| ethomaz said: @BlueFalcon I can assure for you 90% of chance the Durango will have a custom CPU with 8 Jaguar cores... MS is doing something new together with AMD to Durango... maybe in 2014 AMD release the same tech found in Durango in it chips for PC. |
Doubtful. AMD's 2014 GPU tech is going to be on 20nm for starters. In other words it would be prohibitely expensive to design a custom 28nm "2014" Volcanic Islands GPU specifically for MS's console. You have to keep in mind AMD and NV barely make $ on these console projects. For that reason, it's in their best interest to use existing parts with as little customization as possible. AMD hasn't even launched HD8000 series (Sea Islands) but you think they will give MS their 2014 Volcanic Islands GPU tech? Ya right. That's wishful thinking. The reason R500 got pushed forward to Xbox 360 is because ATI ran into HD2000 launch issues due to acquisition by AMD during that period of time. HD2000 was late and AMD had to delay the entire design. On the GPU side, it'll be HD8000 series Sea Islands at best for Xbox 720 if it launches Q4 2013. I am not saying that's a bad GPU, but it won't be some magical non-existing GCN 3.0 part (Volcanic Islands) that PC gamers won't be able to get until 2014.
On the CPU side, going with 8 Jaguar cores seems worthless. It's like putting 8 Atom cores against a 4 core Vishera/i5. They'll get destroyed. Why would MS go with 8 weak Jaguar cores when they can just take a downclocked FX8300 @ 3.0ghz or something and fit it easily into the power envelope with a ton more performance?
I don't think you realize what Jaguar is. It's a replacement for Brazos which is a budget (i.e., POS) CPU:
http://www.bjorn3d.com/2012/06/amd-e-series-apu-brazo-2-0/#.UPHIoG9ZUeo
Xbox 720 can have 32 Jaguar cores and it'll still be a horribly slow console. You seem to be way too fixed on the # of cores rather than performance per core. This is a typical marketing trick. It's way better to have a fast dual core processor than a slow 8 core one. Not to mention Jaguar only supports 1 memory channel per chip which means it'll be automatically memory bandwidth starved for games.
This whole idea that MS would get AMD to make some uber powerful custom version of Jaguar 8 cores that's not even on their roadmap doesn't even make sense because Jaguar itself has always meant to be used in low power devices, not to power high-end products.
If Xbox 720 has an 8-core Jaguar CPU at its core, it's automatically a fail as a next generation console. A 4 core AMD APU based on Trinity/Richland design in PS4 would mop the floor with a Jaguar CPU in no time. MS can't be naive enough to put a tablet/smartphone 8-core CPU inside their next generation console considering most of the industry expects Sony to utilize at least a 4-core AMD APU in their PS4. You don't start with a Honda Civic Hybrid when you hear rumors of your competitor going with a BMW M3. Jaguar = Honda Civic Hybrid.
