• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

AMD Powers Brilliant HD Game and Video Performance for Nintendo's Wii U

Joined
Jul 23, 2011
Messages
1,586 (0.34/day)
Location
Kaunas, Lithuania
System Name my box
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
Motherboard ASRock Taichi x470 Ultimate
Cooling NZXT Kraken x72
Memory 2×16GiB @ 3200MHz, some Corsair RGB led meme crap
Video Card(s) AMD [ASUS ROG STRIX] Radeon RX Vega64 [OC Edition]
Storage Samsung 970 Pro && 2× Seagate IronWolf Pro 4TB in Raid 1
Display(s) Asus VG278H + Asus VH226H
Case Fractal Design Define R6 Black TG
Audio Device(s) Using optical S/PDIF output lol
Power Supply Corsair AX1200i
Mouse Razer Naga Epic
Keyboard Keychron Q1
Software Funtoo Linux
Benchmark Scores 217634.24 BogoMIPS
Joined
Jul 10, 2010
Messages
1,229 (0.25/day)
Location
USA, Arizona
System Name SolarwindMobile
Processor AMD FX-9800P RADEON R7, 12 COMPUTE CORES 4C+8G
Motherboard Acer Wasp_BR
Cooling It's Copper.
Memory 2 x 8GB SK Hynix/HMA41GS6AFR8N-TF
Video Card(s) ATI/AMD Radeon R7 Series (Bristol Ridge FP4) [ACER]
Storage TOSHIBA MQ01ABD100 1TB + KINGSTON RBU-SNS8152S3128GG2 128 GB
Display(s) ViewSonic XG2401 SERIES
Case Acer Aspire E5-553G
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC255
Power Supply PANASONIC AS16A5K
Mouse SteelSeries Rival
Keyboard Ducky Channel Shine 3
Software Windows 10 Home 64-bit (Version 1607, Build 14393.969)
Yes there is someone in AMD stealing their moneys... the CPU division.
The CPU division is paid for it is the GPU division stealing from the GPU division. If you have noticed everyone of importance has been booted out on the GPU side while the majority of CPU engineers and SoC engineers are still at AMD from 2007-2009. Most of the oldies from before 2001 from AMD and before 2006 from ATI are pretty much gone and have been replaced by younger engineers.

AMD is going to sell VLIW4/VLIW5 patents/documentation/etc and the ATI name(and brand) for $1.5-$3b(not final price) if you don't know what I'm getting at.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Feb 18, 2011
Messages
1,259 (0.26/day)
It's not the size that matters, but how you use it...badum-tish!

Did it ever occur to you that he was talking about the size, and I was talking about bad programmers?

A huge percent of the games what you will see on the Wii-u will be multi-platform games, titles released on the xbox360 and the Ps3 , where devs had to do most of the work on the "powerful" CPUs. What I meant is that porting those games to the wii-u (where the GPU is the strong component), gonna give a hard time to devs with not enough experience or coding skills. And even with good programmers, you gonna need a different approach sometimes (for examlpe, I think Rage would need to use "GPU transcoding" on the Wii-u, something similar what it has on the PC)
 
Joined
Jul 23, 2011
Messages
1,586 (0.34/day)
Location
Kaunas, Lithuania
System Name my box
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
Motherboard ASRock Taichi x470 Ultimate
Cooling NZXT Kraken x72
Memory 2×16GiB @ 3200MHz, some Corsair RGB led meme crap
Video Card(s) AMD [ASUS ROG STRIX] Radeon RX Vega64 [OC Edition]
Storage Samsung 970 Pro && 2× Seagate IronWolf Pro 4TB in Raid 1
Display(s) Asus VG278H + Asus VH226H
Case Fractal Design Define R6 Black TG
Audio Device(s) Using optical S/PDIF output lol
Power Supply Corsair AX1200i
Mouse Razer Naga Epic
Keyboard Keychron Q1
Software Funtoo Linux
Benchmark Scores 217634.24 BogoMIPS
@Ikaruga

Yes, I am fully aware of this and I do know what they were talking about. If You rolled a 1 on "spot a joke" skill check, well, that post of mine was this. ;)
 
