Homebrew Why did 3dbrew...

[MyJoyConRunsHot]

List the CPU of the New 3DS as 4x ARM11 MPcore rather than a dual-core?
New 3DS CPU

Type​

Description​

Datasheet​

Source​

ARM11 Processor Core ARM11 MPCore 4x 268MHz(?) & 4x VFP Co-Processor [11]
FCRAM 256MB
VRAM 6 MB within SoC. Independent of system memory (FCRAM). N/A
4MB of additional memory. N/A
NFC
MVD

...And below it says
"Note that 4 cores is also the maximum number of cores available with ARM11-MPCore"
Do they mean 4 cores is also the the max number available for the ARM11 or do they mean they might have misinterpreted something an assumed the N3DS was using 4 cores?

Old 3DS CPU
ARM11 Processor Core ARM11 MPCore 2x 268MHz(~268123480 Hz) & 2x VFP Co-Processor
Was there some tear-down or evidence that I missed? It seems strange that 3dbrew would make such an assumption considering they have usually been the most precise of any spec source. Is there a reason they listed the CPU as such?
http://3dbrew.org/wiki/Hardware

 

[FR0ZN]

Becuase it has 4 cores....

 

[DinohScene]

Becuase it has 4 cores....

Exactly that.

OP, it's the NEW 3DS, why use old tech when you're releasing a new system?

 

[granville]

I believe this information was procured from a Twitter post by Smealum,who found a reference to the New 3DS having 4 CPU cores in the firmware.

I wasn't expecting them to double the physical cores myself, I kind of figured they'd take a route similar to the DSi and just double the clock speed or something. I'm quite curious to know what sort of performance improvements this could have to both games AND homebrew (particularly emulators) in comparison to greater clock speed. I'm guessing at least one core is probably reserved for OS functions.

And yes according to official ARM documentation, 4 cores is the maximum supported by ARM11 models.

https://twitter.com/smealum/status/520067338750537728

 

[Snailface]

I believe this information was procured from a Twitter post by Smealum, who found a reference to the New 3DS having 4 CPU cores in the firmware.
https://twitter.com/smealum/status/520067338750537728

He was reacting to the same source, 3dbrew.
Yellows8 is the one who can decrypt new firmwares right off of CDN's servers and report this level of detail to 3dbrew.

 

[DRWS]

He was reacting to the same source, 3dbrew.
Yellows8 is the one who can decrypt new firmwares right off of CDN's servers and report this level of detail to 3dbrew.

He can, but it was first reported by Bond697 here afaik: https://twitter.com/Bond697/status/519475555629277185

 

[heartgold]

Exciting prospect, double the RAM, more VRAM and 2 extra CPU's to play with. There's a chance there could an additional speed boost to the CPU as well, giving it a major jump over the current models.

Lets see what exclusive games Nintendo has to offer on the system. The potential is there, they can make games not possible, or run better than the previous models.

 

[Purple_Shyguy]

Exciting prospect, double the RAM, more VRAM and 2 extra CPU's to play with. There's a chance there could an additional speed boost to the CPU as well, giving it a major jump over the current models.

Lets see what exclusive games Nintendo has to offer on the system. The potential is there, they can make games not possible, or run better than the previous models.

I would give my left nut for Konami to patch MGS3D and remove the locked 20fps for N3DS systems

 

[Abcdfv]

I wonder if the New 3DS is supposed to just be Nintendo's next generation handheld, and the hardware boosts are to improve the longevity of the system?

 

[TecXero]

I wonder if the New 3DS is supposed to just be Nintendo's next generation handheld, and the hardware boosts are to improve the longevity of the system?

I doubt it's meant to be the next generation. It's a bit soon for that and they generally release an improved system to act as a stopgap until the next generation. We've had the Game Boy Color, DSi, and, to lesser degrees, the Game Boy Advance SP and Micro (maybe no improvements to the hardware, but the front/backlights were a huge improvement to many). The DSi and Game Boy Color were also significantly more powerful than their earlier counterparts at the time. Their next generation handheld will probably have a well promoted announcement, like their previous entries into new generations.

