Absolutely, the RAM is by far the most hampering hardware aspect of the consoles today and choosing unorthodox architecture (PS3) might not be the best of ideas either... I hope and think that the console manufacturers have learned that important lesson this gen! To me it makes no sense to place a very good processor, a good GPU and a a small amount or RAM with low clock frequency into the same system, you're asking for development bottlenecks and hick-up's.

are you clueless?
at launch consoles usually are the latest and greatest tech wise, there will be little distinction between the 2. and then even so when next gen does come out games will be made for console and ported to PC ( kinda like now but more frequent) so it again won't look much differnt

Haha.

Oh, you're serious, let me laugh even more. 

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha.

While his post is pretty funny Xbox 1 and 2 were mid to high tier spec wise when they came out in terms of GPU. The Xenos used in the 360 was a hybrid of X1800/1850 and later to be introduced X1900/1950. Its not coincidence that 360 is easily keping up with PS3 graphically despite having a much weaker CPU and being a year older.

As far as this topic and subsequent posts are concerned,  people don't know what they are talking about (or are just ignorant) if they think that next Xbox has to have a GTX 680 like GPU to stay relevant for more than 4-5 years.

Comparing a console to a PC graphic card in general is like comparing apples and oranges. Considering that a console GPU is highly optimized to do 1 thing, and that games for consoles are written specifically to work with its hardware., it just doesn't need the most powerful hardware to run it's games effectively.

But people can go ahead and argue like kids over spilled milk if they feel like... I mean, Microsoft has totally announced which GPU the next console is shipping with and specs have been set in stone.

Are you really trying to tell me that the x1800/x1900 hybrid gpu was as powerful as a high end nvidia geforce 7 series in SLI? Really?

As cool as SLI and crossfire are, it really isn't a benchmark of technology sophistication, efficiency or GPU power. Single GPU's is where its at for the latest and greatest...and SLi is just adding more of the same tech in to a GPU processing array. I'm surprised you didn't mention Quad SLI vs X1900/1950 which was also possible at the time using the 7900GTX2.

Bottom line is that Xbox 360 stuck the best GPU they possibly could in 2005 when it was released. X1900/1950 run curcles around 7800GTX and trade blows with the 7900GTX which came out 9 months later.

It would be the equivalent of putting a GTX680 in to xbox 720 today.

last I heard was that the Samaritan demo ran on the GTX 680 (with less AA than when it was running on the tri-sli GTX 580 system)..
and if the xbox3 has that one, then prepare to pay way more than just "$599" as the card alone is that price (right now)

Again...apples and oranges dude.

PC video card costs 500 bucks and comes on its on PCB and as a PCIE 3.0 slot add on.

Video game console version of the GTX680 would be integrated on the motherboard with much more efficient power management and would share many design components and much less materials as the standalone card. It would not cost 500 bucks to manufacture. Maybe half at the most...

I really doubt Microsoft will ever go with Nvidia after the BS they pulled with the Xbox 1.

What a mess of an argument.

You're completely wrong here. SLI configurations are exactly, exactly, the latest and greatest in technology, and it is something that any home PC owner could do. To say that single gpu technology is 'where its at for the latest and greatest'  is like saying that a car with a single turbocharger is the latest and greatest, but not a car with twin turbochargers. It is technology available at the same time, and before, the 360's release, and it was and continues to be a realistic proposition for many PC enthusiasts that want high end machines. It is the definition of latest and greatest. 

And I do like how you contradict your statement by talking about quad SLI, more tech that is more powerful than the 360's GPU, I didn't even need to mention that as 'dual' SLI 7 series cards were more powerful already than the 360's GPU and they were available for anybody that wanted the latest and greatest, and let me remind you that for ATi cards the configuration is called 'Crossfire', not SLI. I think you are really out of your depth here mate, and these are just shallow waters. 

I don't care about the bottom line or what was realistic for Microsoft, or Sony, or Nintendo, we are arguing about the statement you made that the 360's GPU is comparable to high end-PC GPU's at the time, and that is just plain wrong. 

EPIC has a good relation with M$, so maybe the Samaritan "demo" is actually a game, and will be exclusive to the NextBox, just like with GeoW. EPIC in all shows, demonstrated the unreal engine with actual monsters and characters of GeoW, and then they released a game.