Rumored Wii U Specs Raising Eyebrows... for the Wrong Reasons

**Valigarmander** · 12-03-2011, 11:31 PM

Rumored Wii U Specs Raising Eyebrows... for the Wrong Reasons | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

Quote:

Let the console-jockeying commence: Rumored specifications for Nintendo's big follow up to the Wii are hitting the airwaves and, if true, they'll give Nintendo a one-up on its console rivals for a brief period of time, at least.

According to Wii U Daily, an undisclosed developer has allegedly leaked some of the specifications for Nintendo's Wii U gaming console, currently rumored for released in the latter part of next year. According to the rumor-starter, the Wii U will allegedly pack a quad-core, 3-GHz CPU from IBM into its design, a 45-nanometer PowerPC chip that's "very similar" to the 3.2-GHz triple-core PowerPC processor found in the Xbox 360.

Wii U Daily goes on to mention that the Wii U will come with 768 megabytes of embedded DRAM – built on the same die as the CPU itself – as well as an "unknown," 40-nanometer GPU from ATI.

Are your eyebrows raised yet? If not, they should be. First off, IBM's already insinuated that the Wii U will be using a Power7 variant of its Power-based microprocessor architecture, not a PowerPC. That said, there is a four-core Power7 CPU in IBM's arsenal that runs at 3.0-GHz on the dot – make of that what you will. As Extreme Tech's Sebastian Anthony puts it, "In terms of raw power, this should put the Wii U way ahead of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3."

And then there's the memory issue. Or, in other words, the questioning of whether Wii U Daily just got its phrasing wrong, or whether anything it's reporting has any accuracy to begin with. The website claims that Nintendo is testing versions of the Wii U with both 768MB and one gigabyte of "embedded" DRAM. In other words, eDRAM, of which the current-generation Xbox 360 has 10MB and the Wii has 3MB. A console with 768 megabytes of eDRAM would be both prohibitively expensive and likely not fit in one's living room.

While it's been suggested that Nintendo's successor console will come with a large quantity of embedded DRAM, a more likely scenario – a completely unofficial speculation, we should note – is that the main memory of the Wii U will hover around 768MB or one gigabyte and the eDRAM will come in at 32MB. For comparison's sake, the system's main memory would be a bit beefier than the 512MB currently found on today's Xbox 360. As for the eDRAM, that's still a high amount for a gaming console, but the Wii U will certainly need all it can get for displaying its images at a native 1080P resolution.

Ultimately, we're all playing the speculation guessing game. Numbers aside, it's safe to say that the Wii U will best the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, specs-wise, until both companies release their own follow-ups sometime after the debut of the Wii U. Welcome to the console wars.

THE WII U IS MAGIC.

***Cosmonautical*** · 12-04-2011, 02:42 AM

I'm not sure why Nintendo wants to do a Dreamcast-esque middy console, but I know that unlike the Dreamcast I will probably buy one.

***Marilink*** · 12-04-2011, 12:32 PM

none of that made any sense to me

>.>

**Loot** · 12-04-2011, 01:24 PM

TLDR The Wii U is way too powerful

Redshirt · 12-04-2011, 01:40 PM

So having a powerful console is bad now.

JaredThaJa888 · 12-04-2011, 02:29 PM

I hope it's not gonna wind up Costing a ridiculous amount.

***Cosmonautical*** · 12-04-2011, 11:53 PM

The Wii U is powerful compared to 6 year old consoles. Just like the Wii was. It shouldn't cost a crapton.

Jere · 12-05-2011, 12:32 AM

what A.I said, the wii was powerfull enough when it was realeased and we all know that Nintendo never had to making the most powerful console in mind when realeasing their consoles.

But i hope they know what they are doing as we will probably see a jump in tec and games when Microsoft and Sony updates their Consoles, cause it's the Xbox and PS3 that drags down most of the gaming software potential right now.

cold_night · 12-13-2011, 01:59 AM

it is powerful, also rumors are it will be more powerful. Around 50% more.
though, i dont think it would be able to compete with Sony Ps3 and Microsoft Xbox 360... Seeing their market, Nintendo would have come up with any innovative idea with that or game.

_______________
To climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first.

Chaos Deviot · 12-31-2011, 08:11 AM

If they keep the price they had in mind, which I believe was 300 to 350 dollars, this won't be a problem.

On the other hand, it's other things that worry me. Like the lack of a harddrive and controller ports for Wired Controllers besides the Tablet.(atleast it can use two of them in general, but you can't buy 'em for some reason...)

12-05-2011, 12:32 AM	#8
Jere Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Sutme Gender: Posts: 3,648 Thanks: 404 Thanked 331 Times in 256 Posts Blog Entries: 3	what A.I said, the wii was powerfull enough when it was realeased and we all know that Nintendo never had to making the most powerful console in mind when realeasing their consoles. But i hope they know what they are doing as we will probably see a jump in tec and games when Microsoft and Sony updates their Consoles, cause it's the Xbox and PS3 that drags down most of the gaming software potential right now. __________________ From where it counts: Lapland

12-04-2011, 02:42 AM	#2
*Cosmonautical* Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: I rub my tilde all over your asterisk Gender: Posts: 28,100 Thanks: 2,151 Thanked 5,338 Times in 2,433 Posts	I'm not sure why Nintendo wants to do a Dreamcast-esque middy console, but I know that unlike the Dreamcast I will probably buy one.

12-04-2011, 12:32 PM	#3
*Marilink* Gotta catch 'em all! Supermod! Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Location, Location. Gender: Posts: 29,118 Thanks: 2,535 Thanked 1,822 Times in 1,007 Posts	none of that made any sense to me >.>

12-04-2011, 01:24 PM	#4
Loot Apparently I'm a mod? Join Date: May 2001 Location: LEGITIMATE BUSINESS Gender: Posts: 13,208 Thanks: 236 Thanked 1,237 Times in 659 Posts	TLDR The Wii U is way too powerful

12-04-2011, 01:40 PM	#5
Redshirt Wiggidy Wack Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: A place with things Gender: Posts: 16,699 Thanks: 703 Thanked 1,006 Times in 695 Posts Blog Entries: 50	So having a powerful console is bad now.

12-04-2011, 02:29 PM	#6
JaredThaJa888 Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Racine Wisconsin Gender: Posts: 676 Thanks: 0 Thanked 15 Times in 15 Posts	I hope it's not gonna wind up Costing a ridiculous amount.

12-04-2011, 11:53 PM	#7
*Cosmonautical* Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: I rub my tilde all over your asterisk Gender: Posts: 28,100 Thanks: 2,151 Thanked 5,338 Times in 2,433 Posts	The Wii U is powerful compared to 6 year old consoles. Just like the Wii was. It shouldn't cost a crapton.

12-13-2011, 01:59 AM	#9
cold_night Newbie Join Date: Dec 2011 Gender: Posts: 2 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	it is powerful, also rumors are it will be more powerful. Around 50% more. though, i dont think it would be able to compete with Sony Ps3 and Microsoft Xbox 360... Seeing their market, Nintendo would have come up with any innovative idea with that or game. _______________ To climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first.

12-31-2011, 08:11 AM	#10
Chaos Deviot The Betrayer Join Date: May 2004 Location: Mt. Moon Gender: Posts: 1,811 Thanks: 171 Thanked 52 Times in 49 Posts Blog Entries: 1	If they keep the price they had in mind, which I believe was 300 to 350 dollars, this won't be a problem. On the other hand, it's other things that worry me. Like the lack of a harddrive and controller ports for Wired Controllers besides the Tablet.(atleast it can use two of them in general, but you can't buy 'em for some reason...)