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Forums - Nintendo - Nintendo NX very likely will have AMD x86 chip, possible 14/16nm

JEMC on 22 October 2015
Bofferbrauer said:
JEMC said:

And now look at this table:

 

SKU Name RX-421BD RX-418GD RX-216GD RX-421ND RX-216TD
Cores/Threads 4/4 4/4 2/2 4/4 2/2
Base Clock (15W) 2.1 GHz 1.8 GHz 1.6 GHz 2.1 GHz 1.6 GHz
Max Clock (>15W) 3.4 GHz 3.2 GHz 3.0 GHz 3.4 GHz 3.0 GHz
L2 Cache 2 MB 2 MB 1 MB 2 MB 1 MB
iGPU Radeon R7 Radeon R6 Radeon R5 N/A N/A
GCN CUs 8 CUs 6 CUs 4 CUs N/A N/A
GCN SPs 512 SPs 384 SPs 256 SPs N/A N/A
iGPU Clock 800 MHz 800 MHz 800 Mhz N/A N/A
TDP 12-35W 12-35W 12-15W 12-35W 12-15W
DDR4 Data Rate 2400 MHz 2400 MHz 1600 MHz 2400 MHz 1600 MHz

Now, given that AMD first talked about these chips way back in 2014, it is much more logical (but also inherently wrong) to assume that Nintendo could use them to power their machines.

Why wouldn't Nintendo use the most powerful of those SoC, the 421BD, as the base of their home console, just dial down the CPU frequency to 1.6GHz but double the amount of GPU cores from 8 to 16 (or even 20 like the PS4) to keep it around the 20W mark, and use the 216GD as the base for their handheld part of NX tweaking it to keep it into the 10W mark?

Porting between the home and handheld would be a lot easier having the same components (but in different number), they both would use tried and tested components, given their nature of SoC chips they wouldn't be too pricey for the performance they give and, surprisingly enough, the home console could be more powerful than the PS4. It's a win-win escenario for Nintendo!

Now, am I going to say that Nintendo will use those chips? Of course not! There were SoC more powerful than WiiU long before it launched and Nintendo didn't use them back then, so no one can say what Nintendo will do.

But if I had to bet, I'd bet on one of these chips rather than on a Zen+Artic Islands GPU.

First, PS4 has 18, not 20 CU (1152, not 1280 SP)

But more to the point about the bolded, that calculation wouldn't work. The GPU is by far the most consuming part, going up to 16 while lowering the CPU Clock from 2.1 to 1.6 would extend the TDP to around 50W minimum. And that's at the GPU's base clock, not the 800mhz turbo in that diagram. The APUs lower the CPU clockrate anyway when the both the CPU and GPU parts are at full capacity (Intel instead ops to lower the GPU clock and give the CPU full resources) and the APU tend not to hold the turboclock for long anyway (at least previous versions didn't)

I agree that Nintendo probably won't use Zen and GCN 1.3 (arctic Islands), but I also doubt on Carrizo or any previous Bulldozer based core due to how the modules work being at odds with the needs of a console. My bet is more on the Puma+ cores (a nicely improved Jaguar from PS4/Xbox ONE with higher IPC and Clock rates), which also fits better into their low consumption sceme, and GCN 1.1 or 1.2 for the graphics part, both in 28nm

Since both are only very incremental updates to the hardware of PS4/Xbox ONE, beating them in processing power would need to consume practically  just as much power as they do, which is not how Nintendo deals things. It could beat Xbox ONE, but I seriously doubt about the PS4. At least when it comes to GPU power, that is; one the CPU side Nintendo could easely clock a Puma+ above 2ghz without consuming more than their PS4/Xbox ONE counterparts, meaning less power needs to be diverted from GPU to CPU. So while on paper weaker, it could probably keep up pretty well.

Puma+ could also be interesting for a fusion concept (which I still don't really believe in, but hey, speculations) as AMD has made chips specifically for tablets in that architecture which consume less than 5W TDP (which can be found instead in many low-price laptops, even 17inch ones), so basically it has the ideal handheld counterpart, too.

PS4 has 18 CUs? I thought it had 20, 18 enabled + another 2 for redundancy.

About the power consumption, yes, after reading my post I knew that I was way too optimistic. I got carried away.

