Xenon (Xbox 2) Docs Leaked?

[giga Veteran]

You also have to consider that this will be released possibly in late 2005 or early 2006 so it might be true. Who knows how fast CPU's will be in that year.

[Glowstick]

So they'll create a freakin' uber CPU, which will be built into a console that costs 500usd or less, and then you've Intel and AMD supplying cookie cutter crap for double the price than what the whole friggin' XBox2 will cost. Nice. Really. If the specs are indeed true (which I somehow doubt).

[Steven]

The 3.5 Ghz doesnt same that unreasonable becasue would that be like 1.16 Ghz per core? not sure if the y addlike that but thay could be where they get the speed.

Seems all legite except that teh processore seems to be over the top but you never know microsoft might be really trying to get over teh top hardware to make develpoers make mroe xbox exclusive games. the time xbox 2 hits market the specs might not be that outrageous.

no.. its 3.5GHz per core.

and no that doesn't mean it would equal the ability of a 10.5GHz CPU.

[Toxicfume Veteran]

What kind of cooling are they going to be using for that kind of a system I wonder :s I really don't think they'll be able to package in sufficient air cooling into the console if that is indeed their system spec.

[enigma-penguin Veteran]

"The CPU includes three independent processors (cores) on a single die"

you can bet its got thermal throttling, and a hell of a heat spreader

what process is it going to be on.. 130, 90 or 65 nm..

do you know what the die size will have to be for that....... big (even on 90)

(and btw its 3cores on one die,not 3 dies on one chip)

"The three cores share a 1-MB L2 cache. The L2 cache can be locked down in segments to improve performance"

sounds exactly like what master Hyperthreading is meant to do, which is why each core can have two threads (i Doubt they are both hardware) and could also alow it to shut off cores from the L2

and btw yes ibm has access to patents through amd for hyperthreading

thats entirely possible within the next 2 years.. even by late next year

"The L2 cache also has the very unusual feature of being directly readable from the GPU, which allows the GPU to consume geometry and texture data from L2 and main memory simultaneously."

i would now like to direct you to a keynote speech from microsoft and the pdc in 2003

do the words "direct 3d pipeline" ring any bells for anyone.....

stop being so doubting people..

These are all places hardware companies are reaching for...and microsoft is pushing.

where better to practice for longhorn and get the hardware out to consumers.. than by a console

i could say more......

[Phemo]

Also, do they have any idea how long it would take to port Windows NT kernal to PowerPC.

It's already been done. Take a look at an NT4 CD, it has PPC, x86, Alpha and MIPS versions on it. Hit Google with something like NT4 PPC and you'll see :)

[Tim Dorr Veteran]

Tri Cores?? yah.. ok... we haven't even seen Dual Core CPU"s released yet and IBM is talking Tri-Cores?

Um... First, there's this: http://enterprise.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/...5-2633-3-2.html

Yes, you're seeing 8 cores on that chip, and it will be available this year (if it's not already). IBM's been doing the multi core thing for a while now.

You *do* know the PS2 has several separate cores, right? We've had dual core CPUs for a while now, just not on the desktop :)

[glitch409]

he's right you know, thats why they call the possessor "cell"

[Pilsbury]

Also, do they have any idea how long it would take to port Windows NT kernal to PowerPC.

NT3.5 and NT4 had a PowerPC variant. (In fact, the last variant of NT written was x86). Windows 2000 was also developed for PowerPC (shelved early on when CHRP went to the wayside), and for Alpha (shelved at the RC stage). So, the time to dust that off would be minimal.

I've also read somewhere that MS have shipped XBox2 dev kits that are G5's running an NT variant.

[divinatum]

your all wrong. the next xBox cpu will be made by AMD. heres a picture of it

[Eli]

Someone mentioned "Xbox does not have an OS. It uses a modified version of Win 2k"

I would like to respond by stating that the modified version is known as the XBox OS. In the modding community, they don't call it "Win 2k" but the Xbox OS. They have done modifications of the 'interface' and they refer to these as changes to the "Xbox OS"

So not to be rude but your statement is half-true. It is a modified version of Win2k. But the part your wrong on is that it is refered to as "Xbox OS". So the information provided in the document (about the OS) is not complte bull****.

[~clean]

Someone mentioned "Xbox does not have an OS. It uses a modified version of Win 2k"

I would like to respond by stating that the modified version is known as the XBox OS. In the modding community, they don't call it "Win 2k" but the Xbox OS. They have done modifications of the 'interface' and they refer to these as changes to the "Xbox OS"

So not to be rude but your statement is half-true. It is a modified version of Win2k. But the part your wrong on is that it is refered to as "Xbox OS". So the information provided in the document (about the OS) is not complte bull****.

It dont realy have a OS the front end your talking about is the "Dashboard" but this is just a front end for memory managements, xboxlive interface and tools for setting up the system. The main command set for the machine is built into the Hardware and its this that runs the games and programs.

they've deff chosen the wrong words with "OS" because its not a OS in the sence of windows OS but a command system that runs the console

[Spartan_X]

All I can tell about this is that everything on this report is not lies, if you take a look at the description of the controller you'll find out it match the new spec of the universal controller design proposed by the XNA.

