Wii U has 3GHz quad core CPU, 768 MB of RAM

According to a new rumor, a Japanese developer reveals that the Wii U CPU is very similar to the Xbox 360 chip (albeit with 4 cores), and that the system has 768MB of RAM.

[BioWareShocker]

I hope it's significantly more powerful than a 360 and not some 7 year old hardware when it comes out.

[blaaah]

3GHZ quad core looks freaking amazing! And the final version will have 1GB RAM so that's pretty awesome too!!

Next-Gen confirmed.

[fluffydelusions]

How is that amount of RAM awesome? It's nearly 2012. Even a cheapo laptop has 4gb.

[Grip]

wow u overpowered a 6 years old with 256M and now its 768.. oh wait! my cellphone have 1GB ram!!!!!!!!!

[adamant715]

I believe Ram in consoles are different than in PC's..

Pc's = Huge amount of multitasking and services being used.

Consoles= Less services, and developers are usually able to maximize the ability of even a small amount of RAM through a good engine.

[JsonHenry]

Pfft. My cell phone has 1gig of RAM. The video card alone in my PC, an HD5870 is pushing 2 years old, has 1gig of RAM.

Obviously the efficiency of the CPU means more than the hertz it runs at so that is up in the air. But even at 1gig of RAM that is LAME. EXTREAMLY WEAK. Especially for a "next gen" console.

@ Shackdaddy - yes, but 1gig shared with a video card is still extremely low, even for a console. Remember, the previous generation had 512 (+ 10megs EDRAM for the Xbox) any the previous xbox before it only had a paltry 64megs. So Ninetendo, if this is true, is making one of the smallest leaps in RAM capacity in the history of console gaming. It won't end well for them launching at the same time frame as the xbox and the new playstation. Especially since both other systems have their own motion controls.

[Shackdaddy836]

@fluffy, Grip & Jason - Like adamant said, consoles are different than PCs. They don't require nearly as much RAM.

Plus, we are talking about edram which is amazing. 360 has about 10.5 MB total of edram.

[slayorofgods]

@adamant715

The amount of ram ignores the 64bit revolution.

768mb will give about the same gaming performance as a 2Gb 32bit computer. That is giving that a little over 1 gb of ram is needed for other pc functions.

As of now most pc games prefer 4Gb of ram (on a 64bit OS) and that gives the wii u a 2Gb disadvantage.

Companies need to stop ignoring the 64 bit revolution, it is becoming more and more the present.

[Frankfurt]

Console RAM is also a LOT more expensive than PC RAM.

[STONEY4]

RAM is so retardedly cheap right now that 768 MB is crazy low. 4GB sells for around $30. Seriously.

RAM speed also isn't gonna help when you're loading over 1GB of assets and high-res textures at once. Looks like more development cost and time wasted on optimization.

[nveenio]

People...the only thing "next gen" about WiiU is the interface. The hardware is current-gen console at best. Nintendo is simply playing catchup with the hardcore crowd... It's not setting a new bar. Remember, they want their console as cheap as possible. It will contain decent mobile tech--maybe rival or outdo the Vita. It's not going to be something we all trash our PS3 for.

[gaffyh]

@Frankfurt - It's the same thing except rather than being produced in a module, it's soldered on the board. So the cost will not be that different to normal RAM, production cost will be the same, especially if it is outsourced.

On topic- It'll probably be able to compete very well with PS3/360 in terms of graphics, but it will nowhere near next-gen quality.

[Intentions]

@fluffy

Comps don't even use close to 4 gigs anyway.

[darthv72]

consoles use their resources far differently than a PC. So for example, why is it that a console with 512mb of RAM can effectively play the same game that a multicore PC can with dedicated video RAM of 512+ and pc RAM in excess of 1gb+?

There isnt the big overhead of the OS and other processes running in the background. I would think the Wii-U would have a 'minimum' of 1gb for RAM.

It could very well have 768 mb of "Video" ram from the rumors. Or it could be the amount of RAM in the handheld unit not the system itself.

[Pandamobile]

The hell are you talking about, Intentions?

[ChickeyCantor]

"How is that amount of RAM awesome? It's nearly 2012. Even a cheapo laptop has 4gb."

It's also important how it's accessed and how big the bandwidth is.
If it is embedded then developers have "awesome" ram at their hands.

[saladthieves]

Quad core processor running at 3GHz is a good move. However the let down is the RAM. 768 MB...seriously?? I expected nothing less than 1GB. Heck, 4GB would be awesome. There's no excuse. Memory is not expensive as it used to be say in 2006.

[gamingdroid]

Although the amount is NOT huge, the performance increase is enormous.

However, hasn't Nintendo learned anything from Sony? The reason the PS3 is suffering is because it opted for high performance memory, but it is limited to 512MB split in two. This means maximum for VRAM is only 256MB and games are suffering because of that.

Just take a quick look at Rage, and you see constant pop-ins that don't affect the Xbox 360 nearly as much.

Flexible shared RAM in a constrained environment is good, but the bottleneck here isn't performance, it's in the storage size.

I think 1GB should be minimum, but maybe 1080p doesn't require as much.

eDRAM though is insanely expensive and that is why the Xbox 360 only hasa little over 10 MBs... even 7 years later.

Don't mistake eDRAM for the cheap PC RAM you get in store.

[kaveti6616]

"Console RAM is also a LOT more expensive than PC RAM."

I had a response to this from a previous thread and forgive me for repeating it.

"Right, because we all know console RAM grows on unicorns."

[ProjectVulcan]

I do admit that 768mb of memory is not really what i expected, i expected more, at least 1GB. Even if it has a lot of bandwidth like it would with this rumoured setup, its not really impressive. When every decent graphics card ships with 1Gb these days i would expect Wii U to ship with at least twice as much memory as PS3/360. Memory performance with IBM's latest eDRAM technology would be good but still limiting for a games console.

I notice that THE key part, the GPU, is still undetailed. We have no real idea how fast this thing is gonna be until we know GPU details.

50 percent faster is what is quoted, and in truth, this is not a lot. Again i expected more. When the rumours of a Radeon R770 were bandied about, i thought that yes, that could work. That chip is at least 400 percent faster than Xenos and RSX.

Now more sources state a mere 50 percent. If that is right and it is not even twice as fast- the GPU can't be an R770. It would suggest something closer to a Radeon 4650. This is puny by 2011 standards. Actually its puny by 2008 standards to be fair.

Cheap to make. Nintendo have probably blown the most of the manufacturing cost on the controller again.

[f789790]

The Vita also has 768MB total. Yeah............ the Wii U is going to look absolutely pathetic when Sony and Microsoft release new consoles.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

lol so the Android tablets and smartphones coming out in the next couple months are "next-gen confirmed" too? 768MB of RAM is nothing.

[Megaton]

There is something different about RAM in consoles. I believe the PS2 was only running on 32mb of RAM, while our current consoles only have 512mb. Next gen should be minimum 1gb.

[Skip_Bayless]

Just as I suspected. Nintendo you dissapoint me and anger me. You have not changed my mind. This is the samething as the Wii being slightly stronger than the xbox 1.

[ninjahunter]

@adamant windows can and does clear up all but like 250mb of ram when gaming so its a non issue

[BattleAxe]

@ Bioware Shocker

What do you expect, its Nintendon't.

@ blaaah

The WiiU is nerfed.....Confirmed !

[Dee_91]

why do people think wii u is a next gen console?

[hiredhelp]

Easy to forget that the likes of windows 7 vista even XP Can use as or nearly as much ram just by leaving windows or browsing the web. Thats reason why PC vs Consoles differnt your console OS are based programed to do limited hings and many programs that run in background on windows. Wont see that on consoles well a little. As for next gen ram we will defo see more than 1gb ram shared or deadicated.

[CommonSense]

LOL @ people that think cell phone ram is comparable to ram in a console or pc.

with that said, ram is cheap and there's no excuse for a "next gen" console to be less than a couple gigs.

with THAT said, nintendo doesn't make "next gen" hardware anymore. they make last gen hardware with stupid names and gimmicky peripherals.

[Jdrm03]

@Dmarc

It's a next gen console because it's a next gen console lol. A console generation is not based on how powerful the hardware is.....

[Skip_Bayless]

That's what Nintendo wants you to think. They are too cheap to invest more powerful hardware. Nintendo always wants to make money off each system sold. They're using innovative gimmicks to try to validate that they are next generation system.

[2pacalypsenow]

PC ram works differently the OS alone requires 1gb of ram

[360ICE]

More like current gen ready. It has innovative controls so no complaints from me though.

[HappyGaming]

This looks a lot like another Wii to me...
The wii was just a bit better than the PS2 and Xbox and this is looking to be just a bit better than the PS3 and the 360...

