Ultra 64 Hardware Specifications. [[*]SGI Index Page] [[*]Ultra 64 Index] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nintendo Ultra 64 Hardware Specs List Obviously, the specs of the NU64 are what many people are interested in, but Nintendo have not yet released very many officially confirmed specs. The PR Manager for the Nintendo Ultra 64 at Nintendo told me that they would be making some announcements during the E3 Conference, but in the event very little was said because of the delay in the release date. The PR Manager has told me since that the NU64 will be unveiled, "...at the Shoshinki Show in Japan over the Thanksgiving weekend (November 23).". It's pretty easy to find rumour, hearsay and speculation as to what the NU64 will be able to do, but at the end of the day the magazines can quote very few finalised and confirmed facts. My main complaint is that many magazines print far too much complete rubbish; sometimes it's under-hype and sometimes it's over-hype. As a result, this page has confirmed hardware specifications only (I used to have an 'unconfirmed specs' section, but I decided to remove this). In other words, what I will have here are specs which are all direct from Nintendo and/or SGI sources. What I have added is a section designed to dispell some myths which have been printed in various magazines, on the grounds that over- hype is probably worse than under-hype in the long-term. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Confirmed Hardware Specifications -=- [PREFORMATTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Approximate System Power: Reality Engine quality. (source: George Zachary of SGI. See his quote in the [*]New Scientist article from the [*]articles page). Main Controller Processor: 64 bit MIPS RISC CPU (probably the [*]R4300i but this isn't known for sure. Iam sure it isn't the R4200). 100 MHz (minimum) 100 MIPS My main reason for believing the controller to be the R4300i is the following extract from the R4300i home page: "The MIPS R4300i microprocessor extends the benefits of RISC's performance to consumer electronics. The R4300i microprocessor also delivers high performance to existing embedded and computing applications at a low cost. The low cost and high performance provided by the R4300i are needed for the latest consumer applications such as interactive television and games." Graphics Processor: 100 MFLOPS? (source: Nintendo magazine) Iam waiting to see if www.nintendo.com will provide a complete spec list. Nothing so far though, which is daft. If they're not going to say anything until November, then their specs page should be removed. Graphics Hardware Features: Load Management, Tri Linear MIPmapped Interpolation, Anti-Aliasing. ([*]here is an explanation of these terms) System BUS: Speed: 500MHz Bandwidth: 500MB/second transfer rate. Colour: 24 bit, 16.8 million Audio: CD quality Supported Resolutions: PAL (European TV Standard: 768x576), NTSC (USA TV Standard: 645x486), SVGA (1024x768). (HDTV resolutions are suspected, but are as yet unconfirmed and unlikely) Silicon Cartridge ROM size: From: 32 megabits (4MB) To: 800 megabits (100MB) Silicon Cartridge: Access Time: 2 million times faster than a CDROM drive. Bandwidth: 30MB/sec transfer rate (I previously said 500MB per sec but I now think this is wrong. At least, I'll leave it at 30MB/sec until I can find again whatever piece of info it was that made me think it was 500MB/sec). System Cost: US Retail Price of below $250. Cartridge Cost: $50 upwards. -=- [PREFORMATTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 'Edge' magazine said the controller processor was clocked at 105.58MHz. From the above data, it seems very likely that the processor is the [*]R4300i, made by [*]MIPS Technologies, a subsidiary of [*]Silicon Graphics Inc [[*]Euro-mirror]. However, no one knows for sure yet whether this is the case. See below for my reasons as to why I think the main controller is not the R4200. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- More info as I get it. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myths, Rumours and Chinese Whispers... Yep, the magazines have been having a field day! Never have I seen so much unconfirmed guesswork and rubbish in all my life. Here I will dispell some of the untrue things which have been said about the Ultra 64. -=- [PREFORMATTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- NextGen, Audio Visuality and Edge said the U64's textured-polygon rate is 100000/sec! That ain't much. -=- [PREFORMATTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Well, after much badgering and hassling of people at SGI, I still can't get any reliable statement on this figure. George Zachary's New Scientist quote implied a figure of 600000/sec, but I have been told by several people involved with the NU64 that it is not as high as this (though it is higher than 100000/sec), which is a shame to say the least as this means that (I have to say) George's quote in the New Scientist article is misleading. Overall, George would not give any precise