Joined
Dec 21, 2009
Messages
146 (0.03/day)
System Name Uhh WTF
Processor A10-5800K
Motherboard ASrock FM2A85X-Extreme4-M
Cooling Coolermaster Vortex PLUS
Memory 8GB Samsung 1600MHZ 1.35v
Storage 120GB Agility3
Display(s) ASUS 23" TN Panel
Case Silverstone SST-PS07
Power Supply 550W Antec Modular "Basiq" 80PLUS
Software Windows 8 x64
AMD denied the rumors that they're looking for a buyer... even though their Assets have decreased, their liabilities have reduced at a quicker rate. They are actually in a better position financially than they were in 2008. In 2008 they had 7,672 million in assets and 7,545 million in debt. This margin has since widened so that they have 4,954 million in assets and 3,364 million in debt. Probably due to the large success of Phenom II and the 5xxx/6xxx/7xxx series.


AMD's long term debt has gone from 5.5B in 2008 to 2B in 2012. They are no where near being bankrupt or in being any major financial trouble.


AMD is also powering every next-gen console (Wii U, PS4, Xbox) with either Trinity or some custom GPU and since consoles sell so well they'll probably make a decent amount of money off that.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Mar 24, 2011
Messages
2,356 (0.50/day)
Location
VT
Processor Intel i7-10700k
Motherboard Gigabyte Aurorus Ultra z490
Cooling Corsair H100i RGB
Memory 32GB (4x8GB) Corsair Vengeance DDR4-3200MHz
Video Card(s) MSI Gaming Trio X 3070 LHR
Display(s) ASUS MG278Q / AOC G2590FX
Case Corsair X4000 iCue
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Corsair RM650x 650W Fully Modular
Software Windows 10
Not sure why so many people are shocked by the size of the SoC, the newest revisions of the 360 have almost the exact same thing in them, and I'd imagine the PS3's most recent hardware revision is similar.

I'm still waiting for details on the GPU. The CPU is basically a revised version of the CPU in the 360, with maybe one more core. I've heard conflicting reports of it being a tri-core in some places, and a quad-core in others. If it's a tri-core then I'm pretty sure it's quite literally the same CPU as the 360, since it's made by the same people and even sports the same clock speed. The GPU has my interest, because the Wii's GPU was depressingly bad--even for its time.

I am interested to see how the Wii U does, but I have no interest in buying one. I loved Nintendo for quite some time, but I can't justify buying a system just hoping it features a good Zelda and Metroid game. The last Metroid game (for Wii) was pretty lackluster in my books, and even the last couple Zelda games haven't been all that wonderful (not since Majora's Mask imo). I can already tell you this system is going to feature Nintendo throwing developers under the

bus. Every feature they've kind of skirted around so far has ended in them saying it will depend on the developers. VoIP in game? The developer has to make sure they set it up the correct way. Using the tablet with the TV changed to another setting? Developers responsibility. Usefullness of the tablet as a whole? Up to the developer. Honestly, I love Nintendo games on Nintendo systems, but that's about it. I just don't have the money to throw down on a "Zelda\Metroid Console".
 

Mussels

Freshwater Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 6, 2004
Messages
58,413 (8.21/day)
Location
Oystralia
System Name Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory 2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s) Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage 2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s) Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) | Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) | Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s) Logitech G560 | Corsair Void pro RGB |Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores Nyooom.
I played one a few weeks ago and I gotta say it smokes the PS3 or 360 in image quality. Every game I played had AA and was smooth. Ill be getting one when the price comes down a lil'.

wait, really?

was the graphics simplified to achieve that level of smoothness?
 
Joined
Apr 30, 2012
Messages
3,881 (0.89/day)
I played one a few weeks ago and I gotta say it smokes the PS3 or 360 in image quality. Every game I played had AA and was smooth. Ill be getting one when the price comes down a lil'.

$349.99 not too tempting

$299.99 tempting for Nintendo exclusives

$249.99 I'm sold

Maybe after E3 next year when any news of the other two offerings force the price down. A Zelda game will pursuade me more.
 
Joined
Feb 18, 2011
Messages
1,259 (0.26/day)
The CPU is basically a revised version of the CPU in the 360, with maybe one more core. I've heard conflicting reports of it being a tri-core in some places, and a quad-core in others. If it's a tri-core then I'm pretty sure it's quite literally the same CPU as the 360, since it's made by the same people and even sports the same clock speed. The GPU has my interest, because the Wii's GPU was depressingly bad--even for its time.