Puma+... I hope they go with something better, because this gen of consoles has very weak processors that have been hurting them almost since their launch, and Puma+, while being better, would still be a disappointment.

The fusion concept has so many possililities that it's hard to guess what will it actually be if it ends up being true.

 

@VitroBahllee: I would like to say something, but I haven't understood a thing!



Please excuse my bad English.

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Current gaming PC: R5-7600, 32GB RAM 6000MT/s (CL30) and a RX 9060XT 16GB

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Frogger on 22 October 2015
Pavolink said:

So much to learn now with Nintendo. Being so quiet has made me go crazy, but it's fun.


Especially when we're on the cusp of the biggest reveal since Nintendo going mobile. Any day now, with the 28th being the latest possible day. The MP is going to be huge.

Mobile too.



Gamemaster87 on 22 October 2015
Pavolink said:
Gamemaster87 said:
Pavolink said:
Gamemaster87 said:
This article is already confirmed wrong since we know that NX won't be coming in 2016.

If you are expecting to come in 2015, then that's not possible anymore. Too late to announce and release in a month. You'd have to wait until next year.

It won't come before 2017. Deal with it.

I can deal with that, it's Nintendo the one that can't deal with another year of terrible sales. But, can you deal its 2016 release?

Terrible sales? The 3DS has terrible sales and it will be replaced in 2016. Wii U will last until 2017. Here you heard it.



Pavolink on 22 October 2015
spemanig said:
Pavolink said:

So much to learn now with Nintendo. Being so quiet has made me go crazy, but it's fun.


Especially when we're on the cusp of the biggest reveal since Nintendo going mobile. Any day now, with the 28th being the latest possible day. The MP is going to be huge.

Mobile too.

I'v marked my calendar a full week. From October 28th to November 5th. I can feel something big approaching us.



Proud to be the first cool Nintendo fan ever

Number ONE Zelda fan in the Universe

DKCTF didn't move consoles

Prediction: No Zelda HD for Wii U, quietly moved to the succesor

Predictions for Nintendo NX and Mobile


Random_Matt on 22 October 2015

It won't have a CPU and GPU, quite sure it will be a APU like the other two.



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sethnintendo on 22 October 2015

I wonder if EA would try porting even with x86 on the NX. I believe they will announce an unprecedented support for 6 months with half assed ports.  Can't count on Criterion to put effort into year old ports anymore.



VitroBahllee on 22 October 2015
Random_Matt said:
It won't have a CPU and GPU, quite sure it will be a APU like the other two.


If that were true, why would they have already apportioned a 16x86x64 sideline aperature bus? That only interfaces with EDrGFLOP crossfades, and even THAT'S only if they go 'old-school' with it and take the dRAM cache-overflow route with their vDRAW subroutines. Do you really think they'll bank the next five years of graphics on old-school overflow drawtimes?



Random_Matt on 22 October 2015
VitroBahllee said:
Random_Matt said:
It won't have a CPU and GPU, quite sure it will be a APU like the other two.


If that were true, why would they have already apportioned a 16x86x64 sideline aperature bus? That only interfaces with EDrGFLOP crossfades, and even THAT'S only if they go 'old-school' with it and take the dRAM cache-overflow route with their vDRAW subroutines. Do you really think they'll bank the next five years of graphics on old-school overflow drawtimes?


Surely that costs more money?



VitroBahllee on 22 October 2015
Random_Matt said:
VitroBahllee said:


If that were true, why would they have already apportioned a 16x86x64 sideline aperature bus? That only interfaces with EDrGFLOP crossfades, and even THAT'S only if they go 'old-school' with it and take the dRAM cache-overflow route with their vDRAW subroutines. Do you really think they'll bank the next five years of graphics on old-school overflow drawtimes?


Surely that costs more money?


Not as much money as a failed system with no ports. Mark my words: they are going to have a full, streamlined SDAT function-processor, which can run Dolby ATMOS and full-fledged, unpackaged RIP files, straight from the SSD. It's the only explanation behind the 16x86x64 boards they've already ordered.



Frogger on 22 October 2015
Pavolink said:

I'v marked my calendar a full week. From October 28th to November 5th. I can feel something big approaching us.


I thought we'd get something this Monday or Tuesday, but that never happened. Now I think we'll either get something Monday, or at the investors meeting. I hope we get a proper direct, though. All these corperate announcements are bad for moral and PR.