[Jdrm03]

Wow, I got 3 disagrees about saying the Wii-U is a next gen console because it's a new console? dang you three that disagreed must have only started gaming this generation if you thing a console generation is based on how powerful a console is....

[fluffydelusions]

768 MB of RAM - I am disappoint if true =\

[heylo]

It's EDRAM (aka fast-as-hell-RAM)
not too shabby if you ask me...

[nondecaf]

Isn't that the same as ps vita?

[Honky Kong]

The Last Guardian is being ported to WiiU, I am disappointed if NOT true.

[sofocado]

I also hope that it will be more powerful then the PS3.

[slayorofgods]

In a snails race the Wii U will be more powerful.

[Honky Kong]

What Ps3 game?

[2pacalypsenow]

it would be stupid if it was released 5 years later and its not more powerful

[SilentNegotiator]

768MB? Even with the better types of RAM....I really expected more.

Even though consoles have a smaller OS footprint, I really think it would be good to have over a GB.

[yabhero]

are you aware this is a rumor?

[SilentNegotiator]

Yes. But by my wording, it doesn't sound like it. My mistake.

I really "HOPE" the next gen consoles have more ram.

[ninjahunter]

T_T 768mb of ram isnt much. I have yet to see a pc game thats considered next gen to run under 1.5gb of ram usage(not even counting vram).

[Kushan]

Anyone who thinks 768Mb of RAM, even "really fast RAM" is good, in this day and age, is an idiot. Yes, fast RAM can make all the difference but not having enough of it can still be crippling. The less RAM you have, the more you have to stream from disk (either HDD/internal memory or optical). I cannot put into words how much slower streaming is than RAM. RAM is orders of magnitude faster than even the best SSD out there. I ran Memtest x86 the other day and my cheapo DDR3 was running at something like 15,000MB/s. The fastest SSD's out there top out at about 550MB/s.

Yes, the typical RAM used in consoles is "faster" but as I said, once you run out of space that benefit is completely and utterly wiped out as soon as streaming is involved. If you really want that "extra fast RAM", there's still no harm in putting in a couple of GB of "slow" DDR3 - which is cheap and plentiful. In fact, both the Wii and the PS3 do this by having some "fast" RAM and some "not so fast" RAM. I'm putting that in quotes because "not so fast" implies that it's somehow slow, when it's really not.

4Gb is the absolute MINIMUM the next gen will need, with 8GB being the ideal sweet spot.

And if you think I'm off the mark, history says otherwise:

PS1: 2MB
PS2: 32MB
PS3: 512MB

Each of those is 16x more than the previous. And 16x 512, strangely enough, is 8GB.

[vortis]

Bubbles. You took the post right out of my fingers. Saves me time for typing.

Also I hope those rumors of the 720 having only 2GB of RAM are false, otherwise I'll just skip the next gen altogether.

[TruthbeTold]

Double post.

[TruthbeTold]

I don't know how to console you if you truly believe that ANY of the next gen consoles will have 8 gigs of ram. Come on man. Get real...

[Sarcasm]

Blowing it a bit out of proportion aren't we? Not even the most taxing of PC games right now will even really use 2-3GB of RAM. When they recommend 4GB of RAM, that means total system memory for other tasks and what not.

I'd say a next-gen console would need most is about 2GB and that's even stretching it.

It's going to boil down to the amount of VRAM the video card has which will have a greater effect on graphics.

[gamingdroid]

although I agree that more RAM is nice and that smaller super fast RAM isn't a replacement for more RAM, but 4GB is actually quite excessive.

Consoles OS have a much smaller memory footprint. The Xbox 360 OS only takes 32MB, while the PS3 takes 48MB. In contrast a PC has a minimum requirement of 512MB RAM these days if not more.

I think a good strategy would have been increase the el-cheapo DDR3 RAM to 2 GB, decrease the eDRAM to 512MB or less.

Go with intelligent design i.e. focus more on software design (needs), not hardware design!

[ninjahunter]

8gb would be fairly useless though, you could run all 3 crysis games, BF3 and skyrim on that much ram simultaneously. 2gb is probably what consoles should aim for because Juggernaut pc games usually tend to linger around 2gb ram usage. (that is not counting the OS)

When a game needs 8gb of ram the developer will be fired.

[JBaby343]

Although the history of the numbers works out to 8GB in the next consoles I really doubt it will be that much. That is excessive even for PC games so especially for consoles. I think 2-4 GBs is sufficient. For instance in PS4 an updated CELL with 1 GB of XDR and a nice GPU with 1-2 GBs should work out quite well. Similar setup for Nextbox's CPU and GPU though I doubt it will be XDR.

[Kushan]

Ok, let's clear up some more misconceptions.

PC games today don't use more than around 2GB of RAM, this is true. However, do you not realise that there's a reason for this beyond just not needing it?
Many of you already know this, but some might not - there's a hard limit in the amount of RAM a PC can use. Particularly, if your PC has 4GB of RAM, it'll only actually be capable of using about 3.2GB (Total, this includes all programs, the OS, even hardware like your graphics card) unless you have a 64bit OS. Furthermore, 32bit programs themselves are unable to address more than 2GB of RAM (Even if you're running a 64bit OS). It is possible to make it "Large address aware" so it can use 4GB, but as I said on a 32bit OS this means it'll hit that 3.2Gb limit and start paging memory to the hard drive (which as we've already discussed is very slow).
So game developers have a choice - they can make games that use more than 2GB of RAM and cause massive performance issues on 32bit PC's, or make it 64bit ONLY. No matter which they do, it will effectively cut out a -LOT- of the potential market. There's plenty of doom and gloom stories about the PC games market as it is without cutting out nearly half of the market (see http://store.steampowered.c... for stats on OS usage - Win7 x64 and Vista x64 total about 55% of the market). Or, alternatively, they can keep RAM usage around 2GB and keep everyone happy.

So yeah, there's a REASON PC games don't use more than 2GB of RAM, you also have to remember that a lot of them are console ports, so already have optimised memory usage to fit the 512Mb the PS360 has.

As for there being an OS overhead that consoles won't have, this is only marginally true. The PS3 and 360 are not just games consoles any more, they're multimedia machines capable of lots more. The current gen is capable of streaming your music in game, cross-game chat (text and voice) and so on - the next generaiton should do all that and more. In game web browsing? Why the hell not! Let's not limit ourselves here. RAM is cheap, the cost of 8GB of RAM is less when compared to the cost of 512MB 6 years ago.

And now for another point - we're talking about the NEXT generation of consoles, the generation that's meant to last at least 5 or 6 years - from 2012, that's 2018. Why are people comparing RAM usage to games being made TODAY? That's incredibly short-sighted.

[NamelessTed]

@Sarcasm, and everybody else.

High end PC games will easily use more than 2-3GB of RAM. One thing you need to realize that the RAM we are talking about on a console is TOTAL RAM, which would likely be shared between system and video, similar to how the Xbox 360 works today.

A game on the PC today will absolutely fill up the GDDR RAM on a high-end videocard at about 2GB. If you run SLI of Crossfire then that would be 4GB of video RAM alone. Then take into consideration that the game will very likely be using another 2GB of system memory. What you find is that on high end PCs where games are pushing the hardware we are easily using 6GB of RAM in total.

Also consider that games are rapidly increasing in size and are going to continue to do so. Rage just released and clocks in at a solid 25GB. More and more games are shipping on two DVDs and are just getting MUCH bigger. This size increase comes because there is way more data. Not that the game is super long but the textures and models and everything in the game is more detailed, high-res, and takes up more space. That means we need more RAM so that we are able to load as much of the game into memory as possible.

In order for console manufacturers to be "future-proof" they will need an absolute minimum of 4GB of RAM, but would be much more comfortable at 8GB. They need to have very advanced hardware that will be able to support large changes over the years following its release. It is amazing that the Xbox 360 has been capable of changing so much since release but still have the same basic parts that were design to play games are now capable of party chat, Kinect, netflix, and a handful of other tasks that you would have never guess it would or even could do back in 2004.

MS and Sony need systems that can potentially go through even more change in the next generation.

[ProjectVulcan]

The most taxing PC games can use over 1.5Gb of video RAM alone. Pretty much any decent PC game with a modern engine will exceed 1GB @ 1080p with MSAA. (BTW SLI does not increase the amount of usable video memory because assets are mirrored in the card's memory, they work on the same problem so use identical assets)

Games breaking 1.5Gb video memory can also easily use 1.5Gb+ of system memory. By this i mean the game itself, besides the system memory used for the OS. Next gen consoles will probably have at least a 64bit address space, so there is no realistic OS limit on memory. Its barely worth mentioning.

So you are talking about stuff like GTA4 and Crysis 2, Metro 2033 etc eating up 3Gb+ total memory maxed without a problem. Even if you have a console operating system for a next gen machine, you will want it to be much more flexible and capable of multi tasking, so you might want say another 100mb for the OS.