Link to source pls?
I just can't believe what you said. Nintendo confirmed backwards compatibility to Wii titles. Emulation of the Hollywood won't be a problem on any VLIW5 GPU, but the CPU has to be the same architecture or something different but a lot lot faster.
I think it's more likely that they either added the original Broadway + 2 new modern cores, or they enhanced it by making it multicore and/or added out-of-order execution. Don't forget that 99% of the rumors leaking from devs are talking about large cache and/or edrams on the die, so the size is quite small indeed if you would subtract the size of silicon needed for those.

There are about 3-4 different speculations out there which could be quite plausible, but "Nintendo using the Xeon" was never one of them.The bottom line is that there are absolutely no creditable info about the CPU out there which could be confirmed atm, so if you know anything what the rest of the Internet doesn't, please share;)
 

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"
Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
26,259 (4.65/day)
Location
IA, USA
System Name BY-2021
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (65w eco profile)
Motherboard MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Cooling Scythe Mugen (rev 5)
Memory 2 x Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 32 GiB
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Storage Samsung 980 Pro, Seagate Exos X20 TB 7200 RPM
Display(s) Nixeus NX-EDG274K (3840x2160@144 DP) + Samsung SyncMaster 906BW (1440x900@60 HDMI-DVI)
Case Coolermaster HAF 932 w/ USB 3.0 5.25" bay + USB 3.2 (A+C) 3.5" bay
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1150, Micca OriGen+
Power Supply Enermax Platimax 850w
Mouse Nixeus REVEL-X
Keyboard Tesoro Excalibur
Software Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Faster than the tortoise; slower than the hare.
You would think AMD would be making tons of $$$ out of this deal , yet they are looking for a buyer.
Because ATI was only about 10% the size of AMD when AMD bought ATI out. That was during AMD's hayday too (not long after Athlon X2 processors came out). AMD has shrunk a lot since then and ATI has never been, and likely never will be, big enough to sustain AMD.


Remember, the Wii was basically Nintendo's last ditch effort at console gaming. That's why it was built with such low-end hardware: Nintendo couldn't afford to lose money on every console sold like Sony and Microsoft did. They now have the resources to fiscally compete with Sony and Microsoft so they focused on where the Wii was weakest: hardware.

It shows in the price tag too: $300 debut price versus $250 for the Wii.
 

Mussels

Freshwater Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 6, 2004
Messages
58,413 (8.21/day)
Location
Oystralia
System Name Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory 2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s) Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage 2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s) Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) | Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) | Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s) Logitech G560 | Corsair Void pro RGB |Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores Nyooom.

TheMailMan78

Big Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
Messages
22,599 (3.68/day)
Location
'Merica. The Great SOUTH!
System Name TheMailbox 5.0 / The Mailbox 4.5
Processor RYZEN 1700X / Intel i7 2600k @ 4.2GHz
Motherboard Fatal1ty X370 Gaming K4 / Gigabyte Z77X-UP5 TH Intel LGA 1155
Cooling MasterLiquid PRO 280 / Scythe Katana 4
Memory ADATA RGB 16GB DDR4 2666 16-16-16-39 / G.SKILL Sniper Series 16GB DDR3 1866: 9-9-9-24
Video Card(s) MSI 1080 "Duke" with 8Gb of RAM. Boost Clock 1847 MHz / ASUS 780ti
Storage 256Gb M4 SSD / 128Gb Agelity 4 SSD , 500Gb WD (7200)
Display(s) LG 29" Class 21:9 UltraWide® IPS LED Monitor 2560 x 1080 / Dell 27"
Case Cooler Master MASTERBOX 5t / Cooler Master 922 HAF
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec / SupremeFX X-Fi with Bose Companion 2 speakers.
Power Supply Seasonic FOCUS Plus Series SSR-750PX 750W Platinum / SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold
Mouse SteelSeries Sensei (RAW) / Logitech G5
Keyboard Razer BlackWidow / Logitech (Unknown)
Software Windows 10 Pro (64-bit)
Benchmark Scores Benching is for bitches.
wait, really?

was the graphics simplified to achieve that level of smoothness?

That's the thing.......not at all. What I saw first hand reminded me of PC level graphics. Now If they had BF3 running on it I could give you much more of a description but what they did have running left me with a smile. It felt like a real console with awesome graphics. Not a watered down PC trying to act like a console.
 
