The XbOne Yard

BLackHawkodst

Since 6464 Days

Probably to stop leaks?, interesting.

In reply to

Prepare To Drop!!

Optimusv2

Since 7470 Days

There was apparently some other rumor that also mentioned the stripe patterns on the controllers and console before Kotaku ever did. They claim Durango has 2 APUs.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53376...

Sounds like bs. It doesn't make sense.

in other news, Gamestop talking about next Xbox.

Leading video games retailer GameStop saw its sales drop seven percent last year, and chief executive J. Paul Raines sees much of the decline attributable to the console cycle itself. With fewer games to sell, the impact is being felt on the used games side as well, but Raines told GamesIndustry International last week following the GameStop earnings call that he's very excited for next-gen, and he's especially eager for Microsoft to take the wraps off its next-gen Xbox.

"We've been spending a lot of time with Microsoft, but we have to let them take the lead on this, but it will be a very hot, compelling device. They are doing some really cool stuff, and I'm eager to hear them start their announcements because I think the world is going to stand up and take notice," Raines commented.

While some in the industry have a negative sentiment towards the console space overall and believe that next-gen consoles simply won't sell the same volume that we've seen in previous cycles, Raines remains optimistic.

"We don't subscribe to that. The cool thing with GameStop is, we've got a lot of gamers here and we've got a lot of people [on the team] who've seen every console cycle. And what's interesting to me - I was talking to one of our founders, Dan DeMatteo, and he was telling me every console cycle you get people who will say 'there will never be another console,' or 'what else can the consoles do?' And we just believe it's a cycle and we just haven't had a new product in so long. But we certainly don't believe that the new consoles won't be as exciting," he said, adding that the nearly 900,000 people who signed up for the "First to Know" list to hear more about the PS4, and the 34 percent of PowerUp Rewards members who expect to buy a PS4 in the next 12 months is proof of the buzz around new consoles. "There's a lot of demand for PS4, and I think there will be for the next Xbox as well, once it's announced."

http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&key=de2...

Very hot, RROD. :P

In reply to

There was apparently some other rumor that also mentioned the stripe patterns on the controllers and console before Kotaku ever did. They claim Durango has 2 APUs.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=533769

Sounds like bs. It doesn't make sense.

in other news, Gamestop talking about next Xbox.

[quote]Leading video games retailer GameStop saw its sales drop seven percent last year, and chief executive J. Paul Raines sees much of the decline attributable to the console cycle itself. With fewer games to sell, the impact is being felt on the used games side as well, but Raines told GamesIndustry International last week following the GameStop earnings call that he's very excited for next-gen, and he's especially eager for Microsoft to take the wraps off its next-gen Xbox.

"[b]We've been spending a lot of time with Microsoft, but we have to let them take the lead on this, but it will be a very hot, compelling device. They are doing some really cool stuff, and I'm eager to hear them start their announcements because I think the world is going to stand up and take notice[/b]," Raines commented.

While some in the industry have a negative sentiment towards the console space overall and believe that next-gen consoles simply won't sell the same volume that we've seen in previous cycles, Raines remains optimistic.

"We don't subscribe to that. The cool thing with GameStop is, we've got a lot of gamers here and we've got a lot of people [on the team] who've seen every console cycle. And what's interesting to me - I was talking to one of our founders, Dan DeMatteo, and he was telling me every console cycle you get people who will say 'there will never be another console,' or 'what else can the consoles do?' And we just believe it's a cycle and we just haven't had a new product in so long. But we certainly don't believe that the new consoles won't be as exciting," he said, adding that the nearly 900,000 people who signed up for the "First to Know" list to hear more about the PS4, and the 34 percent of PowerUp Rewards members who expect to buy a PS4 in the next 12 months is proof of the buzz around new consoles. "There's a lot of demand for PS4, and I think there will be for the next Xbox as well, once it's announced."

[/quote]

http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&key=de2ccb8ca8943c06669720e0a267a9f6&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.neogaf.com%2Fforum%2Fshowthread.php%3Ft%3D533712&v=1&libid=1364952451022&out=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gamesindustry.biz%2Farticles%2F2013-04-02-gamestop-next-xbox-will-be-a-very-hot-compelling-device&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.neogaf.com%2Fforum%2Fforumdisplay.php%3Ff%3D2&title=GameStop%20CEO%3A%20%22Been%20talking%20with%20MS%2C%20next%20Xbox%20a%20very%20hot%2C%20compelling%20device%22%20-%20NeoGAF&txt=Source&jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_13649536093702

Very hot, RROD. :P

Halo Reach using 360 tesselation unit extensively.

