zarx said:
And the reason they may go for an even "weaker" GPU is that the Wii U is very small and the RV770 is not the most effeciant architecture arround, performance per watt isn't that great, even the 40nm revision the RV740 isn't great it that regard. And the Wii U is a very small console, they are just not going to put a large, hot, power hungry card in a box that small. In fact I don't see them using a card with a TDP of more than 50W TBH, it's 1/3 the size of a 360 slim and the Xenos was 60 watts before the die shrinks and you know the problems they had with heat. There is just no way they can put a RV770 bassed GPU that powerful in a box that small, it is physically impossible without going for a 28nm chip which Nintendo won't do because yeilds would be to low, nintendo always go for a step back from the latest die shrink to maximise yeilds and reliability so it will be a 40nm chip. Now if they went with a cut down Cape Verde varde variant at 28nm they may be able to get a chip that powerful at a low enough TDP but they are just not going to do that. |
The GPU would have faced significant customization over the past 3 to 4 years, and would be manufactured using a much newer and smaller process, so what we know about the stock PC GPUs may not hold true for the GPU in the Wii U.