PS3 v Xbox 360 v Revolution

[Evangelion_2]

PS3 Stats:
Backwards compatibility with both PSone and PS2 games.
Will use Blu-Ray discs for media; also supports: CD-ROM, CD+RW, DVD, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD+R, and SACD
Cell processor at 3.2GHz
2.18 teraflops of performance
512MB total: 256MB XDR system RAM at 3.2 GHz; 256MB of GDDRVRAM at 700MHz
Slot that supports a detachable 2.5in HDD
Six USB ports; Memory Stick Duo, SD and Compact Flash support
2 HDMI outputs, 1 A/V output, 1 SPDIF optical output, and a 1 gigabit ethernet port
Video chat, Internet access, digital picture, audio, and video viewing
Capable of handling seven Bluetooth controllers
WiFi capable
Graphics:
Chip is called RSX "Reality Synthesizer" by nVidia, runs at 550MHz
128 bit pixel precision and 1080p support
300 million transistors; 90nm process
Said to be more powerful than two GeForce 6800 Ultras

Xbox 360:
General
Controller 2.4GHz Wireless
Form Factor Console
Graphics Processor and Memory
Graphics Processor Custom ATI Processor
 Graphics Core Clock Speed 500MHz
 System Memory 512MB, 700MHz DDR
 Vector Units 1 VMX-128 unit per core (3 total)
 CPU Math Performance 9 Billion Dot Product Operations per Second
 System Memory Bandwith 22.4GB/s, 256GB/s to EDRAM
 Memory Architecture Unified Memory Architecture
 Shaders 48-way Parallel Floating Point Dynamically-Scheduled, 48 billion Operations/s
 Video Memory 10MB Embedded DRAM (512MB UMA)
 Fill Rate (pixels) 16 Gigasamples/s using 4X MSAA
 Fill Rate (triangles) 500 Million/s
 Product Identification
Manufacturer Microsoft
 Product Line Microsoft Xbox 360
 Video Output
Resolution 480p, 480i, 720p, 1080i
 Expansion and Connectivity
Digital Media Formats DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, WMA CD, MP3 CD, JPEG Photo CD
 Game Media Format Dual-Layer DVD-ROM
 Other I/O Connectors 3 USB 2.0, 2 Memory Slots, Ethernet Port (RJ45)
 Controller Ports Supports up to 4 Controllers
 Plug and Play Storage 2-Memory Slots, Support Starting at 64MB, 20GB Removable Hard Drive
 Integrated Communications 802.11 A/B/G Wi-Fi
 Processor
Processor Core Spec 3 Cores, 2 hardware threads per core
 Marketing Performance Measurement 1 TFLOP
 Processor Clock Speed 3.2GHz (3 Cores)
 L2 Cache 1MB
 Processor Custom IBM PowerPC CPU
 Integrated Devices
Built-in Features Stands Vertically or Horizontally, Interchangable Face Plates
 System Memory
Main Memory Bandwidth 22.4GB/s
 Storage
Media Drive 12 x Dual-Layer DVD-ROM
 Audio
Decompression Channels 320 Independent Decompression Channels
 Surround Sound Multichannel Output
 Audio Performance 32-bit, 256 Channel
 Sampling Frequency 48KHz 16-bit

Revolution:
lol Silly nintendo

*My note* Out of the three I would pick the PS3. After watching the tech demo were a man used cups with a eyetoy device and picked up water from the 3d bathtub and have it splash around and trasfer it from cup to cup I was sold. That and there is a really funny MGS4 trailer. I still might get the xbox 360 just cause it will be awhile till the PS3 comes out. Now nintendo's console is just silly I think so what they made it smaller than a book woop-dee-do. The only game I am looking foward to is the next zelda but even that comes out for the gamecube.

[devicenull]

I keep meaning to mod my xbox, install a snes emulator on it, then play all those cool snes games

Seriously, I dont use my current console for anything, so why bother with a new one?

[CryForMe]

two words to support the xbox 360:















































halo 3.
nuff said.

[Malevolent]

So far, there is nothing that great on any of them. The only thing that looks good for 360 is Gears of War. PS3 looks like they could possibly be mixing in cinemas and extra effects (hint: not all actually gameplay). Nintendo needs to get their asses in gear and show some games and the controller.

To me, the least impressive is 360. Did you even hear all the bull**** they talked about during their conference? It was basically nothing to do with games. No one cares about VelocityGamer designing her Tony Hawk levels that will suck (she wasn't experienced in gaming according to MS - they should think before they talk). They think they will have a billion people in the end - I doubt that from what I've seen.

Revolution gets marks just for going all out for online finally, and a SSB online for launch. The dogs humping made me think Nintendo took the mature vibes too far. Again, we need more things. Their whole conference was about Nintendogs. I like Revolution's look the best.