Hironobu Sakaguchi is coming back to reclaim the throne :)

Seeing it in motion on your HDTV, will blow your mind!!

Don't ask any questions just shut up and buy Halo : Ghosts of the Onyx one of th

GriftGFX

Since 7578 Days

Would be in line with the extremely early leaks.

In reply to

Optimusv2

Since 7470 Days

I had forgotten all about those rumors. I still find it rather hard to believe that Microsoft could keep something like this secret. Or maybe I guess they obviously didn't if we're talking about it now, but I can't imagine how that setup would work. No way would both be for gaming. One APU has to be the one we already know about through VGleaks, and if there's really a second one, I can only see it being for some kind of OS purpose. Maybe it has Windows 8 or something. The 3GB OS reservation might make some sense then.

In reply to

Halo Reach using 360 tesselation unit extensively.

Hironobu Sakaguchi is coming back to reclaim the throne :)

Seeing it in motion on your HDTV, will blow your mind!!

Don't ask any questions just shut up and buy Halo : Ghosts of the Onyx one of th

GriftGFX

Since 7578 Days

How hard is it to imagine when they already described it in a flowchart several months ago?

In reply to

Optimusv2

Since 7470 Days

That's true, they did. If this ends up accurate, that leaked document is lining up like a mofo.

In reply to

Halo Reach using 360 tesselation unit extensively.

Hironobu Sakaguchi is coming back to reclaim the throne :)

Seeing it in motion on your HDTV, will blow your mind!!

Don't ask any questions just shut up and buy Halo : Ghosts of the Onyx one of th

Optimusv2

Since 7470 Days

Seems to be confirmed a lie by the very person who made the comment?

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5246724...

Either he's just messing around because Kotaku went ahead and confirmed the controller and console striped patterns, drawing more attention to what he said, or he's actually serious about making that stuff about the dual APUs. I still find it odd that he might have been right about the way the controllers and console are designed though.

In reply to

Halo Reach using 360 tesselation unit extensively.

Hironobu Sakaguchi is coming back to reclaim the throne :)

Seeing it in motion on your HDTV, will blow your mind!!

Don't ask any questions just shut up and buy Halo : Ghosts of the Onyx one of th

sanex

Since 5765 Days

Posted by Optimusv2

"We've been spending a lot of time with Microsoft, but we have to let them take the lead on this, but it will be a very hot, compelling device. They are doing some really cool stuff, and I'm eager to hear them start their announcements because I think the world is going to stand up and take notice," Raines commented.

But May? so long away.

In reply to

Project_Night

Since 4822 Days

Posted by raina

Comapnies like EA, Ubisoft have already started making games for next gen including 720 I am sure. They have the tools with them by now. Even if decided to change the gpu now, it is too late now and probably will release next year then.

I'm agree with you.

In reply to

Please share or support my horror videogame "Project Night":
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/project-night/x/2716968
Thank you!

BLackHawkodst

Since 6464 Days

Posted by Optimusv2

There was apparently some other rumor that also mentioned the stripe patterns on the controllers and console before Kotaku ever did. They claim Durango has 2 APUs.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53376...

Sounds like bs. It doesn't make sense.

in other news, Gamestop talking about next Xbox.

Leading video games retailer GameStop saw its sales drop seven percent last year, and chief executive J. Paul Raines sees much of the decline attributable to the console cycle itself. With fewer games to sell, the impact is being felt on the used games side as well, but Raines told GamesIndustry International last week following the GameStop earnings call that he's very excited for next-gen, and he's especially eager for Microsoft to take the wraps off its next-gen Xbox.

"We've been spending a lot of time with Microsoft, but we have to let them take the lead on this, but it will be a very hot, compelling device. They are doing some really cool stuff, and I'm eager to hear them start their announcements because I think the world is going to stand up and take notice," Raines commented.

While some in the industry have a negative sentiment towards the console space overall and believe that next-gen consoles simply won't sell the same volume that we've seen in previous cycles, Raines remains optimistic.