I would want next gen console games to match and even exceed these current PC titles. In other words i totally agree that 4GB memory, either unified or at least split 2gb/2gb should be MINIMUM to advance games enough.

8Gb would be ideal. Maybe not very cheap, but not unrealistic now considering the price of DDR3 modules for system memory. (DDR3 costs nothing, its LESS than $20 for a 4GB module OEM) and GDDR5 for video memory. Typically if GDDR5 was used it wouldn't be the fastest stuff so wouldn't be uber expensive.

[jalen247]

I agree w/Kushan. I think 8GB is ideal in keeping with the progression of Sony console generations.

I see Sony putting in 8GB keeping in line with their strategy of future proofing their consoles coupled with the fact that ram was a bottleneck for the PS3 and 360

All those PC fanboys complaining about 8GB being excess for a console because of the lower OS footprint etc...possible envy...?...because PCs are bottle-necked with how much ram their OS will utilize...

The whole argument of console OS not needed a lot of ram is BS...I expect next gen consoles to be multitasking beasts both in game and outside the game. I expect heavy integration and multitasking of multiple services and no loading lag.

I also expect very elaborate dynamic themes and sophisticated 1080P video themes running as my background.

People also have to keep in mind that next gen consoles should be trend setting and not just going for what is currently available on PC.

I do not want any pop ins, screen tears, low frame rates, or jaggies in my next gen games as a standard....period

And all games should run 1080P/60FPS as standard with the ability for the console to run higher resolutions depending on where TV resolutions are heading and depending when the next consoles will launch.

[_Aarix_]

Woah woah woah...the ps1 had only 2 mb of ram......

[Malice-Flare]

@all the people with 1GB in their cell phones...

how much is your cell phone unlocked and without contract? you really want the Wii-U to cost more than $399.99?

i only hope the GPU is DirectX 11 compliant or equivalent and i do hope they go for the 1GB...

[Liquid_Ocelot]

Mine is like $799.99 xD

[Malice-Flare]

yep. mine's an unlocked Xperia Play. $449 discounted...

[Smashbro29]

I would much prefer to pay a lot upfront for a good piece of hardware (that will be out for the next 6 years) than pay a little less and have the specs rumored in this article.

[Hassassin]

@Smashbro29 then buy a gaming PC

[stragomccloud]

Never thought about it from that point of view. Excellent point.

[kaveti6616]

It bugs me when some of you guys say that it's okay for consoles to have less RAM because they don't have to do as many tasks as PCs.

Even though you guys are right, you're basically saying that it's okay that, once again, consoles won't be able to multitask. Don't you guys hate the fact that you cannot download something on your PS3 while you're playing a game? Or that you have to quit out of a game to go the web browser?

With my shitty netbook I am able to multitask in a way the PS3 cannot do. I can have several tabs open on my browser, I can watch a video, download something, have a word processor open, and so on. You can only do ONE thing at a time on the PS3, and yet you guys are saying, "It's okay. Consoles don't need a lot of RAM."

What you're also basically saying is that consoles don't need a sophisticated operating system. All this talk about OS footprint gets me thinking about how simple the operating system is for a machine I paid several hundred dollars for.

Consoles are no longer just dedicated gaming machines. RAM is dirt cheap, even for individual consumers, so why do you guys think that having 4 gigs or even 6 gigs of RAM is going to be too much? The console manufacturer buys RAM in wholesale. The cost of 6 gigs of RAM for Microsoft would probably be 5 bucks a module.

Nintendo is disappointing. All that processing power, bottlenecked by limited memory. Stupid.

[NamelessTed]

Dude, absolutely. You nailed it. The next generation isn't going to revolve around having a console do a single task at a time. We aren't using iPhone in 2009 anymore. consoles of the future are going to become more and more like PCs, but streamlined for controller and TV use, rather than monitor and mouse/keyboard use.

From what I understand, one of teh major reasons that the PS3 doesn't support crossgame party chat is because of RAM. That "program" takes a certain amount of RAM and CPU power to execute and they can't get it unless they take it away from the game, which isn't an option.

In the next generation of consoles, we are talking about a truly full featured living room device. You will have all sorts of video streaming, live tv, recording TV, playing games, Kinect HD video stuff, etc. Microsoft finally combining all of their software efforts with Windows 8, mobile, console, and PC. We know people will be making mobile apps for tablets running Windows 8, hoping to copy the success of iPhone and Android app stores. It is only common sense that Microsoft would do the same on their console. But it won't just be games, they will have all sorts of "apps" that will be designed specifically for the controller or Kinect.

[Liquid_Ocelot]

My phone has 768mb of RAM I believe.. not bad [for my phone] but for a console.. come on.

[showtimefolks]

If this is what nintendo is planinng and why should anyone bug a wii-u when they can get those same system specs for much less and already in the market with proven online services and exclusives content along with a lot of 3rd party support.

768MB of ram are you serious? And please don't reply to me with the crap a console is not a pc when it's doing everything a pc can do and moving forward it's more like a pc anyway. Cheap ass 250$ laptops give you more than 2-3 gb of ram.

And think about it like this these next consoles will be in the market for at the very least 7 years so are we ok with 768 ram in 2018-2019? Think about it before you reply. People look at these things with a present point of view but how will the future be affected. If I am a betting man which I am not I can say that next xbox and playstation will have at least 2gb of ram and aaa much as 4-6. Safe side would be to ave 4th of ram and it's really cheap so it's not raising the price of a console by a lot.

2gb is my guess for next consoles mainly xbox and playstation
4gb would be doing things for future and a playing it a little on safe side
Now if either deliver 6th of ram just imagine what some of the developers can do to use that ram and make their already great games better and better online features.

4gb ram
350-500 gb hard drive atleast
A updated version of cell processor
Sony will do their own graphics card since they wanted to do their own for ps3 but were running late with launch so they decided to get a 3rd party one. But this time I believe with enough future planning they might be doing their own
A faster bluray drive and bgger disk space
Move 2.0 bundled in with every ps3
$399

And here we go we ourselves a ps4 oh and please have backwards compatible systems please

And alsomkst same thing for xbox720 MS doesn't need a complete overhaul as much as update the specs and make their disk drive better with more space on disks

It's nintendo that has to catch up to Sony and MS and if this s their next gen console with these specs rumored you can forget about it. When ps4 and xbox720 launch and beat wii-u specs than what?

[christheredhead]

All that information is meaningless. I just want to play fun, creative, well built nintendo games in hd. If they can pull that off with lower specs then so be it. Outdoing nintendo specs (which they probably will) wont have an effect on gamers, such as myself, who want to actually play the games.

[Jappy-k7]

i could say it's significantly more powerful than teh ps3

[Parapraxis]

...and you'd be wrong.

[ATi_Elite]

3.0ghz 4 core CPU is very good.

40nm ATi based gpu: Could be very well based on the HD4000 series, hopefully a more efficient HD4870. This series of GPU's can produce 1080p very easily along with 3D graphics.

768 or 1 GB of shared ram: 768 is too low. 1 GB would be much better as it would allow 256 for system and 768 for Video ram Plus along with clever programming techniques to use more ram for video all the ram at once.

It's not a PC which does many many things at once so it doesn't need 4GB of ram.

[clrlite]

wow, an intelligent comment from someone who actually knows what video memory is. Someone gave you a disagree too, but I'm not surprised.
They think their phone's one gig of memory is the same thing.
Your phone cant produce PS3 graphics(512 MB roughly), let alone WiiU graphics.
Incredible.

I even saw someone say you can get 8gb memory for 30 dollars.

That's not high speed dedicated VRAM used to produce top notch graphics.

The WiiU will have high speed, dedicated VRAM, just like the Vita.

It is NOT the same as your phones memory.

There is no reason to bottleneck a console if ram is supposedly so "cheap".

GET REAL

[SephirothX21]

Remember you can turn explorer off on a windows pc to boost game performance. RAM is very important. Normal processes on a pc don't require a huge amount of RAM. PC games do. A gig ram for a supposedly "next-gen" console is a joke.

[jerethdagryphon]

so more ram and an extra 400mhz of cpu not exactly ground breaking

360 is 3.2x3 ps3 is 3.2x6 so only ram is an improvment but unless it has a good gpu and it will load faster but notm uch else

[attilayavuzer]

Quit Mickey Mousing the next generation dammit!!! Put a terabyte of edram and make it run off rocket fuel then we'll talk...

[RedDead]

Looking at that, it's a slight upgrade from a 360. This is just a rumor anyhow. Dunno how the Gpu is either.

[kevnb]

it was supposed to be based on the 4000 series of ati cards, but clocked higher than anything that was available. So it will give the 360 a good thrashing, but the 360 is of course 5 years old.

