Hardware 3DS CPU

[Rydian]

I don't see why nintendo would choose a chip that's got integrated controllers for functions/bandwidth the 3DS cannot use. Waste of silicon, waste of space, waste of complexity, waste of power, waste of money.

 

[Midna]

Perhaps they're ordering a custom chip?

 

[Rydian]

If so, then it's not this, that's not how CPUs work.

 

[pachura]

I was wondering... does 3DS really need a new processor ? They might just keep the one used in DSi, maybe overclocking it 1.5-2x...

Nowadays, the biggest part of in-game calculations is done by the graphics card - and Pica200 will do it. For the rest, I seriously doubt that Nintendo finds realistic physics, complicated enemy AI or ability to calculate behaviour of hundreds of units in an RTS game really worth to change the CPU... plus the backwards compatibility will be difficult to keep.

 

[Deleted User]

Overclocking some CPUs even 0.5% overheats it massively without cooling (past experience)

 

[SamAsh07]

I can't predict the CPU power, but I can surely say that it'll be higher than the PSP.

 

[Juanmatron]

IN THE END, ALL IS A FALSE ALARM AND RESULT IS ONLY THE MICROCONTROLLER OF KINECT BY MICROSOFT.

 

[Tokiopop]

Overclocking some CPUs even 0.5% overheats it massively without cooling (past experience)

You can OC ARM processors quite a lot without any side effects other than a shorter battery life. It would just crash before it got too hot. It's over vaulting where you might get some heat issues.

 

[Rydian]

I was wondering... does 3DS really need a new processor ? They might just keep the one used in DSi, maybe overclocking it 1.5-2x...

Nowadays, the biggest part of in-game calculations is done by the graphics card - and Pica200 will do it. For the rest, I seriously doubt that Nintendo finds realistic physics, complicated enemy AI or ability to calculate behaviour of hundreds of units in an RTS game really worth to change the CPU... plus the backwards compatibility will be difficult to keep.

Oh.
Yeah.
Heh.

This is one of those "Dur, why didn't I think of that?" moments...

 

[Midna]

I was wondering... does 3DS really need a new processor ? They might just keep the one used in DSi, maybe overclocking it 1.5-2x...

Nowadays, the biggest part of in-game calculations is done by the graphics card - and Pica200 will do it. For the rest, I seriously doubt that Nintendo finds realistic physics, complicated enemy AI or ability to calculate behaviour of hundreds of units in an RTS game really worth to change the CPU... plus the backwards compatibility will be difficult to keep.

No it won't be hard to keep DS compatibility. If they have an ARM9 and an ARM7 of nay kind onboard, they can downclock it to DS levels for DS mode.

As for not needing a better CPU, with a better CPU you have have smarter games. I want AI that can beat me at Mario Kart.

 

[DiscostewSM]

I just don't want it to have the glitches that the DS (and maybe the DSi?) had. Those glitches could make the DS's ARM9 CPU go from 66Mhz to, in worse case scenarios, 8Mhz, which is half the execution speed of the GBA (though I think it had something to do with the RAM). But, what the DS was able to do was have hardware calculations (divisions, vertex input, etc) running while the CPU could do other stuff, so it gave it a little boost there.

 

[Painguy]

IN THE END, ALL IS A FALSE ALARM AND RESULT IS ONLY THE MICROCONTROLLER OF KINECT BY MICROSOFT.

yeah i heard that too, but there is nothing to prove that. I went searching for a quite a while. Kinect isnt a gaming platform. Its an accessory. On top of that Kinect uses the 360's CPU and its own CPU, BUT it doesnt need that strong of a processor to do what it does.

 

[Midna]

And it would be a bit of a coincidence if the Kinnect chip was an ARM9...

 

[Nollog]

And it would be a bit of a coincidence if the Kinnect chip was an ARM9...

The spokesman didn't say ARM9, he said they would be using one of it's SoC's.

 

[coolbho3000]

Overclocking some CPUs even 0.5% overheats it massively without cooling (past experience)

Lots of ARM CPUs are ridiculously overclockable, trust me, I would know.

I'm disappointed that they couldn't go with a Cortex A8 based CPU, it's not even too expensive. Power consumption levels should be on par with previous generation ARMs.

 

[Midna]

And it would be a bit of a coincidence if the Kinnect chip was an ARM9...

The spokesman didn't say ARM9, he said they would be using one of it's SoC's.

No, he said they would be using an ARMADA Application Processor. Those are ARM9. You know, ARMADA.

 

[tk_saturn]

I'm disappointed that they couldn't go with a Cortex A8 based CPU, it's not even too expensive. Power consumption levels should be on par with previous generation ARMs.

If the DS can run on a 67Mhz ARM9, then surely a 800Mhz/ 1Ghz ARM9 is more than sufficent for the 3DS?

It's what you do with it that counts.

 

[coolbho3000]

I'm disappointed that they couldn't go with a Cortex A8 based CPU, it's not even too expensive. Power consumption levels should be on par with previous generation ARMs.

If the DS can run on a 67Mhz ARM9, then surely a 800Mhz/ 1Ghz ARM9 is more than sufficent for the 3DS?

It's what you do with it that counts.

Just saying, the ARMv5TE architecture is ancient by today's standards, and they could have easily done better with minimal cost. Cortex also has built in floating point acceleration which would make a lot of things much faster.

 

[granville]

Seems like people forget that the 3DS has a powerful dedicated GPU powering it, rendering the main CPU less important besides powering the gameplay engine. The Pica200 will be pushing the graphics of the 3DS. As for the CPU, DS has some excellent gameplay. So you don't even need a very powerful processor to have kickass great looking games. We've seen what kind of visuals the system can push.

 

[Aman27deep]

Seems like people forget that the 3DS has a powerful dedicated GPU powering it, rendering the main CPU less important besides powering the gameplay engine. The Pica200 will be pushing the graphics of the 3DS. As for the CPU, DS has some excellent gameplay. So you don't even need a very powerful processor to have kickass great looking games. We've seen what kind of visuals the system can push.

I agree, the psp has a 300 MHz CPU (I hope i'm right) and certain games look amazing on it, as you said the graphic hardware is more important