IBM to power Xbox 2

Het is haalbaar zolang het ingebakken is in de chip zelf,een klein snelheidsverlies is minder erg dan een hoop piraten software op het systeem,en de volledige data moet nog niet eens gecrypteerd zijn als de header al maar die encryptie draagt,je zal weinig zijn met de software die je dan op je xbox gooit.

 

laat ze eerst amar eens de xbox1 verder uitputten voordat ze al zo bezig gaan met een xbox2 ik bedoel leuk allemaal.
maar ik wil eerst maar wat meer xbox1 zien!!!!!

 

Nog wat stof om over na te denken, het blijft natuurlijk speculeren tot alles door M$ wordt bevestigd.

It's tempting to think that IBM will be supplying Microsoft with a modified PowerPC chip for the Xbox 2. The new G5 series of 64bit processors being used in the latest Apple Macs certainly has shown good performance but there would be a huge number of problems for Microsoft in switching to that architecture.

Microsoft would need to port the latest version of its Xbox operating system to PowerPC; after all, even consoles need an operating system. That would be a large task just by itself. Then there are the problems of backwards compatibility, even the latest G5 probably couldn't run an x86 emulator fast enough to play games from the original Xbox.

Then there's the AMD side of the equation, it has been thick as thieves with IBM in the production of its AMD64 technology processors. Big Blue would almost certainly have no problems buying permission from AMD to produce an Opteron/Athlon 64 based processor, it might well have that permission already.

An AMD64 based processor makes much more sense than a PowerPC one. Microsoft already has an operating system that works on that architecture and backwards compatibility with the current Xbox would be no problem. Microsoft has contracted Sis to produce the IO chip for the system and that firm already produces a chipset for the Athlon 64. It all looks like the logical answer but then there's that spanner in the works.

 

Hmm zou ook wel beter zijn, ze zijn echt van plan om het ding een monster te maken

 

Aangezien mijn Pa bij IBM werkt (en hij nokiagame heeft helpen opzetten), kreeg hij gisteren een mailtje over dat IBM INDERDAAD de processor van de xbox ging maken. Er stonden dingen is zoals: 'Microsoft selected us for one very simple reason -- we are the leaders in the advanced technologies they need for Xbox.'

Beschouw het volgende dan dus maar als 'Insider-information'

Maar Microsoft is niet de enige. Het lijkt wel of alle next-next gen concoles een IBM proccessor bevatten: 'We are now the undisputed leader in providing advanced chip technology for the gaming industry. We make the CPUs for Nintendo's GameCube systems. We are shipping in volume the GeForce FX advanced graphics processor for NVIDIA, the premier supplier of graphics chips for the gaming industry. We are working with Sony Computer Entertainment to develop the processor for its PlayStation3 system. And now we've won the next-generation Xbox.'

Alle info:
'A few minutes ago we announced that we have won a deal to design, develop and make the processor for the next generation of Microsoft's Xbox game system.

Microsoft selected us for one very simple reason -- we are the leaders in the advanced technologies they need for Xbox.

This is a major win for us on several fronts:

It illustrates and capitalizes on our deep technology and service capabilities. The new Xbox technologies will be based on the latest in IBM's family of state-of-the-art processors;

It is the single largest win for Engineering & Technology Services and a substantial foundry win for our 300 mm facility;

We've handed Intel another defeat. Earlier this year, we kept them out of the Apple G5 and now we've thrown them out of Xbox. (Not bad, considering one Intel executive recently called us "trivial");

We are now the undisputed leader in providing advanced chip technology for the gaming industry. We make the CPUs for Nintendo's GameCube systems. We are shipping in volume the GeForce FX advanced graphics processor for NVIDIA, the premier supplier of graphics chips for the gaming industry. We are working with Sony Computer Entertainment to develop the processor for its PlayStation3 system. And now we've won the next-generation Xbox.'