"We don't subscribe to that. The cool thing with GameStop is, we've got a lot of gamers here and we've got a lot of people [on the team] who've seen every console cycle. And what's interesting to me - I was talking to one of our founders, Dan DeMatteo, and he was telling me every console cycle you get people who will say 'there will never be another console,' or 'what else can the consoles do?' And we just believe it's a cycle and we just haven't had a new product in so long. But we certainly don't believe that the new consoles won't be as exciting," he said, adding that the nearly 900,000 people who signed up for the "First to Know" list to hear more about the PS4, and the 34 percent of PowerUp Rewards members who expect to buy a PS4 in the next 12 months is proof of the buzz around new consoles. "There's a lot of demand for PS4, and I think there will be for the next Xbox as well, once it's announced."

http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&key=de2...

Very hot, RROD. :P

Sounds cool, i guess we will see soon enough how this all pans out.

In reply to

[quote=Optimusv2]There was apparently some other rumor that also mentioned the stripe patterns on the controllers and console before Kotaku ever did. They claim Durango has 2 APUs.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=533769

Sounds like bs. It doesn't make sense.

in other news, Gamestop talking about next Xbox.

[quote]Leading video games retailer GameStop saw its sales drop seven percent last year, and chief executive J. Paul Raines sees much of the decline attributable to the console cycle itself. With fewer games to sell, the impact is being felt on the used games side as well, but Raines told GamesIndustry International last week following the GameStop earnings call that he's very excited for next-gen, and he's especially eager for Microsoft to take the wraps off its next-gen Xbox.

"[b]We've been spending a lot of time with Microsoft, but we have to let them take the lead on this, but it will be a very hot, compelling device. They are doing some really cool stuff, and I'm eager to hear them start their announcements because I think the world is going to stand up and take notice[/b]," Raines commented.

While some in the industry have a negative sentiment towards the console space overall and believe that next-gen consoles simply won't sell the same volume that we've seen in previous cycles, Raines remains optimistic.

"We don't subscribe to that. The cool thing with GameStop is, we've got a lot of gamers here and we've got a lot of people [on the team] who've seen every console cycle. And what's interesting to me - I was talking to one of our founders, Dan DeMatteo, and he was telling me every console cycle you get people who will say 'there will never be another console,' or 'what else can the consoles do?' And we just believe it's a cycle and we just haven't had a new product in so long. But we certainly don't believe that the new consoles won't be as exciting," he said, adding that the nearly 900,000 people who signed up for the "First to Know" list to hear more about the PS4, and the 34 percent of PowerUp Rewards members who expect to buy a PS4 in the next 12 months is proof of the buzz around new consoles. "There's a lot of demand for PS4, and I think there will be for the next Xbox as well, once it's announced."

[/quote]

http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&key=de2ccb8ca8943c06669720e0a267a9f6&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.neogaf.com%2Fforum%2Fshowthread.php%3Ft%3D533712&v=1&libid=1364952451022&out=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gamesindustry.biz%2Farticles%2F2013-04-02-gamestop-next-xbox-will-be-a-very-hot-compelling-device&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.neogaf.com%2Fforum%2Fforumdisplay.php%3Ff%3D2&title=GameStop%20CEO%3A%20%22Been%20talking%20with%20MS%2C%20next%20Xbox%20a%20very%20hot%2C%20compelling%20device%22%20-%20NeoGAF&txt=Source&jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_13649536093702

Very hot, RROD. :P[/quote]

Sounds cool, i guess we will see soon enough how this all pans out.

Prepare To Drop!!

GrimThorne

Since 7450 Days

zebra stripped controllers.................get the fuck outta here.

In reply to

Frozpot

Since 7336 Days

I wonder if the stripes are there to make it hard to make out details for anyone taking a sneaky picture. Urban Camo?...

In reply to

Oooh, Profound, isn't it?

Isomac

Since 7345 Days

Do you need to have a gold account to use kinect?

In reply to

Hail to the king, baby!
Victory needs no explanation, defeat allows none.

GriftGFX

Since 7578 Days

Posted by Frozpot

I wonder if the stripes are there to make it hard to make out details for anyone taking a sneaky picture. Urban Camo?...

Hardly unheard of. I guess no one here follows cars?

In reply to

Optimusv2

Since 7470 Days

Yep, those striped designs are used regularly to hide the form factors of brand new vehicles.