details because he is not allowed to, but here is what he did say: -=- [PREFORMATTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "There is a HUGE difference in the realism between "over 100,000 real-time, anti-aliased, tri-linear mip-mapped interpolated, gouraud-shaded, perspective-correct, z-buffered, lit, blended [and the rest of the poly features] polygons" and Sony's 360K quote. They compare absolutely different numbers." -=- [PREFORMATTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- and: -=- [PREFORMATTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "If you look at NU64 press release back in 1993, we stated over 100,000 full featured polygons per second. Not 100,000 exactly. But at least 100,000." -=- [PREFORMATTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- George said that full details would be released when the NU64 is unveiled in Japan on November 23rd. It's too long a time to wait, IMHO. However, since the 3DOMk2 (the NU64's main rival) will not be out until 1996 as well, at least the public will have an opportunity to judge properly beforehand. I still say that there should be a full disclosure now though because the M2 is looking very good at the moment. How can I rant and rave on rec.games.video.advocacy without full specs? :D More info as I get it. -=- [PREFORMATTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Edge (and others) said the controller is an R4200. -=- [PREFORMATTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The U64's main controller is very unlikely to be the R4200; the target market of the R4200 is portable notebooks and low-cost desktop systems - a very different target market to the R4300i (see above). Further, if there was a 105MHz R4200 in existence, I would have thought that the [*]relevant page at MIPS Technologies would have mentioned it by now. :) I must emphasise again, however, the no official info has yet been released as to what the NU64's main controller actually is, so don't go believing the magazines' info as if it's fact, because it isn't. I currently believe that it's the R4300i because that is the most likely candidate based upon the info given at the [*]R4300i Home Page as well as the fact that the oft-quoted 100MHz clock speed matches that of the R4300i. -=- [PREFORMATTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- NextGen and GameFan said it will have 64bit sound! -=- [PREFORMATTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- This is complete rubbish. There is no such thing as 64bit sound. The best that exists is 20bit which is used in recording studios. The human ear cannot detect better than this. Some people have emailed me saying that mags actually said it would have a 64bit sound chip. This would be fine, but I am going by what I see in terms of rumour and hype on the newsgroups and several people definitely quoted mags as saying that the NU64 has 64bit sound which is a very silly statement for a mag to make. I've been told that EGM says this in it's June issue. -=- [PREFORMATTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- NextGen said the U64 will have 64 sound channels. -=- [PREFORMATTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- This depends on what they mean by sound channels. If they mean physical output channels, then no way can 64 be correct as 7 are needed at most for good surround-sound, 2 for standard stereo. If they mean internal mixable channels (voices), then maybe, but I'll be surprised if it's as high as 64. Mind you, the PlayStation has 24 channels and the Saturn has 32, so maybe 64 channels for the U64 is correct. We'll see. -=- [PREFORMATTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- NextGen said it can do real-time ray tracing! -=- [PREFORMATTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- This statement is wrong mainly because it's meaningless. Ray-tracing is a technique which relies heavily on raw floating point computing power. It is not something which the U64 is designed to do (the U64, just like the other new consoles, excels at [*]hardware texture mapping). 'real-time ray tracing' is also meaningless because any machine can do 'real-time' ray-tracing (eg. my old 8 bit, 4MHz, 64K RAM, BBC Micro model B can do real-time ray-tracing... in a 4 by 4 pixel window using only two colours!). See what I mean? The compuational work needed for ray-tracing varies greatly with the desired level of detail and complexity (eg. number of depth levels). To give you some idea: my colleague at work renders many ray traced images every week for his PhD related sonar work. On the 486DX33 PC in the lab here, a 640x480 image at a moderate level of detail takes several hours to render. On the Sun Sparc 4 which he uses most of the time, it takes some 35 minutes. On the 134MHz 64MB RAM SGI Indy I use it takes about 3 to 5 minutes depending on whether I'm using the machine at the same time or not. In other words, there's just no way that the NU64, or any of the consoles, will be able to do high quality (eg. Babylon 5) 'real-time ray-tracing'. You need