[slayorofgods]

Are you sure? I thought it was more based on the low factor form, low power usage gpu's such as the ati hd 5570.

[lugia 4000]

My PC is 3 times better lol.

[SnakeCQC]

9ghz processor? unlikely

[kevnb]

well these powerpc processors are in order chips, so they do kind of suck. If dx11 does what its supposed to, we will see the true gap in power. For now the consoles do have better api for handling draw calls, so the pc processors have to work harder to get the same result.

[arjman]

You don't multiply clock speeds as a sign of performance scaling -_-

[B1663r]

Clock speed has not been a good measure of performance for many years now...

[rickyjb23]

mabey not 9 ghz, but proably talking about a six core processor with 12 threads each at 4ghz + like the intel core 17 990x

[SnakeCQC]

it was a bad joke obviously the guy has 3 way sli or crossfire

[NYC_Gamer]

people will be disappointed if they think the wii-u will be way above current consoles spec wise

[THILLREBORN]

Thank you that's what I've been saying

[GribbleGrunger]

not only will it not be a huge leap but that controller could seriously damage it's sales too. i honestly think that Nintendo have made a huge mistake with this.

[kma2k]

@ GribbleGrunger Im as far removed from a nintendo fanboy as you can get, but didnt everyone say the same thing about the wii remote?

[THILLREBORN]

@kma2k
Here's the issue with the Wii mote arguement...they had zero competition. The PS Vita is coming out first and with remote play it does exactly what the Wii U does and more. Add to this 50+ million PS3's a monster list of games already out it's beats it hands down. Consumers who were looking for the Wii HD upgrade have already bought the Kinect 360 bundle or PS3 and a Move altogether that's 18 million sales of HD casual hardware sold.

Nintendo is in for an uphill battle which is not like what the Wii was up against.

[Shackdaddy836]

768 MB edram is actually amazing. To compare, the 360 used 10.5 MB and the PS3 has 0 edram.

edram is like dram with red bull injected into it. It's very good.

[Ingram]

"edram is like dram with red bull injected into it. It's very good."

That's...retarded, are you serious? (e)DRAM stands for embedded DRAM,
so eDRAM IS a DRAM.

[Tanir]

nintendo fanboys will think its a massive jump because they have been stuck in the last generation with the wii. they are just getting into current gen, and will be left behind when ps4 and 720 come out,

nintendo is playing Ketchup while Sony and ms have that and a whooooole lotta Mustard.........man that joke sucked

[Honky Kong]

Wii seems to be the best console out this generation. Where you been?

On topic: that joke was so stupid I vomited with rage and amazement.

[Parapraxis]

"Wii seems to be the best console out this generation. Where you been? "

...living in reality, where have you been Kong?

[sinclaircrown]

Exactly. Nintendo FANS will love it. Also, the 360 and PS3 maybe 5+ years old now, but they got better and better over time. There's no reason the WiiU can't do the same.

I think people will be dissapointed if they're expecting the next PS or XBOX to be a giant leap for mankind also.

Graphics wise we're pushing the limits. Some stuff looks so real now its astounding.

The next leap will be in the form of how we play. Its already started. Motion controls and cameras and voice activation.

I know everyone here laughs at these things, but gaming has to change at some point in time. in 10-15 years, I have no idea what kind of games we'll be playing, or how we'll be playing them. I do look forward to it all though.

[Honky Kong]

Ninokuni or Metal Gear on the WiiU?

[Honky Kong]

no. the last gaurdian!

[Jihaad_cpt]

are you stupid, The Last Guardian is published by Sony

[Shok]

Last time I checked, Crytek said that they're "Very happy with the Wii U specs"

That pretty much confirms that it will be a true next-gen system.

[Zechs34]

Crytek... Lol

[D0ffy]

@Zechs34

Why the hate on Crytek? If we look at the graphical aspects of it Crytek make some of the most technically beautiful games out there. So if we look at it graphics wise, Wii U might kick ass. If you imply that Crytek's games suck, well I really can't tell cause I haven't played a Crytek game since the first Far Cry and 5 minutes of the first Crysis.

The graphics aren't all that matters though, we'll just have to wait and see.

[kevnb]

is it still that ibm bs? The cpus in modern pcs blow this garbage away, too bad the dx9 api wastes so much cpu power though :(.

[mamotte]

You mean the cpus in modern pcs you can get for less than $400?

[ChickeyCantor]

This system is far more dedicated then a pc you put together.

They are made to work as much 1:1 for optimal performance.
It's up to the developer to utilize the hardware.
If developers could use the full power of a pc games would have looked different as well.

[MGRogue2017]

If the Wii U is that powerful, we can only imagine just how powerful the Xbox 720 & PlayStation 4 will be.. :)

[MasterCornholio]

Yep main reason why I am willing to wait. Nintendo doesn't have a history of producing hardware that's way above their competitors. I just hope that the WiiU is a true next gen system and not between gens like the dreamcast.

Im still not sold on the controller though I need to have a hands on with it first.

XperiaRay

[nondecaf]

And if any brings up the n64 or gamecube as examples please remember that n64 came out two years after ps1 and there was no game that show gamecube was better than ps2 resident evil does not count because the difference is minute.

The gc is first.

[ronin4life]

@non
Rouge squadron (a launch title) and its sequel.
Beautiful to this day, and I'm pretty sure it was close to 60 fps in action.

[kaveti6616]

"there was no game that show gamecube was better than ps2 resident evil does not count because the difference is minute."

Translation: "I'm right and any evidence you put forth to prove me wrong is inadmissible because I said so."

[stragomccloud]

Wii is the first time that this has happened.... So... read some history books. I'm guessing you're not old enough to have perspective.

[admiralthrawn87]

and how overly expensive it will be. if you dont want another "600 us dollars" moment, hope that they dont go overboard.

[lionelglitchy]

yeah the next box and ps4 will have a 1000 terra hertz cpu with 5 gazillion mg of ddr 5000 ram use the whole of the moon as a hard disk and display at100800p in 6d its going to be amazing

[SnakeCQC]

i wonder if the first party nintendo devs will be able to utilise it since they've been working with cold war tech

[sinclaircrown]

I'm sure they're a lot smarter than you so I wouldn't worry.

[banana420]

but can it run crisis ? yes :)

[bobrea]

768MB ofRAM...lulz

[Cosmit]

EDRAM sir....EDRAM.

[qwertyz]

You don't have a clue what you're talking about 768mb edram will be TOO expensive.

A 768mb edram chip will have a die size of about 1500mm^2 and over 6 billion transistor count the power consumption and production cost will be INSANE and the manufacturing failure rate will be MASSIVE because of the massive die size(die size is closely related to manufacturing costs) lol a 768mb edram chip will cost over $300 to manufacture

They obviously meant either gddr3 or gddr5 besides EDRAM just has higher attainable bandwidth than DRAM that's IT it can't store more data MB for MB its the same thing just much quicker to access and 768mb is still a pathetically small amount of RAM.

Amount of available ram is 100x more important than ram speed.

Please do your research before trying to sound like you know what you're talking about. :/ Console fanboys never know much about technology so I'm not really surprised.

[jerethdagryphon]

eDRAM stands for "embedded DRAM", a capacitor-based dynamic random access memory integrated on the same die as an ASIC or processor. The cost-per-bit is higher than for stand-alone DRAM chips but in many applications the performance advantages of placing the eDRAM on the same chip as the processor outweighs the cost disadvantage compared with external memory.

Dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) is a type of random-access memory that stores each bit of data in a separate capacitor within an integrated circuit. The capacitor can be either charged or discharged; these two states are taken to represent the two values of a bit, conventionally called 0 and 1. Since capacitors leak charge, the information eventually fades unless the capacitor charge is refreshed periodically. Because of this refresh requirement, it is a dynamic memory as opposed to SRAM and other static memory.

The main memory (the "RAM") in personal computers is Dynamic RAM (DRAM). It is the RAM in laptop, notebook and workstation computers as well as some of the RAM of home game consoles (PlayStation3, Xbox 360 and Wii),

the only differenceis its embedded on the same die otherwise its still dram not world changing not new not anything
system ram as edram will up cost bu provide higher bus width again this is something that a high clocked ram and matched cpu can do anyways

[guitar_nerd_23]

I would've thought it would need more ram to effectively drive multiple screens.

[mrsatan]

That is my fear as well. Based on the current specs, adding another controller will not work optimally. Unless they have some programming wizardry I am not familiar with.

[Drekken]

Anything under 2GB of ram is pretty disappointing.

[admiralthrawn87]

as usual, console crowd doesnt understand that 1gb of ram on a console is awesome. 4 gb is needed on pc due to the operating system and all of the other tasks. 1gb dedicated console ram will be much better than what 360 and ps3 offer. you have to think that 360 has 512 and ps3 is essentially using 256 and can produce uncharted 3.

