| D-Joe said: So they think it will be GCN1.0/HD7000 series huh,well,don't care this site anymore I heard vgleaks said 720 will use GCN1?if so they're wrong then,the GPU in 720 is not released yet |
You've been dismissing HD7000 series all this time. What would you like the next gen consoles to have instead? Let's look at realistic options:
1) HD8000 series and GTX700 series are rumored to be delayed to Q4 2013 (http://www.sweclockers.com/nyhet/16480-nasta-generation-geforce-och-radeon-skjuts-upp-till-q4-2013). This news is very recent on the PC. We almost know with 99% certainty NV isn't going to be in next generation consoles anyway. If this rumor is true, that basically rules out HD8000 or GTX700 series in PS4/Xbox 720 if they are to launch by Q4 2013.
2) Even if we considered NV for a second, lets go back to HD7000 vs. GTX600 series because these are the latest right now. It's reasonable to believe mobile GPUs are more suitable for consoles due to their lower power consumption. NV charges $350+ more for a GTX680M card that's only 5% faster than HD7970M:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Update-Radeon-HD-7970M-vs-GeForce-GTX-680M.87744.0.html
Therefore, with HD7000 series you would get superior price/performance, and also class leading OpenCL/OpenGL and DirectCompute capabilities over GTX600 cards. That means for every $ spent on the GPU, you'll get a faster card than going with NV's GTX600 series. Since price/performance is one of the key metrics for next generation consoles for trying to keep consoles prices down due to increased competition from people buying $1-5 games on smartphones/tablets, etc., going with GTX600 cards would have resulted in a slower console or a much more expensive one for little benefit. Going with HD8000 series may not have been an option if PS4/Xbox 720's manufacturing have to start by Q2 2013 for Q4 2013 launch. Also, HD8000 series is a minor update to HD7000. GCN 2.0 will not be a revolutionary architecture over GCN1.0. The next big graphical revolution on AMD/NV side will only happen with 20nm Volcanic Islands (AMD) and 20nm Maxwell (NV), but those GPUs are not slated until 2014, most likely 2nd half of 2014 too.
Also, even if they used GCN 2.0 parts, because HD8000 series would be newer, those chips would cost more than HD7000 ones. It's a lot better to have a mid-range or mid-high-end HD7000 card than a low-end HD8000 one. The comparison between HD7000 and HD8000 will again come down to price/performance and HD7000 probably would win here because Sony/MS would get a better deal on slightly older tech.