Joined
Dec 2, 2009
Messages
3,351 (0.64/day)
System Name Dark Stealth
Processor Ryzen 5 5600x
Motherboard Gigabyte B450M Gaming rev 1.0
Cooling Snowman, arctic p12 x2 fans
Memory 16x2 DDR4 Corsair Dominator Pro
Video Card(s) 3080 10gb
Storage 2TB NVME PCIE 4.0 Crucial P3 Plus, 1TB Crucial MX500 SSD, 4TB WD RED HDD
Display(s) HP Omen 34c (34" monitor 3440x1440 165Hz VA panel)
Case Zalman S2
Power Supply Corsair 750TX
Mouse Logitech pro superlight, mx mouse s3, Razer Basiliskx with battery
Keyboard Custom mechanical keyboard tm680
Software Windows 11
Benchmark Scores 70-80 fps 3440x1440 on cyberpunk 2077 max settings
What is the gpu?

6370?
 
Joined
Sep 25, 2007
Messages
5,965 (0.99/day)
Location
New York
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 5950x, Ryzen 9 5980HX
Motherboard MSI X570 Tomahawk
Cooling Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 4(With Noctua Fans)
Memory 32Gb Crucial 3600 Ballistix
Video Card(s) Gigabyte RTX 3080, Asus 6800M
Storage Adata SX8200 1TB NVME/WD Black 1TB NVME
Display(s) Dell 27 Inch 165Hz
Case Phanteks P500A
Audio Device(s) IFI Zen Dac/JDS Labs Atom+/SMSL Amp+Rivers Audio
Power Supply Corsair RM850x
Mouse Logitech G502 SE Hero
Keyboard Corsair K70 RGB Mk.2
VR HMD Samsung Odyssey Plus
Software Windows 10
besided the rumors no one knows and we won't know anything until someone gets a clear shot of the actual cpu/gpu package, all nintendo has commented on is a IBM CPU and a AMD GPU thats all no real details though besides what we know from pictures, the GPU has 2GB of GDDR3 shared.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Mar 24, 2011
Messages
2,356 (0.50/day)
Location
VT
Processor Intel i7-10700k
Motherboard Gigabyte Aurorus Ultra z490
Cooling Corsair H100i RGB
Memory 32GB (4x8GB) Corsair Vengeance DDR4-3200MHz
Video Card(s) MSI Gaming Trio X 3070 LHR
Display(s) ASUS MG278Q / AOC G2590FX
Case Corsair X4000 iCue
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Corsair RM650x 650W Fully Modular
Software Windows 10
Link to source pls?
I just can't believe what you said. Nintendo confirmed backwards compatibility to Wii titles.

If only the Xbox CPU and Wii CPU were made by the same company largely using the same instruction sets. Maybe developed by a very large 100 year old company that's big and blue and all over the console industry.

I'm not saying it's the exact same hardware, only that it's very similar. It's not unreasonable to think a revised version of the Xenon could support a majority of the functionality that atrocious Wii CPU had. Worst case scenario, the thing was so weak they could probably just emulate anything it ran...
 
Joined
Aug 11, 2011
Messages
4,355 (0.94/day)
Location
Mexico
System Name Dell-y Driver
Processor Core i5-10400
Motherboard Asrock H410M-HVS
Cooling Intel 95w stock cooler
Memory 2x8 A-DATA 2999Mhz DDR4
Video Card(s) UHD 630
Storage 1TB WD Green M.2 - 4TB Seagate Barracuda
Display(s) Asus PA248 1920x1200 IPS
Case Dell Vostro 270S case
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Dell 220w
Software Windows 10 64bit
I think it has been mentioned several times that the Wii U CPU is a PowerPC variant which would mean Gekko again. I'd think it's a tri-core at least as it has been mentioned to be a "multi-core processor".
 