[mamotte]

Thanks for bringing common sense to N4G. I was about to write kinda the same.

Almost all of the people somehow cannot understand whats the difference between a PC and a gaming dedicate machine. And somehow cannot understand that console developers have to think on price, too. They're great parts out there, but I can buy a PS3 with the same money I buy a last gen GPU for my PC.

We need a "common sense" bubble here.

[Grip]

just to let u know
Windows 7 system requirements :

1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor

1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)

16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)

DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

all laptops now(laptops not desktop) are 4GB ram or higher..
common sense in my arse

[ZombieAssassin]

"1gb dedicated console ram will be much better than what 360 and ps3 offer"

Really 1gb is better than 512mb? /s

I think most know that there is a difference between PC and console RAM but they aren't complaining about that, they're complaining that its barely more than what we've had for the past 5-6 years. I also have a feeling that 1 of the cores on the CPU will be idle so that'll be a draw back too.

[mamotte]

"Really 1gb is better than 512mb? /s "

The PS3 has 256mb... so yes, it's a lot better.

You can wiki that.

[BitbyDeath]

"The PS3 has 256mb"

Wrong.

Wiki states -
The PlayStation 3 has 256 MB of XDR DRAM main memory and 256 MB of GDDR3 video memory for the RSX.

[Optical_Matrix]

Someone who knows what they're talking about. Thanks jesus christ in heaven. This. 768MB of eDRAM is insane. The bandwidth speeds are something to shout about. As admiral says, if Xbox 360 and PS3 are doing what they're doing on such limited memory, even 1GB of memory is a significant upgrade.

We're not talking PC's here which need 3x that to handle the processor heavy OS' as well as games like Battlefield 3 which'll push the hardware to its limits. This thing, at LEAST should, be able to push consistant 1080p resolutions, at locked at 30fps.

LOL @ Grip, why're you throwing system requirements in our face. That proves our point. You need 1-2GB of memory on your laptop to run the Window OS ALONE. Console OS' wouldn't require nearly that much as they're dedicated gaming machines. Why do you think gaming PC's are heavy on the memory?

[radphil]

"LOL @ Grip, why're you throwing system requirements in our face. That proves our point. You need 1-2GB of memory on your laptop to run the Window OS ALONE. Console OS' wouldn't require nearly that much as they're dedicated gaming machines. Why do you think gaming PC's are heavy on the memory?"

That still proves the point where he said PCs NEED 4GB, when in fact you can deal with 2.

People forget about Windows XP or Linux or other OS that people still use.

[Darkfocus]

Ram speed actually makes very little difference, amount of available memory is far more important...
http://www.tomshardware.com...

http://www.tomshardware.com...

[wicko]

@darkfocus

Pretty much - it's more useful to have slower ram with larger capacities, because you can have larger levels in memory (or higher detail ones). The bandwidth available even for "slow" dram is still higher than that which a harddrive could handle anyway, so you won't see slower load times or have to spend more time streaming.

[Bob570]

Battlefield 3 with textures on Ultra uses nearly 4gb or RAM by itself.

1gb may be a significant upgrade over current consoles, but it's still not that much.

[Zechs34]

Uhm... Youre running BF3 just off 4GB of Ram on Ultra with no mention of a GPU? Hm. I need this man's setup.

/s

[Ck1x]

U guys are missing the point if this rumor has any truth to it at all, but the fact that Nintendo wants to put this much ram on the same silicon as the CPU & GPU will give it a crazy fast bandwidth. Plus it can always have additional main system ram on top of this as well

[juaburg]

Fok!

[Ck1x]

People need to look up what embedded dram means and will see that this is quite a bit to use in this fashion. Most companies just don't embed that much ram onto the same chip as the CPU & GPU. Case in point, Sony embedded 256mb in their GPU with the ps3, this set up would be an embed where both CPU & GPU have this extremely fast access

[bergoo]

Haven't played much 360/ps3. I'm looking forward to the leap from wii to wiiU graphics. I don't think the next 360/ps3 will have nearly the graphical leap to its predecessor than the WiiU will have. I'm not graphic spoiled, You all should be jealous!

[BuT_TeR]

Nintendo really knows how to push the envelope. Just like this gen, they will be the most innovative and ground breaking. They also know how to make fresh new games and not just copy-cat sequels like Uncharted 3 or Gears 3. I'm sorry but next gen, Nintendo will be king again!!!!!!!

[BuffMordecai]

Copy cat sequels? I haven't seen Nintendo make a new IP in some time.

[ZombieAssassin]

Ha I got a good laugh out of that. Seriously how many Mario games have we had in the past 20 years...prolly more than any other franchise.

[CaptainN]

Wii Sports/Resort,Wii Fit/Fit Plus,Wii Music,Wii Play/Motion,Disaster :Day of crisis, Xenoblade,The Last Story,Pandoras Tower,Reigenliev as well as some of their WiiWare games all want to say hello. They may not come out in every territory, but all are New Nintendo Ip's this generation on Wii.

[kneon]

Didn't you forget the /s at the end of that?

[jerethdagryphon]

le sigh,

sony new ips for ps3/psp

motorstorm
resitance
uncharted
lbp
sportschampions
infamous
demonsouls
lair
folklore

360
gears
kinect sports
kinectamals
crackdown

nintindo
xenoblade
wii fit
wii sports
wii motion
day of crisis
last story
pandoras tower

all companys have brought out new ips at the start of the gen not to many are still making new ips

mostly its sequals

same will be true of wiiu 720 and ps4
a few old frnachises will re emerge (many on wiiu) and a few new ones will be made

[kneon]

For Sony you forgot

Mag
Heavy Rain
Eyepet
Heavenly Sword

and that's just off the top of my head, I'm sure there are more.

But you're just proving the point that BuT_TeR's comment is silly. At best Nintendo is on par with the others, but in no way can any sane person claim they are miles ahead in innovation and breaking new ground.

And don't start with the motion control, it was done before the Wii. Even Sony had working Move prototypes and associated patents over 10 years ago.

What Nintendo did right with motion control was to make it the default control scheme thereby ensuring support. Unfortunately it was a half baked implementation that was mostly fixed with Motion+. But then they have the old add-on issue, Motion+ is not available to everyone so few games will require it.

[Bob570]

You're trolling... right?

[josephayal]

WII-U = Mario and zelda in 1080p+

[D0ffy]

A buy from me probably, can't help it ;)

[kefka_palazzo]

768MB eDRAM this is crazy or mistranslation XBOX360 has 10 MB eDRAM

[jerethdagryphon]

no 360 gpu has 10 meg edram as a frame buffer it uses its 512 shared pool

this 768 ram will be embeded system ram possibly shared with gpu

[spacedelete]

" I hope it's significantly more powerful than a 360 and not some 7 year old hardware when it comes out."

be careful what you wish for. i think the wii u is just going to be a slightly more powerful version of the Xbox 360 just with one big expensive controller.

[StarWolf]

who cares honesty. none of you will buy it no matter how good the graphics are, you are sony or xbox fanboys. The important thing is Nintendo games ONLINE and having an actual community like the PSN has. Not freakin graphics, the wii is garbage graphics so why are people complaining about graphics after they finally go 1080p. ??

[lionelglitchy]

this is edram not system ram,the wii u is going to use a ibm powerpc cpu,ibm have the fastest edram around with this much embedded on the cpu or gpu plus the actual system ram the wii u will be savage.read the figures xbox360 10.5 mg edram wii u 768 mg

[Thecraft1989]

Yay someone knows what there talking about bubbles for you.

[kefka_palazzo]

if true the system is something like SOC with huge RAM like L3 cache, POWER7 architecture is designed with eDRAM but 768MB of this is extremely huge

even 10MB eDRAM on XBOX360 has something like 256GB/s bandwidth for comparison GTX 580 has only 192GB/s

[Cyb3r]

I hope the Wii U is more powerful than 360 and PS3 I dont see any point in paying more for a console that isnt much more powerful than current gen consoles

[turgore]

weaksauce. ram is not even close to enough. then again it al depends on the graphics card/chip.

[bub16]

wtf my laptop is better then this :|

[Raider69]

I dont think so!Actually this are just rumors,because if we are talking about 750 or 1GB eDRAM (eDRAM),Nintendo is actually releasing a powerful machine indeed.I truly have the feeling that this specs are actually wrong if they are mentioning that all the system RAM is made from eDRAM type.I hope so,but im not seeing 1GB or even 750GB of only eDRAM because that will actually be powerful for a console sku.

[pucpop]

16GB ram does me fine. Adobe uses most of it though lol

[Gam3rSinceBiRTH]

Next gen is going to be about the same as this gen. With the ps4 and Xbox1000 being close in specs and the wii U being far behind.

