| Onibaka said: Wow, 100mb eDRAM is RIDICULOUS! If they use eDram it will probably be 32~64mb(if they really exaggerate here). However...well, more = better... |
Not really.
Let's just look at the specs a little closer:
CPU: A six core PowerPC, upscaling from current processors, would have a TDP of around 150-175Watts, a die size roughly 250mm^2, around $60-$80 to manufacture.
eDram: The current 10mb Edram in the xBox is a 60mm^2 chip (45nm) that probably is in the $4 region. If they can manufacture the 100mb chip in 28nm technology (someday late 2012 at the earliest), it would be a (very hot) 250-300mm^2 chip around $50
GPU Dual die: two low to mid range single GPUs each, a die size roughly 200mm^2, a (very hot) chip around $50-$60.
So these specs point to roughly $170 for the three main components only. Add the same to the rest of the machine and you get around $350 manufacturing costs for the next XBox.
Also note there is currently only one company in the world that can manufacture 28nm dies with reasonable yields. And that company has tailoured all processes to one design, its processors. Neither AMD, not TSMC, nor any other manufacturer (that cater to any customers, each one with its own design philosophy) will even be close to being able to master a sub-30nm process with reasonable yields well into 2013. So manufacturing costs are likely 50-80% higher than estimated above.
So these specs are simply wishful thinking if we look at 2012. Maybe late 2013, but we all have seen that MS has burnt billions on faulty XBoxes so it is not impossible that they take a $300 hit on every new XBox just for bragging "First" again.
