Wii U GPU Die Image! Chipworks is AWESOME!

[Cyborg13B]

DieAppleDie said:

and the conclusion of the comparison is....

Okay I'd like to revise my statement.  Final numbers:

 

Wii U GPU - 1 billion transistors

Wii U EDRAM - 256 million transistors

WII U GPU logic - 744 million transistors

 

Thus Wii U does in fact, have a next-gen GPU!  1 billion transistors is 3 times more then Xbox 360 and PS3.  Here's the problem though - it only has 12 GB/s of memory bandwidth.  The CPU and memory system are not high-speed.  Thus it relies on local cache bandwidth to achieve high speeds.  It probably also has the Wii's GPU on its GPU die - thus adding another 50-100 million transistors.  It also has some onboard SRAM - very little.  Probably 3 MB - to cover the Wii U's frame and z-buffers. 

 

Thus - it's an incredibly weak design - very slow RAM.  Nevertheless - it does have a next-gen GPU.  Therefore - it can render at 1080p.  Xbox 3 and Playstation 4 will probably have looked significantly better even without any special improvements on the design.