[rattletop]

why don't companies make future-proof consoles. 1GB is a joke. but hey, if this is targeted towards the casual audience then fine.

[PirateThom]

According to N4G, consoles don't have an OS to run... fantastic.

[fullmetal297]

And I also shit out rainbow-colored unicorns. There is no way you can prove it because you don't know me personally and probably never will, but like the many ridiculous and uneducated comments on here you probably gonna have to take my word on it.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

If these details are true its pretty safe to assume the Wii U would have about a 2-3 year window before feeling outdated. Think it through before you speak. Current consoles which are just now (this year) really showing their age are sitting at 512MB of ram. Doubling that amount of RAM is more than enough to give any console right now on the market a huge advantage over what we have now on the console front. For Nintendo, that short window maybe all they are looking for. More than either Sony or MS, Nintendo has shown a pretty good track record for shorter life cycles on their hardware, and iterating on it in incremental steps... ala Apple.

[mrsatan]

For all the people trying to justify the size of the RAM because it is EDRAM, here is some knowledge for you. Just because it has EDRAM, it won't mean it is fast. EDRAM is only as fast as the integrated memory controller on the board. Until we see some memory bus statistics all we have to go by is the physical size. People need to remember that the PS3 used XDR which is actually quite similar to EDRAM, but it was hampered by the amount and the split of the RAM.

Is the 768 going to be shared by the processor and the graphics, because if so they are going to run into PS3 similar issues. Size of RAM is actually much more important nowadays then the speed since most RAM is pretty damn quick. We need more information to make an opinion.

[Ulf]

You guys can't even fathom that the claim that all 768MB are eDRAM might be incorrect, can you?

It must be 768MB eDRAM, because the journalist claims it to be so, and Nintendo loves to splurge on making the hottest, most expensive, least profitable (per-unit) hardware for their users.... oh wait.

~16MB of eDRAM folks. That stuff is expensive, and Nintendo does *not* breed special unicorns that grow it cheaper.

Devkits typically have 2x the RAM that retail units have, so that debugging is possible. The devkits are rumored to have 1.5GB of RAM, so the rumor that the retail units will have 768MB is well-founded. It's not all eDRAM though. Get real -- that, or its not clocked fast and nearby, like the superfast eDRAM the Xenos has.

[yabhero]

First of all this is a rumor! second devs have already said they are working with DEV KITS that have 1 GB and they say Ninty is putting in 1.5 GB of GDDR5 ram which is fast... game consoles dont' need 4-8 GB of ram

[Allowen]

It seems that people did not learn with the PS3 console. It has 256 ram with 700mhz and a 256 ram with amazing 3.2Ghz.
And so far the Ps3 was able to deliver many and many amazing games that were not found´nothing similar on any other plataform, including the PC.

My point is, if the WiiU has ONLY 768 ram it can still be uber enough for the console if it is like 5GHz of speed.

Video games and cell phones are different then cosoles ! You don't have a GEoW3 or an UC3 game on your iPhone 4S or Sansung Galazy SII right ? : )

[sirdrake]

the way i see it. the wii has been out for 5 years, ps3 and xbox are "expected" to get 10 years out of them. Nintendo seems to have this 5 year turn around on consoles. By the time ps4 and 720 come will probably be a couple years into th wii-u's lifespan.

if that is the case then i wouldnt put it past nintendo to put another one out within 5 years of the wii-u. if that happens then a new more advanced console would come out again from nintendo before the ps4 and 720 are finished. I think the WII was a bridge console, and this way nintendo will NEVER be directly competing with Sony and Microsoft anymore, probably the smartest thing they could do.

[contra157]

sounds nice, still have to see how this ipad with buttons turns out.

[CynicalVision]

Everyone here seems to be obsessed with specs, don't forget that the Wii has been incredibly successful for Nintendo even with it's limited hardware.

The Wii proves that specs alone mean nothing.

[Ingram]

You know what? I hate the Wii.There.
At least the DS had a fairly decent selection of games.
The Wii just proves a huge marketing campaign with celebrities and lots of shovelware can still sell, there are just a few games worth it, it's just a 20w piece of crap leeching sales from Microsoft and Sony.

Specs is the foundation of a console, how can you say hardware does not matter?, games are the selling point, but the hardware is capital to them, and the Wii was underpowered on purpose, just tailored as a bait with an attractive price point.

[CynicalVision]

I didn't say hardware doesn't matter, I'm just saying that decent hardware alone doesn't make your console a success.

It's fine you don't like the Wii, I don't either but it doesn't change that it's very successful.

[Eu]

The Wii proves that PRICE matters most than anything else....if it wasnt so damn cheap, the Wiimote (and its guimicky games) wouldnt be so successfull, the 3DS prooved it. With that price at lauch, it bombed. HARD. As soon as the price went down, the sales came. JUst now that some actual good games are out, they are exploding, but if the price was still high, they wouldnt.

Try to sell a Wii for 299 or 399 USD and see if it would sell as good as it did....

[Ingram]

It would be exotic and revolutionary that is indeed 768 eDRAM, but Nintendo idea of a revolution seems to be more related to aesthetics since some time, so I would rule out this possibility.It will be 768 of fairly common RAM.XDR2 as a best scenario, but certainly not super high bandwidth RAM.

Nintendo will try to disrupt the market again, with a cheap product that nurtures itself with ports of the already established huge PS3 and 360 catalog, producing slightly superior graphics than the seventh generation.

If third parties allow this, Sony and Microsoft will be in trouble for some time, since Nintendo having won this generation, is now forcing them both to their rhythm.

I just hope that with the great fall in RAM prices, both Sony and Microsoft create a much more powerful machine, since compared to Ivy Bridge or the incoming HD 7000 series, Wii-U is VERY underwhelming at the moment.

[Pikajew]

All of a sudden everyone comes a tech wizard on N4G

People who think the PS4 and nextbox will be a lot more powerful then the Wii U it won't. They are all being developed now so we don't know what will be the most powerful

[49erguy]

I'm no tech expert, but isn't the ram to hz ratio way off? My cheap acer had 3 gb ram.

[GrumpyVeteran]

Disappointed by the RAM.

[Shok]

Firstly people, this is a rumor.

Secondly, the source also said these specs were from MARCH 2011, that was even BEFORE E3. Since then, Nintendo has updated and sent out new dev kits TWICE, each time, srtonger hardware.

Thirdly, a 3 GHz Power7 processor is still A LOT more powerful than what's in the 360 and PS3. Look it up.

So cool it.

[DNov]

I think that the RAM they are talking about is eDRAM, which IBM can fit 1 Gigabit(1 eight of a gigabyte) onto a chip. If the article was wrong and meant 768 Mb, that would be about 95 MB of eDRAM on chip. For comparison, the Xbox360 only has 10.5MB on chip. Not to mention a HD4870, which is a reasonable prediction for the gpu, is about 4 times as powerful as Xenos.

[ForROME]

2GB Minimum on RAM even if they are going low key and will have a shorter life cycle anything under 2GB on any device on its way to a launch is a joke.

[DialgaMarine]

I guess that's why Wii-U will just barely be more powerful than PS3 and 360. How sad for a console that is coming out 6 years late. I really cannot wait for the PS4 and 720 to mop the sh*t up off the floor with this glorified-ipad-for-a-controlle r piece of garbage.

[Shok]

You sir, know nothing.

These rumored specs actually blow the 360 and PS3 out of the water. A 3Ghz Power7 CPU is far superior to what's inside the 360 and PS3.

Also, eDRAM is NOT the same thing as regular RAM. It's far more effecient.

In-comparison, the 360 has only 10 eDRAM. Compare that to this rumored 768 eDRAM......

[Yodagamer]

i don't know it is an older build specs, and its a 4 core processor using the same technology as the Walton machine so it is very efficient cpu and crytech was happy with the older build and they are pretty graphic and processing heavy people.

[KontryBoy706]

768mb of RAM? LMBO!!! LOL what year is this? I hope PS4 and 360 have at least somewhere between 2-4GB of RAM. 768mb? LOL when Sony and Microsoft's consoles come out the Wii U is gonna look like the Wii looks now compared to the current consoles.

[AzaziL]

768MB of RAM, Y U NO 1GB? ლ(ಠ益ಠლ

[Holeran]

I'm guessing 4 gig of ram when the next x-box and playstation hit the stage. 768 megs for the Wii U is weak regardless of the speed of the ram.

[blaze22-qwerty]

PS4 & XBOX 720 are going to destroy the Wii-U just like PS3 & XBOX 360 did to Wii

[Vortex3D]

If the hardware spec is true, then in the realworld for cross platform games, Wii U version of the game is going be 99% the same as PS3/X360. Question is how many games will be fully optimized to make full use of Wii U extra processor and extra memory? That's assuming the GPU wouldn't be too much different than PS3/X360. Unless there are enough games that are fully optimized to make full use of Wii U slight extra power, then there is no point of owning a Wii U other than having an integrated "Wii" with "PS3/X360".