 

check dit eens:

THERE'S SOMETHING STRANGE about Microsoft's choice of IBM to make its processors for the Xbox 2. You might think that it's a reasonable choice but it brings up more questions than most analysts are going to be comfortable with. Many have immediately jumped on the idea that the Xbox 2 will use a PowerPC variant processor at its heart but that's far from the only option. The biggest spanner in the works could be the Sony/Toshiba/IBM Cell processor.
The most curious thing about the choice of IBM is that the firm is already producing processors for Nintendo and is designing the next generation of 'Cell' processors for the Playstation 3. So IBM effectively knows what all of the key players are up to, something that might not sit comfortably with the CEOs of the three main console firms.

Route G5
It's tempting to think that IBM will be supplying Microsoft with a modified PowerPC chip for the Xbox 2. The new G5 series of 64bit processors being used in the latest Apple Macs certainly has shown good performance but there would be a huge number of problems for Microsoft in switching to that architecture.

Microsoft would need to port the latest version of its Xbox operating system to PowerPC; after all, even consoles need an operating system. That would be a large task just by itself. Then there are the problems of backwards compatibility, even the latest G5 probably couldn't run an x86 emulator fast enough to play games from the original Xbox.

Opter In
Then there's the AMD side of the equation, it has been thick as thieves with IBM in the production of its AMD64 technology processors. Big Blue would almost certainly have no problems buying permission from AMD to produce an Opteron/Athlon 64 based processor, it might well have that permission already.

An AMD64 based processor makes much more sense than a PowerPC one. Microsoft already has an operating system that works on that architecture and backwards compatibility with the current Xbox would be no problem. Microsoft has contracted Sis to produce the IO chip for the system and that firm already produces a chipset for the Athlon 64. It all looks like the logical answer but then there's that spanner in the works.

The Real Threat
The biggest firm in console gaming by far is Sony with its Playstation 2. The juiciest leaks that have appeared about the Cell processor put that architecture a country mile ahead of any other mainstream processor performance wise. It looks likely to offer capabilities that will be well beyond the AMD64 and PowerPC variants when it is released, even taking into account the latter processors improving considerably over the next couple of years.

That leaves Microsoft with a big problem. If it chooses PowerPC or AMD64, it might end up trying to sell an Xbox 2 that at best offers only half the performance of the Playstation 3. A far from appetising thought.

But then you need to think about just why IBM and Toshiba are involved with the Cell processor in the first place. Both firms are aiming to use it in high-power multiprocessor systems. In theory at least, both firms could supply Cell processor systems to whichever companies they liked. So then you end up with the last major possibility, that Microsoft could well have chosen IBM to manufacture processors for the Xbox 2 because it has somehow persuaded the firm to supply Cell processors for the new system.

There're no two ways around it, Sony would be livid if that was the case but it would also be stuck. Microsoft has more than enough money to step into the breach if Sony decided to walk away from dealing with IBM over that happening. That's something Sony couldn't afford to allow because it would mean the firm scrabbling around trying to find a replacement architecture and Xbox 2 getting the Cell technology all to itself, with all that entails.

Conclusion
Sitting pretty in the middle of all this is IBM. Whichever way things go it will be getting money from all parties. It effectively has the One Ring to rule them all. It's doubtful that Microsoft will manage to get its claws into the Cell technology but far from impossible. You can lay a bet that Sony's lawyers are looking at its contract with IBM very carefully indeed at the moment. µ

bron: http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=12523

dus de Xbox 2 gebruikt meschien de Cell processor (ik betwijfel het maar ok)

 

Zeer intressant artikel waar ik het in grote lijnen mee eens ben. Ik ga er vanuit dat de Xbox 2 hoe dan ook krachtiger zal worden dan de PS3, simpel weg omdat dit bij de huidige generatie "the big selling point" van Microsoft is.

Microsoft heeft de Xbox tegenover de PS2 gepositioneerd als de krachtigste console en ik denk niet dat ze dit verkoop punt uit handen zullen geven bij de volgende generatie consoles.

Ik weet nog niet niet zeker of de cell chip wel zo krachtig is als beweert wordt en ik betwijfel het of hij zo i zo al gebruikt zal worden in de volgende generatie consoles.

Een ding dat ik wel zeker weet is dat Micosoft het niet toe zal laten dat de PS3 krachtiger zal worden dan de Xbox 2.