The most impressive is PS3, although I wonder if it was all really in-game. They haven't said either way. Killzone looked awesome, but again was it all really in-game? The console itself looks stupid and the controller is even worse.

So far no one is really on top of it. One doesn't show enough or clairfy their message; one doesn't talk about games or clarify their message; one doesn't know what a controller should look like and isn't able to explain what is what.

EDIT: I forgot to mention: What is up with the PS3's Spiderman font?

[Evangelion_2]

It really does come down to the games in the end so that is why my vote is for PS3 since it has full backwards function opposed to MS's half assed version. The UT 2007 for the PS3 was in real time but unless I can get my hands on it I will hold my comments. The show floor is open tomm so other than Star Wars I am looking foward to Serious Sam II.

[bacon_flaps]

Revolution gets marks just for going all out for online finally, and a SSB online for launch.

Details.
GOD.
DETAILS NOW!

Also, Revolution is backwards compatible with Gamecube, and it'll play DVDs this time.

[Leaderz0rz]

all 3 systems are backwards compatible, and play dvds, have wireless controllers,online,and look ugly :p rev looks like a small black box....


Xbox 360:I think they trying TO hard to make it a media center and not a gaming platform....No real launch games got my attention besides morrowind.

PS3:While the videos were impressive and i'm really excited about some of the games, was that really INGAME?

Rev:They haven't really shown much...they showed the same horse back action zelda movie, and a dog humping a dog. and a GBA mini which i think looks cool but screen is to small. Other then that they haven't showed much.


PC:We shall wait and see(ps Q4 trailer is really cool)

[Jefe]

two words to support the xbox 360:



halo 3.
nuff said.

[snapback]48863[/snapback]

Because that's all it has OH BURN.

The PS3 looks much more impressive than the Xbox 360, which isn't much of an improvement over the Xbox.  The demos were pretty impressive for the PS3 but Sony's been known to exaggerate a bit (a lot) in their demos.

[Black Mage]

obligatory "xbox is hueg lol"

i'll go with a psp as soon as its price drops when the ps3 comes out
then i wait a bit for the ps3 price to drop and grab one
then i grab a three acre lot so i have a place to store the 360 if i decide to get one

[Cheez]

I want to believe that killzone 2 movie was real...but it looks so pre-rendered with all the volumetric explosions and extreem-high poly sceenery.

Still ps3 gets my vote, and not just because they might have an ff7 remake. Oh who am I kidding, that's exactly why they get my vote.  :lol:

[Jefe]

obligatory "xbox is hueg lol"

i'll go with a psp as soon as its price drops when the ps3 comes out
then i wait a bit for the ps3 price to drop and grab one
then i grab a three acre lot so i have a place to store the 360 if i decide to get one

[snapback]48889[/snapback]

http://www.konami.jp/gs/kojima_pro/english/004.html

Guess that screws up your plan

[duherman]

I say Revolution.

[rad4Christ]

Links to this stuff?

[Clashen]

WTF is Nintendo doing? When Microsoft and Sony are showing off new games Nintendo gives us ANOTHER version of GBA, who the **** cares?

[confused!]

all i have to say is taht the cell mahcines are utterly sweet.

i hear Toshiba has a nice little os hacked together for it.

IBM has workstations planned.

For the win..


Seriously!

[Guspaz]

It may not matter how much more powerful the PS3 is than the XBOX360. The 360 may come out as much as a year earlier, but likely at least 6 months. This may push the PS3 back to second position.

One comment I heard about the PS3 videos was that the PS3's graphics were very aliased (blocky stepped edges), whereas the xbox 360 does anti aliasing on every single game all the time.

It seems to me like the XBOX360 has a more powerful GPU, whereas the PS3 has a more powerful CPU. But it may not actually matter, because SMP in games only can get you so far.

The graphics in the PS3 demos DID look better (other than the aliasing), however it's too early to tell if that is really true.

[Malevolent]

WTF is Nintendo doing? When Microsoft and Sony are showing off new games Nintendo gives us ANOTHER version of GBA, who the **** cares?

[snapback]48945[/snapback]

There's some articles that explain this. It basically comes down to them admitting that they are going a different path the MS and Sony. They know that MS and Sony are competing directly. They said it wasn't financially sound for them to release all their stuff when they aren't competing directly.

Jefe: Gears of War looks pretty sweet though. So it might have something else besides Halo 3. And I hear the Too Human trilogy (by Silicon Knigts) is exclusive for 360. That should be worth a 360.

[esuna]

I think you can pretty safely assume that the PS3 will be made of poor hardware and have a great number of crappy games outnumbering the old franchises which will be the only games worth playing. Just like the PS1 and PS2.

While i can't say that the visuals aren't impressive, becuase they really are, but through my past experiences with Sony's consoles and the low-quality build and parts they use with little care or due attention for logeivity or quality, i'm going to save my money and pick up a 360 or Revolution before i'd consider the PS3.