Personal opinion, after 6-7 years behind PS3/X360, this is all Nintendo can come up? It's like trying to get all excited with PS3/X360 technology again.

[Colonel_Dante]

so its safe to say, when the PS4 and Xbox 3 hits, Nintendo will still be bringing a knife to a gun fight?

[Jdub895O]

ok i have a question. Why does my fairly new pc cannot run games at the same quality as my ps3? 3.2 duo and 4 gigs of ram and 64 bit vista. Sounds like it has better specs than my ps3 right? Now i had another pc with basically the same specs but had an 8800gt nvidia card. Still not as good as my ps3. I guess its the way they optimize for consoles. Which is why i stick with console gaming, less hassles, no viruses, no bull crap that you have to deal with. Sorry but its true when you game on pc you have alot of other things to worry about. Now if i had a 5000 dollar pc i wouldnt be complaining, but seriously be real. Paying 3 grand and up for a pc worth it?

Im not trying to compare but damn, with the specs of the ps3 and the stuff i see it pushing out sometimes im still amzed with it. I remember the good ol days when i played ultima underworld, daggerfall, doom, jedi knight 2, alien vs predator, and unreal tournament on pc. Those were the good ol days.Those were the days i gamed on the pc.

Oh yeah this is about the wii-u, well i think it has better specs than the current consoles but not anything special.Im not too much of a fan of nintendo, the last nintendo i bought was ds when they first released and the one before that was a regular nintendo.I see the system lasting for 4years top and nintendo make alot of money off it for the first two. I have a feeling nintendo has a plan for the long run.

[Burning_Finger]

That's weaker than the PS3.lol

PS3 has 8 cores running @ 3.2 GHz. 512MB+ RSX Reality Synthesizer + Blu-ray.

I doubt that Nintendo has First Party Studios to utilized that console. Just like Naughty Dog to Sony.

It's a step backward from Nintendo not forward.

[SpitTake]

First off this is more powerful than the PS3, everyone knows the ps3 only runs like 1 core and the rest are basically useless. Also they have alot of First Party Studios that will utilize the power, Retro Studios, The nintendo main branches (as shown by the zelda tech demo), monilith studios, and more. Please I know your a sony fanboy but don't be so stupid. Also it has 256 mb of ram not 512

[blakstarz]

760MB DRAM? That all I have to say. The PS3 using XDR RAM which must more advanced than the ones on the 360 and the WiiU.
So how is more powerful

[OC_MurphysLaw]

OK.. so technically its only 7 SPE's used It does have 512mb of Ram but its split 256 and 256...and its not the same type of ram for each split. Development gets tricky on the CPU side as it technically only has 256mb of RAM to work with and that is further reduced by the OS of the PS3

CPU: Cell Processor

PowerPC-base Core @3.2GHz
7 x SPE @3.2GHz
7 x 128b 128 SIMD GPRs
7 x 256KB SRAM for SPE
* 1 of 8 SPEs reserved for redundancy

Memory:

256MB XDR Main RAM @3.2GHz
256MB GDDR3 VRAM @700MHz

All in all... as long as the Wii U doesn't make the mistake of splitting their RAM I think development for the Wii U should be pretty easy...similar to the 360 and that will benefit Nintendo in the short run.

[DNov]

The Cell is only 1 core, or PPE if you don't know. There are 7 SPEs that share the burden of the PPE. The RSX was shit, don't listen to Sony's marketing hype. Even the Xenos was better. Not to mention that the Gpu in the Wii U will be at least 4 times the power of that. Btw, the Cell pales in comparison to the Power7, no matter which way you put it.

[zero_cool]

The cell has 8 additional cores embeded on a single processor die adside from main processing core the spes are basically very high performance vector processors.

http://www.blachford.info/c...

P.S...Know what your talking about before post next time!

Cheers Gamers & Happy Gaming

[blakstarz]

760MB DRAM? That all I have to say.

[Gamerita]

Wii U is very powerful for a Nintendo console,MARIO games gonna set the record for visual beauty. we all know Nintendo is the best when it comes to making brilliant looking games on mega weak hardware so imagine what they can do with a console which is slightly more powerful than xbox360. expect to be surprised.

[dRanzer]

My galazy s2 has more ram (nearly to 850 mb)

[Colonel_Dante]

@Skykin

Skyking, you mad? One core? Its 2011, The others run mainly post processing, like motion blur and even handle alot of the work by doing gfx. Lol if you think games like Killzone and Uncharted 2,3 run with that Geforce Seven series card in there.

[Ck1x]

People are missing the point if this rumor has any truth to it. But just thinking of the sheer size of this amount of ram getting embed to SOC design im not sure if i believe they yould embed so much on a chip design like that for a dedicated gaming machine. No one needs that kind of bandwidth right now, its just insane really

[A7XEric]

I don't really expect the Wii U to be the giant leap forward in tech that the 720/PS4 will be. But honestly, as long as it's more powerful than what we currently have and I can play games akin to Rage/BF3 with no corners cut like on our current console version, then I'm pretty happy.

[Game3s]

You expecting far too much from the next Xbox and the PS4, you will be disappointed in the end.

[swice]

Console RAM and PC RAM are different.

XBOX360 only has 512MB, so if WII U has 1GB, that would be impressive...and expensive

[Bolts]

I don't care how different or fast it is. If the game runs better at 2 GB then fastest 1 GB RAM isn't going to compete. You can triple the speed of the PS3's 512 MB and that still isn't enough to have cross game chat or play BF 3 with 64 players for example.

When you need more RAM, you need more RAM, faster RAM isn't going to do damn thing. While 1 GB is impressive when facing the current gen of consoles, Nintendo is on pace to get clowned by tablets and slate PC in about 3 years.

[OooHJohnny]

Nintendo can s*ck my di*k.

[El Nino]

You should be looking for at least 2 gig, and thats a minimum. Wii U next gen my arse.

[Game3s]

its EDRAM o.o

[videoxgamexfanboy]

i dont no about yall but im looking forward to a hi def zelda!

[Ness-Psi]

Exactly its about the games not the specifications. i'm sure the next zelda, mario ect. will be awesome not just graphically.

[videoxgamexfanboy]

finally someone who gets it! bubbles ness-psi

[artdafoo]

Wow ! and the games will still look crappy ! This thing could be a damn Super computer but the reality is alot of Wii Devs just take some cute little head with big eyes and stubs for arms and legs, put a tennis racket, golf club, baseball bat, fishing pole, u name it in its joke of a hand and call it a day.

[jerethdagryphon]

last time

768 MB of DRAM “embedded” with the CPU, and shared between CPU and GPU

thats straight from the article

that means

cpu will have the system ram and memory controller on chip similar to what amd is doing with there gpu on chip designs, now this has interesting security bonuses as its on chip you cant access it physically meaning ram dumps and such will be harder to do

it does not mean it has 768 mb of magic ram plus system ram plus gpu ram all mixed with fairy dust

it means it has 256 more ram then ps3 or 360 hence devs claim of 50% more powerfull 512/2=256+512=768

you could also say is has one and a half times the ram of 360/ps3

emeded ram is more expensive but is getting cheaper, what will happen is the die will be etched and linked to a blank spot of silicon which will be etched for the ram

[Adolph Fitler]

It looks like Wii-U will be left behind in tech by both 720 & PS4, as I would hope & think they would both be smart enough to have AT LEAST 2gigs of ram. PS4 even moreso, needs to include bigger ram after splitting there 512mb in half for different functions & it being very difficult to unite the whole 512mb for textures & the like (but it was possible, contrary to what some would have you believe).

I really hope Nintendo implement more than 700mb's or even 1gig of ram, as it will really be outdated fast by the competitors, & Wii-U games will be left behind visually.

I mean, consoles now dictate how fast pc graphics are evolving, which never used to be the case. I know many will disagree with that statement, but it doesn't matter, as it is widely known fact, due to the mass diversion of nearly every major developer & publisher to prioritize console versions of games. Batman's latest pc conversion is a great example, as like many pc titles these days, they actually get ported to pc well after the console versions, & in some cases like Batman, are released on pc in terrible shape.

That said, pc graphics heven't really come on much this gen....& I don't mean they haven't improved & aren't better by a fair way in some games.....but as opposed to last gen from start to end, & the gen before that, etc,etc, pc graphics have come on a lot faster. I mean, Crysis could barely be done on current consoles & the fact is that in the 5-6 years since that game, we haven't seen a game that takes as big a visual leap as that on pc.....& just look at Crytek & the fact that they have switched from pretty much pc exclusive developers (I think there Far Cry 1 Xbox 1 release was ported by another developer), now they are multiplatform oriented & developed Crysis 2 for consoles 1st & foremost.

