Digital Foundry: next-gen PlayStation and Xbox to use AMD's 8-core CPU and Radeon HD

[tulx]

Seems like AMD has secured a stable source of income for the coming decade, should this article be correct.
This is very good news for PC gamers, since the consoles will be much closer to desktop PC architecture, allowing better game ports.

PS - Also, multithreading!

 

[ShintaiDK]

Both the next generation PlayStation - and its Xbox competitor - feature eight-core CPUs clocked at 1.6GHz according to sources trusted by Digital Foundry

1.6Ghz?

 

[grimpr]

Looks like Jaguar is a big hit.

 

[Vesku]

If this is true expect multi-threading in games to take off like a rocket once the consoles launch.

 

[dragantoe]

1.6Ghz?

it's basically a tablet cpu so yeah

 

[grimpr]

If this is true expect multi-threading in games to take off like a rocket once the consoles launch.

This...and making extended use of OpenCL/GPGPU technologies. AMD has grasped and is defining the future of PC gaming, right now.

 

[ShintaiDK]

If this is true expect multi-threading in games to take off like a rocket once the consoles launch.

Not at all. Just look at Xbox360/PS3. 6 threads the last 7 years have given us what?

 

[SunnyD]

Not at all. Just look at Xbox360/PS3. 6 threads the last 7 years have given us what?

One for basic core OS/IO tasks, one for audio/MMIO, one for game logic, one for physics & geometry prep. Two additional cores will be more headroom for offload processing for things like h264 and peripheral devices like Kinect which need a good bit of processing power for things like spacial/voice recognition.

You also have to realize that next-gen consoles will be even more like STBs than current gen ones are. Expect a lot more background processes to be cluttering up the box even while you're playing Call of Duty: Black Ops 27 Reloaded II - The Revenge Part 6.

 

[grimpr]

Not at all. Just look at Xbox360/PS3. The xbox360 supports 6 threads for example.

XBox360s cpu is a turd compared to the modern x86 jaguar core with its core 2 ipc and with its complete isa extensions, it even supports AVX too. Also the tools and the autoparallelizing compilers for the platforms are very mature now than before. Veskus statement stands, the new x86 AMD socs and the more mature software toolchain will skyrocket the parallelization of next gen games, i bet that Durango will support HSA too.

 

[Olikan]

1.6Ghz?

if it's 8-core jaguars, that's a very likely clocks speeds

 

[Rvenger]

Bulldozer architecture might actually pay off in the future. lol

 

[Rvenger]

Not at all. Just look at Xbox360/PS3. 6 threads the last 7 years have given us what?

You just said it. The console lasted 7 years! Pretty good in my eyes.

 

[SPBHM]

1.6Ghz?

but 8 full cores, with higher performance per core, even with half the clock of the current xbox cpu (and it's tri core vs eight)
now, this is probably not a great desktop CPU, but on a closed platform, it may work really well.

 

[ShintaiDK]

XBox360s cpu is a turd compared to the modern x86 jaguar core with its core 2 ipc and with its complete isa extensions, it even supports AVX too. Also the tools and the autoparallelizing compilers for the platforms are very mature now than before. Veskus statement stands, the new x86 AMD socs and the more mature software toolchain will skyrocket the parallelization of next gen games, i bet that Durango will support HSA too.

And what would you call a 1.6Ghz Jaguar today? And even worse, in 1-2 years?

 

[grimpr]

Plus that they have available the vast software resources of the x86 world, this is a great move for PC gaming.

 

[grimpr]

And what would you call a 1.6Ghz Jaguar today? And even worse, in 1-2 years?

I call it "good enough" and vastly better than the previous chips. 8x modern x86 cores with support even for AVX,HSA, with Core 2 ipc and running at low tdp, cheap to manufacture, easy to program for. Its a win.

 

[grimpr]

if it's 8-core jaguars, that's a very likely clocks speeds

Thats base clocks, the chip will have Turbo Core.

 

[ShintaiDK]

You just said it. The console lasted 7 years! Pretty good in my eyes.

but 8 full cores, with higher performance per core, even with half the clock of the current xbox cpu (and it's tri core vs eight)
now, this is probably not a great desktop CPU, but on a closed platform, it may work really well.

The Xbox360 for example was a tricore with HT clocked at 3.2Ghz in 2005. (Back then we had X2 and P4D.)

Xbox720 (if this is right) will be an 8 core low performing 1.6Ghz chip in 2014/2015. A product that is awfully slow even by last years standards.

 

[Subyman]

1.6ghz, but will it include a dynamic speed adjustment like most modern CPUs? It may jump to 2.4 or so when a load hits. I'd love to see lower power consumption. Hopefully these things run cool and quiet unlike the current gen.

 

[ShintaiDK]

1.6ghz, but will it include a dynamic speed adjustment like most modern CPUs? It may jump to 2.4 or so when a load hits. I'd love to see lower power consumption. Hopefully these things run cool and quiet unlike the current gen.

Hopefully. or even better its just an early testchip at lower clocks.

But on the other hand both Sony and Microsoft bleeds money on their console divisions if you look over time. So they might want to try Nintendos approach.

 

[MisterMac]

What's more likely for this...


Jaguar or PD\SR\BD ?


at 1.6 ghz it sounds like Jag - but with 8 cores it sound like a BD module design.

 

[ShintaiDK]

What's more likely for this...


Jaguar or PD\SR\BD ?


at 1.6 ghz it sounds like Jag - but with 8 cores it sound like a BD module design.

Since cost is everything and BD/PD is a massive power hungry chip. I would say Jaguar, assuming its AMD.

 

[grimpr]

The Xbox360 for example was a tricore with HT clocked at 3.2Ghz in 2005. (Back then we had X2 and P4D.)

Xbox720 (if this is right) will be an 8 core low performing 1.6Ghz chip in 2014/2015. A product that is awfully slow even by last years standards.

And it was a horrible chip, a slow inorder core with nothing to compare even against a p4, even with that turd and the bitch to program for Cell they created good games and extracted more performance as developers get to know the hardware, now they jump to x86 core, the x86 software ecosystem and modern acceleration technology like OpenCL, if that means slow to you then i'm sorry that they didnt choose an Intel Core quad that you'd preffered but thats life. AMD defines now pc gaming, accept it.

 

[ShintaiDK]

And it was a horrible chip, a slow inorder core with nothing to compare even against a p4, even with that turd and the bitch to program for Cell they created good games and extracted more performance as developers get to know the hardware, now they jump to x86 core, the x86 software ecosystem and modern acceleration technology like OpenCL, if that means slow to you then i'm sorry that they didnt choose an Intel Core quad that you'd preffered but thats life. AMD defines now pc gaming, accept it.

Horrible, yet now you praise something that seems it will be even slower compared to the rest? Marvelous.

The performance will most likely end around the VIA Nano X2. Just with more cores.

 

[Genx87]

Are we supposed to get excited about an AMD cpu powering the next gen consoles? They havent been competitive for years against Intel in that dept.

From what I am hearing this round of consoles is going to be a giant dud. And hardly will it advance PC gaming. They are on the lower end of PC specs as the starting point. At least the last consoles(360,PS3) were near the top of the PC specs when introduced.