BTW? just wait a little bit more and you?ll see what MS has been secretly cooking all this months for Xbox Nex:whistle:istle:

[Steven]

Um... First, there's this: http://enterprise.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/...5-2633-3-2.html

Yes, you're seeing 8 cores on that chip, and it will be available this year (if it's not already). IBM's been doing the multi core thing for a while now.

You *do* know the PS2 has several separate cores, right? We've had dual core CPUs for a while now, just not on the desktop :)

I remember that, but look at the size of it Tim :blink:

[fishie]

xbox's are for fat kids.

[enigma-penguin Veteran]

thats actually not entierly correct.. thats multiple cores yes, but its multile cores on separate dies...

the xbox's proc is aparently on ONE die..(how many times can i say it). plus the xbox proc would be built on at least a 90nm process. where as that would be 130

(tho i still dont trust those specs.. they arent impossible)

[MetaLRasaM]

holly molly!!!!

ive heard sum rumers about this before..and this just confirms the news thats been spreading around for the last week or so..mannnn..i just hope its modable...cuz with such power...mannnnnn...you can edit movies!! screw media center! i wanna use 3D max and Maya on my xbox!!

mannn..i think sony is ****ing their pants..if this thing is true..ohh man...sony is in DEEEEEEEEP (beep)..sony is known to be cheap..and get the most of their little hardwares (which did great on ps2) but mann..when xbox 2 comes out with such crazy specs...i donnu if ppl would actually go and get a ps3 or somethin! unless ps3 is AMAZING!

god...i love competition!

[~clean]

thats actually not entierly correct.. thats multiple cores yes, but its multile cores on separate dies...

the xbox's proc is aparently on ONE die..(how many times can i say it). plus the xbox proc would be built on at least a 90nm process. where as that would be 130

(tho i still dont trust those specs.. they arent impossible)

From whats been announced before the ps2 and xbox cpus are made with the 65nm at Ibm

but its still hard to belive 3 cores :wacko:

[enigma-penguin Veteran]

it could be one core with 6 hardware threads and master hyperthreading and a direct 3d pipeline

thats very believable even right now (and on a 90nm process)

[j005u]

even IF this is true. wouldn't that be a little ******? i mean come on? look at the cpu, look at the gpu and then you give it 256 mb's of memory? wtf?

[Ruciz]

even IF this is true. wouldn't that be a little ******? i mean come on? look at the cpu, look at the gpu and then you give it 256 mb's of memory? wtf?

Maybe this is a sign that Microsoft is cutting down on the excessive coding in their software products then. Lifes better without bloat.

[velocity3k]

post updated

[giga Veteran]

If you would actually read the article, you would probably know why they gave it only 256mb of memory.

IGN: To the right of the North Bridge is the Main Memory, which at 256MB may seem small compared to your personal computer, but remember that Xbox only has 64MBs and does not have any memory specifically dedicated to graphics or special effects. All of that memory can be pumped across the system bus at 22.4 GBs per second. More bandwidth across the board means less choke points, which translates to higher performance.

Below the North Bridge is the all-important graphics chip. The 500MHz clocked core chip has 10 Megs of dedicated EDRAM, which will likely be used for more specific special effects. While that doesn't sound like much, Microsoft's current console has no graphics-dedicated RAM. Those 10MBs will keep a majority of the 256 MBs of main RAM free for other applications.

[velocity3k]

>> More info gleamed from the Leaked Docs that you might find of interest...

- The Xenon Controllers will vary only slighty fronm the current models with a noted migration of the Black and White buttons to Left and Right Flipper Positions.

- Kits for Xenon Developement have double the amount of memory that the final console will have.

- Developers have been told that Live Games under Xenon will not be able to assume that a hard disk is present (at this time a decision to include a native built in hard drive had not been made) SAme developers have been told that Launch Titles for Xenon should not presume a HD is present either. They've also been told that there will be persistant storage on the majority of units.

- Interestingly enough.. Dev kits will have 80Gb or larger HD's.

- People who love speed.. will be happy to know that geometry processing is approx. 100x faster for shader performance, while memory bandwidth has been improved by 4x over the original Xbox.

- Media for the games.. a DVD variant (UDF 2.0 or higher) dual layer with at last 7GB across 2 3.5GB layers and might include support for multi game disks.

- People playing on Live on an Xbox will be ablbe to message and communicate and do other community activities with their newer Xenon friends. Live will also host persistant data for games.

- Code is being added to allow better control for developers and publishers to limit where a game can be played via localizations strings. Expect multiple version of the same game.. for differnet regions.

- Expect Beta Hardware and Software to be in the devs hands in Q1 of 2005.

Source: http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox1data/sep/Ep...VlkjZWHLQPW.php

[neoufo51]

Eh, I will wait.