Posted by Isomac

Do you need to have a gold account to use kinect?

LOL. I don't why this made me laugh so much, but I'm absolutely losing it at my computer right now. I don't think so, but it sure sounds like something they'd be crazy enough to do.

In reply to

Halo Reach using 360 tesselation unit extensively.

Hironobu Sakaguchi is coming back to reclaim the throne :)

Seeing it in motion on your HDTV, will blow your mind!!

Don't ask any questions just shut up and buy Halo : Ghosts of the Onyx one of th

Isomac

Since 7345 Days

:D

Would be pretty weird to see it in some Powerpoint slide.

In reply to

Hail to the king, baby!
Victory needs no explanation, defeat allows none.

GrimThorne

Since 7450 Days

Posted by raina

Exactly. 720 specs, dev kit and other details about Kinect 2, these rumours are already leaked. Comapnies like EA, Ubisoft have already started making games for next gen including 720 I am sure. They have the tools with them by now. Even if decided to change the gpu now, it is too late now and probably will release next year then.

Posted by Optimusv2

No chance they change the GPU. Looking at the specs, you really see just how much thought went into the overall design and how carefully it was balanced. I find it incredibly hard to believe anything outside of a clock speed increase on the GPU, and even that may not happen. I think the specs are pretty good as is. Their only goal was to provide developers with enough power to build incredible games. Microsoft is pretty confident they did that. The games will tell us if they're right.

I understand what you both are saying, but I'm still waiting for final silicone. Until I see it, those specs are just targeted goals that (given what's in the dev kits) were very likely already surpassed. And lets be honest for a moment, they ARE NOT technical schematics, they're presentation/overview documents. VGleaks has created their OWN extrapolation on an incomplete text. And I encourage anyone to take a look at the Durango white papers if you still can find a source for it, just 20 pages, nothing even close to the depth of documentation that existed for Xenos and Xenon. Microsoft provided developers with HUNDREDS of pages on those processors. Microsoft also shared documentation with developers on what would be the evolution of the console as it got smaller, die-shrunk etc, they even shared data on stress tests on the processors.

With Durango? NOTHING. Nothing is mentioned at all.

What's even more curious is that on those documents that VGLeaks NOW CLAIMS are current/2013..............the GPU and CPU still don't have NAMES. Isn't that a little strange, especially if they're claiming their information as current? By this time in 05 many of us already knew the names Xenos and Xenon.

And I'm not interested in shooting the messenger here, VGleaks did the best with what they have................20 pages of incomplete text. This is also the reason behind so many B3D discussions being reduced to, "IF Durango is this" and "IF Durango is that" In my opinion, in their enthusiasm to validate the leaked specs, they actually shot holes in the extrapolation. It's debatable now whether Durango is capable of pulling off the display planes, and all of it's other simultaneous multitasking, DVR, multiple game modes, streaming to multiple devices like controllers, tablets, phones and then appropriate system resources for Kinect's functions and tracking 6 in a room at once.

Durango DOES NOT have that kind of muscle by itself.

I myself have sent several requests to VGleaks trying to get them to confirm a few things, I haven't gotten a response. And they don't have a forum so they don't encourage debate of their extrapolation. I'm sure there are legal reasons for that, the documents in question are after all Microsoft's property and they were obtained illegally. So I guess I understand that.

But only final silicone and a detailed schematical diagram will settle this. I'll let everyone else cling to their 20 pages.

In reply to

[quote=raina]

Exactly. 720 specs, dev kit and other details about Kinect 2, these rumours are already leaked. Comapnies like EA, Ubisoft have already started making  games for next gen including 720 I am sure. They have the tools with them by now. Even if decided to change the gpu now, it is too late now and probably will release next year then.[/quote]

[quote=Optimusv2]No chance they change the GPU. Looking at the specs, you really see just how much thought went into the overall design and how carefully it was balanced. I find it incredibly hard to believe anything outside of a clock speed increase on the GPU, and even that may not happen. I think the specs are pretty good as is. Their only goal was to provide developers with enough power to build incredible games. Microsoft is pretty confident they did that. The games will tell us if they're right.[/quote]

I understand what you both are saying, but I'm still waiting for final silicone. Until I see it, those specs are just targeted goals that (given what's in the dev kits) were very likely already surpassed.   And lets be honest for a moment, they ARE NOT technical schematics, they're presentation/overview documents. VGleaks has created their OWN extrapolation on an incomplete text.  And I encourage anyone to take a look at the Durango white papers if you still can find a source for it, just 20 pages,  nothing even close to the depth of documentation that existed for Xenos and Xenon. Microsoft provided developers with HUNDREDS of pages on those processors.  Microsoft also shared documentation with developers on what would be the evolution of the console as it got smaller, die-shrunk etc, they even shared data on stress tests on the processors.

