Xxain said:
Hello Soleron. Would you mind breaking thid down for non techie? What's up with the chip?
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Nvidia is one of the two major graphics chip designers for desktops, laptops and consoles, the other being AMD.
Nvidia recently got into the mobile/embedded space, making graphics chips intended for phones, tablets and set-top boxes. Their product line in this segment is called 'Tegra', and it uses older graphics technology (based on the Geforce 6 line, launched 2004 for desktops) and an ARM CPU (ARM being the designer of most phone and tablet CPUs) on the same piece of silicon. An older Tegra has been used in the Zune HD, the cancelled Microsoft Kin phone, and a lot of concept tablets that never made it to market.
Tegra is the right size and power consumption to be used in handhelds, but Nvidia has had a lot of engineering failures in the past year with chips being late and too power-hungry. This is especially bad for small devices because the circuitry and cooling is designed to handle a certain power level and heat level so if the chip is over-budget on heat then the design has to be delayed in order to re-design that part. It will also cut battery life and increase price on the final product. So Sony's choice of Tegra has probably led to design problems and large delays of the PSP2.
I've already said roughly where Tegra's graphics power lies. It will be much more capable than the 3DS if it's based on Tegra, but battery life will be a lot less.