[zero_cool]

consoles don't need massive amounts of ram because it's all about efficient optimized software coding!

[CDbiggen]

Who gives a fuck? It's a rumor.

[Droid Control]

3 cores, 768MB of RAM? lol
Are you kidding me?

The Wii U won't be coming out until the end of 2012 for crying out loud. Its not powerful enough!

The PS4 and 720 are going to blow it out of the water.

[Tewi-Inaba]

The only thing that puzzles me more than anyone thinking QUAD means three is 2 people agreeing about it.

what has become of the world

[ChickeyCantor]

90% here doesn't play games.

[matey]

For every1 saying 768mb isnt enough well we are not talking main RAM this is EDRAM something that even ps3 didnt have and 360 had 10.5mb of DRAM not Embedded as that is essentially 78 times faster than ps3 and 360 the main RAM is said to be 2/4gig plus the 4 cores are even at 3.0ghz each 1 is many times more powerful than 1 core in 360 as its from Power7 series plus IBM have stated it has insane amounts of EDRAM 4 extreme gameplay then the WiiU is more powerful than PC/PS3/360 as there isnt a PC game that goes beyond quad-core at high settings and no PC game uses EDRAM its expensive so if WiiU uses 1gb/768mb of EDRAM the WiiU might have simular ghz specs as 360/ps3 but thats where it stops.

Then the gpu is said to be a custom HD Radeon using there very best/current graphics tech HD7000/6000 is there most current tech not Rumoured IGN 4000 series that was plucked from no-where im going off what AMD have said themselves in there words makes WiiU a beast 10x the ps3 easy as ps3 had zero EDRAM and relied on main RAM 256mb 4 gaming the WiiU is said to have 2/4gig of main RAM with 768mb/1gb of EDRAM BEAST RIGHT THERE will ps4/720 be that powerful hmmmm.

[DNov]

The last Radeon HD series chips that use the 40nm process are the 6000 series. The HD7000 series uses 28 nm processes.

[mooper50]

WOW! that sounds awesome! now i just have to deal with the horrible, probably 400$+ controller! great! cant wait to play games by myself in my basement

[jacksheen0000]

768MB of RAM of shared memory between the CPU/GPU sucks....especially for a Next Gen console. That said, if the rumor(Wii U specs) are true, then I think Wii U will become a failure just like the Wii when the Next-Box/PS4 comes out.

[Tenkay23]

Yup. The wii sold 90 million units, Xbox and ps3 Combined are about 100 million.

The Wii was a failure last gen and that's why sony and Microsoft made their own motion controllers and casual titles because the hardcore market wasn't making enough money.

But the wii was a failure.

/this guy is a tool

[supertriangle]

more units sold NOT EQUAL better console

price, audience, size, focus... hundreds of factors make a console or any other product sell more units, and that is not a measure of how good a console is.

-We sell more- <<< te excuse for losers

plus nintendo have good things also...

[yabhero]

I only know some about computers... but isn't possible for The CPU to have that much ram that can be shared between the CPU for processes they both do and then STILL have 1-1.5 GB or GDDR5 ram dedicated to the GPU?

[Kos-Mos]

If only ram made games fun to play...

[jimimick]

Sounded awesome unitl i realised my pc is quad core 5GHz and ive got 16GB of system ram and a total of 6GB vram.

[TacoTaru]

I'm not sure why anyone wants better graphics than what is currently available. In a recent article from Square Enix the pretty much said they couldn't remake FFVII because the cost (in time and $$)of doing the graphics would prohibit them from doing it. The article led me to believe that game content today is less than what it was because of the cost of the eye candy. If you want next gen consoles to have even shinier pretties don't whine about games costing more than $100.

[supertriangle]

I want more POWER, not only for graphics...

super physics, better AI, bigger scale, QHD resoluton, 120Hz ..............

[CrimsonEngage]

Makes me wonder how powerful the PS4/720 is going to be compared to it. Knowing MS/Sony they will be monsters (for consoles anyway)

[death2smoochie]

Ah yet another rumor....Might be wise to wait until Nintendo themselves release the full details as opposed to some UNKNOWN source.

[TheCryptKeeper]

under a gig of ram? fail.

[MaxMurdoch]

lol 1 gb of ram? that sucks. I hope 2-4 gb for ps4 and nextbox.

8gb of ram in my 1 yr old pc. 1gb for next gen console to be released in 2012 is a joke.

[Ness-Psi]

this is still just rumor. proof will be in the games.

[jalen247]

Nintendo is obviously making a mistake if PS4/Xbox Infinity release with 4B to 8GB of RAM.

I have a feeling Sony will still future proof their console and this time release at same time as competitors.

Sony has already invested time in Blu-ray and Cell processor.

They can easily beef up cell tech or go for a different IBM tech for the CPU....include a faster Blu-ray drive and new GPU tech and put in 8 GB of shared memory.

This will give developers what they need to make increasingly ground breaking games for many years to come.

[Thecraft1989]

You expect Sony to get 8gb of XDR ram ? If Sony stick with cell+XDR ram setup then you will get no more than 4gb as its still very expensive for them. So at best they go with a combo of XDR and DDR3 2*2 so 4gb.

Now at end of the day it seems people in here have no clue at how much ram is really needed. You seriously do not need 8gb. BF3 for instance on max settings DX11 on top of an OS uses 1.9gb of my 16gb DDR3 ram.

[jacksheen0000]

@Tenkay23

Yup. The wii sold 90 million units, Xbox and ps3 Combined are about 100 million.

The Wii was a failure last gen and that's why sony and Microsoft made their own motion controllers and casual titles because the hardcore market wasn't making enough money.

But the wii was a failure.

/this guy is a tool

Fist off, I m not quite sure why I couldn't reply to your commit under the joint column;. So Iam guessing there might be some issue with NG4 website.

here goes....

I agree, Nintendo wii sold a lot of units when it first came out, but that still doesn't determine the success of a gaming console.
That said,I think the main key ingredient to Nintendo wii success was the use of successful & brilliant innovated concept and ideas, especially for the play mechanics.That said, It was something new & fresh, and most core gamers/casual gamers were played as pawns and bought right in to it at the beginning. Well believe or not, the infamous Nintnedo's Gimmick hook sale tactic is not going to work this time. So Nintendo better bring the Ruckus with the Wii U or they will end like the Sega Dreamcast scenario if you get what I'm saying.

[Tenkay23]

I absolutely agree with you. The wii motion control gimmick won't work. But nintendo always wants to sell a console at a profit so the wii u won't be some high end console. It will be about 4x the power of the PS3. Nintendo doesn't have the luxury of being able to lose money on each console like Sony (who lost a lot of money on the play station 3, but make up for it with their electronic sales like tv's, etc. while Microsoft sells lots of software to allow them to lose money on each console) so Nintendo will never be able to compete hardware wise with Sony and Microsoft. They need to focus on innovative gameplay and gimmicks (Wii Remote, Wii U tablet controller, 3D gaming that's glasses free) and rely on theire reputation for making quality games with well known franchises such as Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Kirby, Metroid, etc.

But ppl don't understand that the Wii U is rumored to have 1.5GB of ram in total, and some eDRAM dedicated to CPU and GPU (which won't be 768mb because eDRAM is expensive as hell, it will probably be around 64mb eDRAM). Plus Wii U's processor is more efficient then the cell prosessor on the ps3 because the cell can't calculate as much processes at the same time compared to IBM's Power7.

The wii u will be powerful enough for wii fans who were sick of SD titles and not getting big third party releases.

Ps4 and Xbox 720 will be more powerful than the wii u, but not by much trust me. Best hardwware doesn't win console races anymore, casual gaming has changed that. The days of beefed up consoles has died, it costs too much money to make. Especially with these economic times that weren't present in 2005-2006

[jacksheen0000]

@Tenkay23

I agree with everything you said except for the part you said that the Wii u will probably have a total of 64mb of eDRAM. Now I also agree that 768mb eDRAM is expensive as hell, but I don't think Nintendo is going scoop that low (64mb of eDRAM) when the Wii U specification is finally finalize.

The reason I say that is because Nintendo is back up against the wall right now, and they have to make sure that the Wii U will be able to complete with Microsoft's & Sony's Next Gen console(720/PS4) or they will simply fall out of the race.Now having said that, 64mb of eDRAM is not going to be enough memory if Nintendo main goal is to give the Wii U's the capability to enable one to have a huge amount of Texture to choose from.

My point is, we all know that Wii U is not going to have enough processing power to complete against the big dogs(PS4?720). So, I think there only option they're left with is to fight with Textures. So, I guessing that Nintendo will go with 512mb of eDRAM and not 768mb. What do you think?