a completely separate "third pillar," like they suggested. I think they hoped the DS would replace the GBA, but they weren't sure it would happen, so it became a "third pillar" to their investors and the general public.
 

Litri

Member
We are only talking 28nm nodes or 14nm nodes. Isn't there anything in between that Nintendo could choose from?
 

Datschge

Member
We are only talking 28nm nodes or 14nm nodes. Isn't there anything in between that Nintendo could choose from?
Unless they design the chip itself (which they won't) they can only choose between different CPU/GPU architectures, pick one of the processes for which those have been prepared already and let the manufacturer do some adaptions/customizations to them.
 

The Giant

Banned
Rösti;193035983 said:
Due to the avoidance of ichnograms, I've been able to illapse on a few intricate resources. I cannot in terms of things to come promise any copacetic results, but with a little bit of sanguineness I might be able to corrade a few seeds prosperous to our cause, so we may deliciate. Just have some patience; I would not fancy the dragon's igniparous emanations.

Monday.

If true, is it monday japan/australia time or monday american time?
 

orioto

Good Art™
Higher than we'd expect (480) but lower than we'd hope (720).

It also scales quite well, being one quarter of a 1080p frame.

And we have the Vita example that shows things can be super pretty and damn sharp on a 5 inches screen with that rez. Honestly Vita rez screen with above PS3 graphics will be incredible. Compared to 3ds that would be a 15 years old gap anyway lol.
 

Mr Swine

Banned
Are we even sure that Nintendo would choose a 28nm node for its GPU/CPU and not something even older just to "save" a few bucks out of every NX unit?
 

Neoxon

Junior Member
Ugh, I know it makes sense, especially because its Nintendo, but I'm still really hoping for 720p. I mean, for Christ's sake, 540p going past 2020?
Nintendo doesn't really need much more than 540p for the NX Handheld. As stated by the others, it's 1/4 the size of a 1080p frame, so it scales well. Not to mention that Vita pulled off some impressive stuff at 540p.
 

Datschge

Member
Are we even sure that Nintendo would choose a 28nm node for its GPU/CPU and not something even older just to "save" a few bucks out of every NX unit?
If they choose modern architectures (and for a unified platform they better be) the likelihood that that is still available in an outdated node is comparably slim. ;)
 
I'd feel pretty good about some form of NX coming out within 12 month or so.
Not sure if GS has been made privy to this information, though. Could be speculation like most people. Though if any retailer would be granted access to the tentative release date it would likely be them
 
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