With Durango?  NOTHING.  Nothing is mentioned at all.

What's even more curious is that on those documents that VGLeaks NOW CLAIMS are current/2013..............the GPU and CPU still don't have NAMES.  Isn't that a little strange, especially if they're claiming their information as current?  By this time in 05 many of us already knew the names Xenos and Xenon.

And I'm not interested in shooting the messenger here, VGleaks did the best with what they have................20 pages of incomplete text.  This is also the reason behind so many B3D discussions being reduced to, "IF Durango is this" and "IF Durango is that"  In my opinion, in their enthusiasm to validate the leaked specs, they actually shot holes in the extrapolation.  It's debatable now whether Durango is capable of pulling off the display planes, and all of it's other simultaneous multitasking, DVR, multiple game modes, streaming to multiple devices like controllers, tablets, phones and then appropriate system resources for Kinect's functions and tracking 6 in a room at once.

Durango DOES NOT have that kind of muscle by itself.

I myself have sent several requests to VGleaks trying to get them to confirm a few things, I haven't gotten a response.  And they don't have a forum so they don't encourage debate of their extrapolation.  I'm sure there are legal reasons for that, the documents in question are after all Microsoft's property and they were obtained illegally.  So I guess I understand that.

But only final silicone and a detailed schematical diagram will settle this.   I'll let everyone else cling to their 20 pages.

Optimusv2

Since 7470 Days

I have something that's more around 35 pages. Is there something other than that?

In reply to

Halo Reach using 360 tesselation unit extensively.

Hironobu Sakaguchi is coming back to reclaim the throne :)

Seeing it in motion on your HDTV, will blow your mind!!

Don't ask any questions just shut up and buy Halo : Ghosts of the Onyx one of th

GrimThorne

Since 7450 Days

Posted by Optimusv2

I have something that's more around 35 pages. Is there something other than that?

Well admittedly you've got more pages then I do. lol It's still not enough though, not for a major piece of hardware like this. And there's just too many unanswered questions.

I suspect some people are going to be driving themselves nuts over the next 2 months, chasing every lead and link that pops up. There are now sites reporting that Kinect won't be standard with every console, even more say used games won't be blocked. Just two weeks ago everyone was sure those two bits were solid and factual. lol. Even I've got a theory, but I'm still looking for some specifics.

It's going to be a long two months.

In reply to

Optimusv2

Since 7470 Days

If Kinect isn't standard with every console, then I think Microsoft could be making a huge mistake. If they're doing Kinect at all, which we know they are, they can't do it halfway. On the used games part, it doesn't bother me so much, but if I have a choice, then, of course, I would prefer for the new Xbox to not block used games, because then I could lend friends my games.

In reply to

Halo Reach using 360 tesselation unit extensively.

Hironobu Sakaguchi is coming back to reclaim the throne :)

Seeing it in motion on your HDTV, will blow your mind!!

Don't ask any questions just shut up and buy Halo : Ghosts of the Onyx one of th

GrimThorne

Since 7450 Days

Posted by Optimusv2

If Kinect isn't standard with every console, then I think Microsoft could be making a huge mistake. If they're doing Kinect at all, which we know they are, they can't do it halfway. On the used games part, it doesn't bother me so much, but if I have a choice, then, of course, I would prefer for the new Xbox to not block used games, because then I could lend friends my games.

Agreed, splitting up Kinect from the main hardware would be counter to their strategy, they REALLY want everyone to dig Kinect. Even core gamers it seems.

My doubts about Durango are coming (ironically) from the more good things I hear being discussed about it. The display planes and the possibilities of opening up parallel processing and virtual architecture are all very intriguing. And I've got some faith in Microsoft's ability to innovate, but nobody has magic silicone here. Those kinds of processes are going to be very resource intensive. Microsoft's first patent for it's next gen console and the Yukon document made display planes believable because there were two APUs in both of those specs. Microsoft was even touting scalable hardware, that made the ray tracing patents believable. But Durango? By itself, the way it's presented now? Not so believable.