something like an [*]SGI Power Challenge [[*]Euro-mirror] to do that. -=- [PREFORMATTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- NextGen said the Reality Immersion Co-processor goes at 80MHz. -=- [PREFORMATTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- This is completely unconfirmed. As I write this, SGI have released no precise specs on the R.I. chip at all. The same goes for the DSP. We will just have to wait and see. -=- [PREFORMATTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- NextGen said the NU64 would be able to output at 1200x1200! -=- [PREFORMATTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- This is a very peculiar figure and one which I find very unlikely (if only because 1200x1200 is a square 1:1 ratio and will not fit correctly onto any future/existing TV/monitor). I regret to say that EGM has now apparently used this figure as well (probably nicked it from NextGen. *sigh*). It is known that the NU64 can output in 1024x768 SVGA, and that it supports PAL (770x576 European TV standard) and NTSC (645x486 USA TV standard), but nothing is currently known about support for HDTV- quality resolutions. There are three HDTV standards: 1920x1035, 1920x1152 and 1600x1200. It is not currently known whether the NU64 will be able to output any of these resolutions (all the [*]SGI article actually says is that the console will ensure 'future compatibility with HDTV'. ie. it doesn't explicity say that the machine can output in either HDTV standard; ie. we don't know whether the HDTV output will just be the 1024x768 output scaled to fit, or genuine HDTV output). The high-res TV standard of 1600x1200 is very new, so I would be surprised if the NU64 supports that since there are so few TV's and monitors in existence which can display it. Basically, I'm trying to point out that, as far as high-res modes go, we just don't know yet for sure. SVGA yes. HDTV? I doubt it, but wait and see. Incidentally, I've seen a lot of posts on the rgv* groups (mostly from people in the USA) saying that HDTV resolutions are pointless because most TVs can't display more than 400 lines. To this I would respond with these points: - this 400 line figure refers to the US NTSC TV Standard of 645x486. This format is, as far as I know, the smallest anywhere. There are several TV standards around the world (NTSC, PAL, HDMAC, HDTV, SECAM). - in Japan, HDTV is very common indeed and laserdisc is practically standard there (as opposed to VHS elsewhere). The NU64 is a Japanese product first and foremost. - HDTV is now becoming quite common in parts of Europe (the EEC is currently running its '16:9 Programme') and HDTV sets have come down in price quite sharply in the last 2 years in the UK alone (from $3000 to $1200. Still too much, but until there are digital HDTV channels and/or laserdisc become even cheaper, the prices will remain high); laserdiscs have come down in price quite a lot too. - one way of gently forcing nations into better TV standards is by creating a demand for them. If the public start owning game consoles that can output in SVGA and upwards, the public are going to start wanting HDTV. Good thing too, IMHO. :) -=- [PREFORMATTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- NextGen said the U64 has a 64bit RISC data path! -=- [PREFORMATTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- A data path is just a data path and has nothing to do with RISC, CISC or CRISC at all. Too many mags spout figures and words without even knowing what they mean (Audio Visuality provides a good example; in their January 1995 issue they state that MFLOPS stands for 'millions of floating points per second'. Argh!). -=- [PREFORMATTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Iheard that the U64 will come ready-boxed with a snazzy UNIX Operating System and a 200MB hard drive! -=- [PREFORMATTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The part about the operating system is is complete and utter rubbish. The NU64 doesn't even have an operating system (see the [*]New Scientist article for more info). As for the harddrive, I would be very surprised if this were true. I'd have thought it more likely that flash memory cards would be used for position-saving, etc., although New Scientist reports that Nintendo is developing a 1.2GB writable CD system for the NU64, to be made available in 1997 (ie. not available at launch). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- More rumours, mis-information and total tosh dispelled as I see it! :) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [[*]SGI Index Page] [[*]Ultra 64 Index] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- HTMLCon Conversion Statistics and Information --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total bytes processed .......... 15726 Total lines processed .......... 351 Total links processed .......... 19 Total images processed ......... 0 Total strings replaced ......... 0 Total filters used ............. 0 Were references preserved ...... 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