[Niteowl]

One of the Fogies is a bit of a hardware nerd, and since linking to the fogey site is kinda SUSPECT i says, I'll just past his post here. Here are his thoughts on the Cell processor


pr0phetik_dreamz

PostPosted: Wed May 18, 2005 4:54 pm    Post subject:    Reply with quote

------------------------

Firstly, you have to *really* read that article with a discerning eye, and some knowledge of how x86 vs PowerPC, and CISC vs RISC works.

Let's define CISC and RISC. CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computers) is a bloated architechure that uses many built-in registers and contains a lot of backwards compatibility, which takes up a lot of transisters. It emphasizes everything to the hardware level, using as little memory as possible. But its disadvantage is that it is slower at executing code. RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) emphasizes more software, and uses more memory, but it executes things faster. Technically RISC is more efficient, but you have to note that today's x86 processors (which evolved from the CISC CPUs of the 70's and 80's) contain very very little CISC backwards compatible transistors in comparison to the new instruction sets. Back then a major bulk of the processor's transistors contained this backwards compatibility, which left little room for improvement in the architechure. RISC emphasizes simpler hardware, but more complex software. Per clock, RISC performs better than CISC.... but again, today's x86 CPUs are not true CISC CPUs anymore. Today's x86 CPUs are far more similar to say, PowerPC CPUs than Apple would like to admit. A good read is here Post-RISC/CISC CPUs.

Apple likes to bang on it's "oh we're RISC and we're better" pots and pans a lot, but we have to take note that this is a POST-RISC/CISC world.. CISC and RISC have no meaning whatsoever any longer. Current mainstream x86 processors are essentially RISC processors with a backwards-compatibility CISC layer. The code is decoded and reworked on the silicon level and fed to the RISC core. But nooooooo since it has the CISC compatibility layer... it's not a "pure RISC" processor.

But anyways, I sorda digressed more than I should have.. We're talkign about the Cell!

The Cell, in many fundamental ways, is the evolution of the PowerPC architechure. It was built on IBM's Power5 line as it's execution core, with added engineering prowess by Sony and Toshiba.

That article is pretty much mostly regurgitation of known information, but just some of his benchmarks and "statements of truths" are definately hokey. He's never touched a Cell processor in his LIFE. He's basically comparing the Cell to a PowerPC G4 (Motorola MPC7400 series). Basically he compared the G4 as the fractional unit, and multiplied everything up to get the multi-teraflop performance.

I think the Cell is a great processor, and the idea of this CPU powering entertainment devices in my household.. and all the CPUs being able to work together as a massively-parallel CPU gives me the shivers (this is a function of the "Cell;" it can intelligently connect to other Cells in other devices and share computing power over a network).

But Sony is overhyping it! Apple-type nerds who don't know better are overhyping it! It's a great CPU, but it's not as *great* as they make it out to be.

The theoretical maxes of the CPU will never be realized. I mean, how do you jump from a few gigaflops to over a teraflop? It's a marketing scam! Obviously it is impossible to manufacture a $500 "supercomputer" that they claim the PS3 is.

The Cell, like the Emotion Engine before it, will run 3D games very well, as that is what it is designed for. Everything else is secondary. Basically, it is AWESOME at running 3D games, creating the pixels, renders, synthesize audio, and create an I/O link for these games. But do *anything* else besides the specific games written for it, and it won't be able to use the 8 SPE units. Instead it will all fall on the single PowerPC core to do the job. In a sense, it will become like any regular old computer. The SPE units are useless for doing anything else than what they were specifically programmed to do. It's simply not as general-purpose as a regular CPU. The same way was the Emotion Engine,.. which was great as 3D games, but not much anything else.

I think both the Cell and the Emotion engine before it were great advances in multimedia computing. But both were very hard to create software for (the Emotion Engine used a MIPS processor + Vector Engine.. MIPS is a derivative of RISC). It will never become mainstream, unless you want to pay a lot of a processor that will compute a spreadsheet just as fast as your regular old Pentium4 or Athlon XP.

But definately, like the Emotion Engine before it, Sony killed the Cell. They've flogged it for all it's worth. It's a great CPU, but they are overhyping it.

Simple as that.

------------------

I think the Power5 architechure by IBM is great. Oh, and btw, the XBOX 360 and Nintendo Revolution do not use Cell processors. There is no way in hell Sony would allow that, since they are part of the Cell STI alliance. The XBOX 360 and Nintendo Revolution use multi-core and hyper-threading Power5 derivatives.

[Manta]

I believe the XB360 will actually be of a normal size, unlike the first one. One of the original complaints about the old one was that it was too big.

I'd probably take the 360 based simply on the fact that I already have the original and games for it.