Something has to happen with regards to these specs or I predict Durango will throw hiccups at most of these processing calls, AND someone thinks it's good idea to throw a modified version of Windows 8 on this machine as well? That's alot of tasks for this console. So understand what I'm getting at here, Microsoft wants this console to where numerous hats but it's head just isn't big enough for all of them. So despite the things that are impressing me the most, I recognize that somethings WILL suffer because of all of this multitasking/multifunctioning.

Ever hear the phrase, "jack of all trades, master of none?"

In reply to

[quote=Optimusv2]If Kinect isn't standard with every console, then I think Microsoft could be making a huge mistake. If they're doing Kinect at all, which we know they are, they can't do it halfway. On the used games part, it doesn't bother me so much, but if I have a choice, then, of course, I would prefer for the new Xbox to not block used games, because then I could lend friends my games.[/quote]

Agreed, splitting up Kinect from the main hardware would be counter to their strategy, they REALLY want everyone to dig Kinect.  Even core gamers it seems.

My doubts about Durango are coming (ironically) from the more good things I hear being discussed about it.  The display planes and the possibilities of opening up parallel processing and virtual architecture are all very intriguing.  And I've got some faith in Microsoft's ability to innovate, but nobody has magic silicone here.  Those kinds of processes are going to be very resource intensive.  Microsoft's first patent for it's next gen console and the Yukon document made display planes believable because there were two APUs in both of those specs.  Microsoft was even touting scalable hardware, that made the ray tracing patents believable.  But Durango? By itself, the way it's presented now?  Not so believable.

Something has to happen with regards to these specs or I predict Durango will throw hiccups at most of these processing calls, AND someone thinks it's good idea to throw a modified version of Windows 8 on this machine as well?  That's alot of tasks for this console.  So understand what I'm getting at here, Microsoft wants this console to where numerous hats but it's head just isn't big enough for all of them.  So despite the things that are impressing me the most, I recognize that somethings WILL suffer because of all of this multitasking/multifunctioning.

Ever hear the phrase, "jack of all trades, master of none?"

Optimusv2

Since 7470 Days

Believe it or not, the Durango specs, as they currently are, strike me as more than capable of handling all of these different things, particularly the display planes. The bandwidth and performance required really does seem to pan out pretty effectively. We're dealing with a pretty capable and efficient CPU for one. Also, if there's any truth at all to that 3GB OS reservation, then I would say that increases Durango's ability to do all the various things that Microsoft appears to want it to do. And, funny enough, I imagine their going with DDR3 may turn out to be a benefit to these kinds of more computer like processes.

What makes it further more believable for me is how the 102GB/s from the ESRAM is reserved solely for the GPU. It doesn't need to share anything with the CPU, so you sorta see a situation where the display planes will always have the necessary resources that they require. The versatility of the display planes also leads me to believe that there's plenty enough power.

Different frame rates, different resolutions, and that's not the only way they can be different.

They can have different resolutions.

They can have different precisions (bits per channel) and formats (float or fixed).
They can have different color spaces (RGB or YCbCr, linear or sRGB).

The GPU does not require that all three display planes be updated at the same frequency. For instance, the title might decide to render the world at 60 Hz and the UI at 30 Hz, or vice-versa. The hardware also does not require the display planes to be the same size from one frame to the next.

The system reserves the top display plane for itself, which effectively decouples system rendering from title rendering. This decoupling removes certain output constraints that exist on the Xbox 360. For example, on Durango the system can update at a steady frame rate even when the title does not. The system can also render at a lower or higher resolution than the title, or with different color settings.

The display planes can also be used in a way that can reduce memory and bandwidth consumption.

Each display plane can consist of up to four image rectangles, covering different parts of the screen. The use of multiple screen rectangles can reduce memory and bandwidth consumption when a layer contains blank or occluded areas.

If it all works like Microsoft seems to be describing it, then the display planes have a level of independence that is not able to be properly appreciated right now. They really seem convinced that a game with choppy framerate will have no impact on system rendering of the console's OS, which certainly wasn't the case on the Xbox 360. It sounds like the display planes will play a key role in making the Durango look extremely fast during multi-tasking scenarios. And, funny enough, as it relates to the system's OS, DDR3 is actually a plus because of latency, and DDR3 2133 isn't too shabby at all.

