GDDR5 will be the new Cell

[slowmo]

Adinnieken said:

Landsharkk said:
There's a very good chance that next gen (PS4, next Xbox, and even the Wii U) will outlast the current gen in length/years.

I say that because technology isn't advancing as quick as it use to....sorta. I mean computer speeds (like ghz, etc) isn't taking leaps and bounds forward quite like it did 5 to 10 years ago. However, on the flipside we are seeing a lot more features and abilities included in new technology. Things such as wireless data/internet, voice and motion control, multi-device integration, etc are all becoming the norm. None of those require super fast computer parts to accomplish.

My prediction about the next gen is that the console features are what's going to give each console their edge and duration of lifecycle, it won't be the specs.

Um...ok.  There were no leaps and bounds 5-10 years ago either.  Processor speeds rose up to 4GHz and they have stopped there due to the heat problems associated with silicon ICs.  In fact processor speeds actually dropped while multiple core processors were employed.  So a 2GHz dual-core processor could provide a performance increase over a 4GHz single-core processor by splitting up the work.  The only thing that increased by leaps and bounds was the frequency of the clock cycle, but the actual performance of processors 10 years ago was relatively small.  A 2GHz increase in clock cycle might have gotten a 25-30% performance increase, not a 200% performance increase.

Graphene ICs will allow for leaps and bounds in not only processor speed, size reduction, number of cores, but reduced power consumption.  At this point I would say they're 5-10 years away, but they'll likely feature centi-core processors as a starting point.

To you original point, while I sort of agree, I think the generation 8 console is a transitional device for everyone.  It'll be interesting to see how Sony and Microsoft work with essentially the same hardware.

Core speeds dropped as Intel shifted their design philosophy to a shorter instruction pipeline which meant the processors were more efficient per clock cycle than the old Pentium 4.  The extra performance mainly came from the improved design rather than it being a multi core processor.  Of course the 64 bit instruction set and extra cores did benefit later too as apps started to use the features.  Ultimately cooler running low thermal output is the goal now rather than a arbitrary increase in clock speed thankfully.