| zarx said: A 3Tflop GCN2 GPU does not equal a GTX680 at all. And bassed on the infor that is floating arround 2.5TFlop is probably more realistic, that is still 10x the X360 GPU in Flops for what it's worth (very little). |
You are absolutely right. You cannot compare FLOPs performance of GPUs (or CPUs) to each other from different brands. In fact, you can't even compare them within the same brand. A FLOP is just the amount of floating point mathematical operations a CPU/GPU can perform. It doesn't necessarily directly correlate to gaming performance. For instance:
GTX580 = 1.58 Tflops
GTX680 = 3.25 Tflops (GTX 680 is not 2x faster than GTX580, but only about 32-35% faster: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/HD_7950_X2_Boost/28.html).
BTW, sidenote, the GPU benchmarks you linked appear to be from June 2012, which are outdated since AMD launched a bunch of performance drivers from that point, including Catalyst 12.11s. With those drivers, HD7970GE is actually faster than GTX680 in BF3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR3ewLMbywY)
| ethomaz said: Xbox: - APU with 8 Jaguar cores at 1.6 Ghz |
I am really struggling with the 8 Jaguar core rumors for 2 key reasons:
1) Jaguar cored Kabini SOC is aimed at very small form factor PCs/Ultrathin laptops - this is a low power CPU, not a performance CPU:
Jaguar-based Xbox 720 would be way slower than even a $90 budget 4-core AMD Trinity APU, so why go that route? A bunch of slow cores designed to work best in ultra-thin laptops is hardly a recipe for success for something that is expected to power the console until 2020+.
2) Jaguar aka Kabini is a 4-core CPU design, not an 8-core one:
"Jaguar supports one to four cores"
It would be pretty wasteful to spend $ on a custom 8-core Jaguar design when a 4-core Trinity APU would mop the floor with it in games.
I am still leaning towards MS chosing an IBM PowerPC CPU but if they go with the AMD route, the dark horse could be could be the FX-8300, which is a 95W TDP Vishera, clocked at 3.3ghz with 3.6ghz Turbo speed:
http://www.techpowerup.com/177867/AMD-FX-8300-Starts-Selling-Lower-TDP-Comes-at-a-Price.html
^ But that CPU is $190 in retail. If MS is really that desperate for a lot of cheap AMD cores for games, they would be better off going with a <3.0ghz Vishera FX8000 CPU than an 8-core Jaguar CPU design.
| ethomaz said: PS4: - APU with 4 core steamroller at 3.2 Ghz and weak GPU |
For Kaveri with Steamroller cores to be a viable CPU option, MS/Sony would need to have samples of this CPU design by end of Q1 2013 to start volume production of Xbox 720/PS4 around May 2013 in order to be able to have a Holiday 2013 launch. The problem is Kaveri is not due until mid-2013 at the earliest. AMD hasn't even started mass manufacturing of Kaveri since they are yet to shift their APU production to 28nm tech. Thus, it's highly unlikely that Xbox 720 will have a Kaveri with Steamroller cores if it is to launch by Holiday 2013. AMD is still having issues with 28nm node shift, which is the entire point of having Richland serving as a stop-gap between Trinity APU and Kaveri APU on their 2013 CPU roadmap. Fudzilla reports that Kaveri APU is not due until June 2013:
http://www.fudzilla.com/home/item/30102-amd-28nm-chips-are-still-tsmc
I wouldn't even expect Kaveri 28nm in retail until Q3-Q4 2013 given AMD's and TSMC's track record of meeting historical deadlines. So then what are the chances AMD will fulfill 28nm Kaveri orders of millions of consoles ready to be manufactured for Holiday 2013 launch? I am sceptical. If Sony pushes PS4 to Q1 2014, then for them Kaveri APU is doable, for MS unlikely for Q4 2013 launch.