 

[MyJoyConRunsHot]

Thats pretty sweet. I too hope they gave it a clock speed boost and threw in an L2 cache just for performance benefits as well. Though I don't know how likely the latter is, this thread proves how unpredictable Nintendo is.

 

[Huntereb]

I wonder if the New 3DS is supposed to just be Nintendo's next generation handheld, and the hardware boosts are to improve the longevity of the system?

Wouldn't be much of an improvement if that were the case.

 

[MyJoyConRunsHot]

Seems 3dbrew confirmed the clockspeed to be the same. They removed the "?" mark. Which is kind of a bummer. Seems both the CPU and GPU SoC wan't a good idea.

Seeing as the number of CPU's has increased(can handle more threads of code) and the cache has presumably also been increased(L2 has been added), I wonder how this compares to the Wii now?
ARM11 Processor Core ARM11 MPCore 4x 268MHz(~268123480 Hz) & 4x VFP Co-Processor [11]
ARM9 Processor Core ARM946 134MHz(~134058675 Hz) [12]
FCRAM 256MB
Storage Samsung KLM4G1YEQC 4GB NAND Flash N/A N/A
VRAM 6 MB within SoC. Independent of system memory (FCRAM). N/A
4MB of additional memory. N/A
NFC
MVD
New HID C-Stick and ZL+ZR buttons. This new HID is usable for software which uses Circle Pad Pro, see here.

 

[Oxybelis]

I wonder how this compares to the Wii now?

It's very hard to compare. We do not how how many available for a game. I think 3. But 1 core is easier to utilize. I think Wii integer perfomance still faster but floating point calculations can be faster on new 3DS.

 

[Jayro]

Other stop-gap consoles would be the Gameboy Pocket, the GBA SP/micro, and the DSi. Not sure about the DS Lite though, but it might fit in with the DSi.

 

[Foxi4]

Other stop-gap consoles would be the Gameboy Pocket, the GBA SP/micro, and the DSi. Not sure about the DS Lite though, but it might fit in with the DSi.

What do you mean by a stop-gap console?

 

[Jayro]

"Filler" consoles, released to tie the public over until the next gen console comes out. Usually a minor upgrade or a slimmed down version. Sometimes an XL release after launch. I see the New 3DS to be such a console.

 

[Foxi4]

"Filler" consoles, released to tie the public over until the next gen console comes out. Usually a minor upgrade or a slimmed down version. Sometimes an XL release after launch.

Huh. Interesting way to look at it. I usually divide them into two categories - revisions (no change of specs, improvements strictly in the form factor, battery life, quality of components etc.) and successors (substantial change in specs, exclusive software for the platform), that way I can keep the Game Boy Pocket and the Game Boy Colour or the DS Lite and the DSi in separate camps. That's not to say that successors signify a generation jump, that's more of a time-to-technology ratio issue.

 

[TecXero]

"Filler" consoles, released to tie the public over until the next gen console comes out. Usually a minor upgrade or a slimmed down version. Sometimes an XL release after launch. I see the New 3DS to be such a console.

There's usually a second iteration of the same handheld (the Pocket to the Game Boy or DS Lite to DS), then there's usually the "stop-gap" handhelds (Game Boy Color to the Game Boy or DSi to DS).

Though, I can't say what the logic behind Nintendo creating "stop-gap" handhelds is. The only reasons I can think of is to test public reaction to new features or to try to keep public interest until their next generation handheld is out.

EDIT: Foxi beat me to it.

 

[MyJoyConRunsHot]

It's very hard to compare. We do not how how many available for a game. I think 3. But 1 core is easier to utilize. I think Wii integer perfomance still faster but floating point calculations can be faster on new 3DS.

3 cores should definitely give it a boost, more tasks being done at once, and more threads of code. Increased cache would also help too. But I don't know how important clockspeed would be if the NN3DS had, say a 128kb total L1 cache or an L2 with maybe 256kb+. Floating point would also be higher but, I can't fathom how much more can be done out of 268Mhz.