cdawall

where the hell are my stars
Joined
Jul 23, 2006
Messages
27,680 (4.29/day)
Location
Houston
System Name All the cores
Processor 2990WX
Motherboard Asrock X399M
Cooling CPU-XSPC RayStorm Neo, 2x240mm+360mm, D5PWM+140mL, GPU-2x360mm, 2xbyski, D4+D5+100mL
Memory 4x16GB G.Skill 3600
Video Card(s) (2) EVGA SC BLACK 1080Ti's
Storage 2x Samsung SM951 512GB, Samsung PM961 512GB
Display(s) Dell UP2414Q 3840X2160@60hz
Case Caselabs Mercury S5+pedestal
Audio Device(s) Fischer HA-02->Fischer FA-002W High edition/FA-003/Jubilate/FA-011 depending on my mood
Power Supply Seasonic Prime 1200w
Mouse Thermaltake Theron, Steam controller
Keyboard Keychron K8
Software W10P
AMD is going to sell VLIW4/VLIW5 patents/documentation/etc and the ATI name(and brand) for $1.5-$3b(not final price) if you don't know what I'm getting at.

I feel like you have been sniffing the stuff that came out of the will it blend mixer...particularly a blend of an Intel CPU and nVidia GPU.
 
Joined
May 14, 2009
Messages
2,132 (0.39/day)
Location
Chicago burbs
System Name Halloween Boo!
Processor Intel Core i7 3770K
Motherboard Gigabyte Z77-Up7
Cooling Custom Water/ Thermalchill TA 120.3/ Swiftech Apogeee XT/ MCP655/ Swiftech M icrores/ XSPC RX 240
Memory 16G G.Skill trident 2400MHz
Video Card(s) 3 x Radeon 7970
Storage OCZ Revo Drive 240G
Display(s) 24 inch Viewsonic
Case Phobia WayCoolIt Test Bench
Power Supply Nexus 1100 watt
The CPU division is paid for it is the GPU division stealing from the GPU division. If you have noticed everyone of importance has been booted out on the GPU side while the majority of CPU engineers and SoC engineers are still at AMD from 2007-2009. Most of the oldies from before 2001 from AMD and before 2006 from ATI are pretty much gone and have been replaced by younger engineers.

AMD is going to sell VLIW4/VLIW5 patents/documentation/etc and the ATI name(and brand) for $1.5-$3b(not final price) if you don't know what I'm getting at.

Who says the CPU division is paid for? :laugh:

AMD's net loss is not from just the GPU division.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Mar 24, 2011
Messages
2,356 (0.50/day)
Location
VT
Processor Intel i7-10700k
Motherboard Gigabyte Aurorus Ultra z490
Cooling Corsair H100i RGB
Memory 32GB (4x8GB) Corsair Vengeance DDR4-3200MHz
Video Card(s) MSI Gaming Trio X 3070 LHR
Display(s) ASUS MG278Q / AOC G2590FX
Case Corsair X4000 iCue
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Corsair RM650x 650W Fully Modular
Software Windows 10
I think it has been mentioned several times that the Wii U CPU is a PowerPC variant which would mean Gekko again. I'd think it's a tri-core at least as it has been mentioned to be a "multi-core processor".

The most detailed description the gave was "a high performance multi-core CPU made by IBM based on the PowerPC design". They also mentioned it would have a hefty amount of eDRAM, and that it shared some of the tech that went into IBM Watson (which is pretty god damn vague).
 
Joined
Feb 18, 2011
Messages
1,259 (0.26/day)
The most detailed description the gave was "a high performance multi-core CPU made by IBM based on the PowerPC design". They also mentioned it would have a hefty amount of eDRAM, and that it shared some of the tech that went into IBM Watson (which is pretty god damn vague).

It's probably something very cheap hardware, since they also have to give you the controller for the price, and consoles are not made for enthusiast, so only content matters and not the hardware. If Nintendo can convince third parties somehow to develop to the hardware, they will achieve their goal.
That being said, whatever slow the hardware is, this guy claims that his sister also playing with the same game on the controller screen while he plays 60fps@HD(1080i?) on the TV, which is probably an efficiency world record with a 30-40W-ish power draw.
 
Joined
Aug 11, 2011
Messages
4,355 (0.94/day)
Location
Mexico
System Name Dell-y Driver
Processor Core i5-10400
Motherboard Asrock H410M-HVS
Cooling Intel 95w stock cooler
Memory 2x8 A-DATA 2999Mhz DDR4
Video Card(s) UHD 630
Storage 1TB WD Green M.2 - 4TB Seagate Barracuda
Display(s) Asus PA248 1920x1200 IPS
Case Dell Vostro 270S case
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Dell 220w
Software Windows 10 64bit
Top