In reply to

Believe it or not, the Durango specs, as they currently are, strike me as more than capable of handling all of these different things, particularly the display planes. The bandwidth and performance required really does seem to pan out pretty effectively. We're dealing with a pretty capable and efficient CPU for one. Also, if there's any truth at all to that 3GB OS reservation, then I would say that increases Durango's ability to do all the various things that Microsoft appears to want it to do. And, funny enough, I imagine their going with DDR3 may turn out to be a benefit to these kinds of more computer like processes.

What makes it further more believable for me is how the 102GB/s from the ESRAM is reserved solely for the GPU. It doesn't need to share anything with the CPU, so you sorta see a situation where the display planes will always have the necessary resources that they require. The versatility of the display planes also leads me to believe that there's plenty enough power.

Different frame rates, different resolutions, and that's not the only way they can be different.

[quote]	They can have different resolutions.

They can have different precisions (bits per channel) and formats (float or fixed).
	They can have different color spaces (RGB or YCbCr, linear or sRGB).

The GPU does not require that all three display planes be updated at the same frequency. For instance, the title might decide to render the world at 60 Hz and the UI at 30 Hz, or vice-versa. The hardware also does not require the display planes to be the same size from one frame to the next.

The system reserves the top display plane for itself, which effectively decouples system rendering from title rendering. This decoupling removes certain output constraints that exist on the Xbox 360. For example, on Durango the system can update at a steady frame rate even when the title does not. The system can also render at a lower or higher resolution than the title, or with different color settings.[/quote]

The display planes can also be used in a way that can reduce memory and bandwidth consumption.

[quote]Each display plane can consist of up to four image rectangles, covering different parts of the screen. The use of multiple screen rectangles can reduce memory and bandwidth consumption when a layer contains blank or occluded areas.[/quote] If it all works like Microsoft seems to be describing it, then the display planes have a level of independence that is not able to be properly appreciated right now. They really seem convinced that a game with choppy framerate will have no impact on system rendering of the console's OS, which certainly wasn't the case on the Xbox 360. It sounds like the display planes will play a key role in making the Durango look extremely fast during multi-tasking scenarios. And, funny enough, as it relates to the system's OS, DDR3 is actually a plus because of latency, and DDR3 2133 isn't too shabby at all.

Halo Reach using 360 tesselation unit extensively.

Hironobu Sakaguchi is coming back to reclaim the throne :)

Seeing it in motion on your HDTV, will blow your mind!!

Don't ask any questions just shut up and buy Halo : Ghosts of the Onyx one of th

Phaethon360

Since 7423 Days

Optimus and I are beginning talks on the validity of his claims.

In reply to

Optimusv2

Since 7470 Days

Posted by Phaethon360

Optimus and I are beginning talks on the validity of his claims.

In reply to

Halo Reach using 360 tesselation unit extensively.

Hironobu Sakaguchi is coming back to reclaim the throne :)

Seeing it in motion on your HDTV, will blow your mind!!

Don't ask any questions just shut up and buy Halo : Ghosts of the Onyx one of th

Tomarru

Since 6649 Days

Grim is thinking along the same lines I am. There are THAT many rumours that absolutely cripple the leaked specs claim at being a next gen console. 3GB ram lost, DX11.1+, windows 8, simultaneous DVR, kinect 2, 3 display planes. Imagine you are using the machine with everything going, DVR is running writing to the HDD, kinect game is running off the HDD (everything is installed) you would be getting performance from the machine closer to the 360 than anything else. PS4 has a separate ARM chip to handle it's video encoding etc but theres nothing in the leaks that show anything specifically in place in durango to handle all these simultaneous tasks.
Sure, there are leaks that are probably not true but they all stem from the same document so either they are all valid or they are all nonsense.

As for kinect being bundled, it will be. Sony is bundling a camera so microsoft will. It's as simple as that. You will get a HDD, a controller, a headset and a camera with every console.

In reply to

Deer & Boy

Rhythm Heaven Groove

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced

Our PC video of NBA The Run

A new Nintendo Direct

Xbox Games Showcase + Gears of War E-Day Direct