News Xbox 2 hardware begins to shape up

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by GreatOldOne, 9 Nov 2004.

  1. GreatOldOne

    GreatOldOne Wannabe Martian

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    Our own mrhaz, writing under cover of his secret identity, reports for the Inq:

    MICROSOFT'S XBOX 2 hardware is starting to come together, according to reports, as final graphics details are thrashed out.

    Sources have told us that ATI is now starting to roll out the R500 part which will be the basis of Xbox 2, ahead of the machine's launch on January 5 at the Consumer Electronics Show.

    R500 is a Shader Model 3.0 part, and will be similar to the R520 part that will be its next generation PC graphics chip. The tape out will be a relief to developers, who have been working on the 9800 class hardware that shipped in the Xbox 2 development kits.

    A spokesman for Nvidia told the INQ that he had had numerous requests from Xbox developers for GeForce 6800 cards, since coders were eager to start work on SM3.0 routines, regardless of the final render target.

    The tape out of R500 - which has been delayed, we are told, fairly substantially - means that Microsoft's coders now face a frantic 2 months of coding to create demo routines to make the most of the graphics hardware, so that they can wow the Las Vegas crowds.


    You know you want more.
     
  2. Sc0rian

    Sc0rian Here comes the farmer

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    go mrhaz;), good read.
     
  3. Stickeh

    Stickeh Help me , Help you.

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    Jan 5th launch? or just a showcase (look-what-weve-got) style thing?
    Well either way that'll be a fun birthday present :D
     
  4. Guest-16

    Guest-16 Guest

    Just a showcase preview. There'd be much more hype and theyd have wanted it out pre-holiday season if they have it ready already. Id also imagine ATI wont provide them with R500 parts until they release their R520 to the public too and get enough manufacturing space to support it.

    I wanna know if Haz has to wear a mask, hat and big coat when writing for the inq? :eyebrow: super-secret-Haz..
     
  5. fathazza

    fathazza Freed on Probation

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    any news on the cpu(S)?

    i remember somewhere that it was gonna have something stupid like 3 64 bit powerpc cpus or something along those lines
     
  6. Guest-16

    Guest-16 Guest

    Yea, MS are going for an IBM 3Ghz jobbie.

    I wanna see pics of the first samples that melted.
     
  7. sadffffff

    sadffffff Minimodder

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    lol!
     
  8. craigey1

    craigey1 Minimodder

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    Any news on whether or not it'll include a HD or have backwards compatability?
     
  9. Dad

    Dad You talkin to me?

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    Actually, any news on the cost?
     
  10. Guest-16

    Guest-16 Guest

    I will almost gurantee it wont be backward compatible - simply because of how some of the current games are made for the xbox 1 hardware. Dunno about HD or cost, probably wont feature a HD if itll rise the cost of it. Depends if MS want to go for the HTPC/Console do-dar.
     
  11. Jamie

    Jamie ex-Bit-Tech code junkie

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    IBM PowerPC CPUs means it should be easier to port the games to your standard apple mac. Whether 'they' actually bother is a another question :wallbash:
     
  12. craigey1

    craigey1 Minimodder

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    I'm not too fussed about the backward compatability, but the HD is one of the Xbox's biggest selling points. If they don't include one, I hope they will at least sell a hard drive that'll plug in to an expansion port.
     
  13. calking13

    calking13 What's a Dremel?

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    Actully I heard from XBOX gaming mag that they are planning to use Apple G5 CPUs (with help from IBM corp of course). Interesting. Cant wait for pics of the innards.
     
  14. fathazza

    fathazza Freed on Probation

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    'twill be the graphics card that is the stumbling block there......

    but mind you the present xbox runs on pentium 3 architecture on a modified win2k kernel and it hasnt proved easy to emulate it on a pc...

    so i wouldnt hold out much hope for mac emulation on the xbox 2
     
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