what power are our computers and consoles now?

-Nick-

-Nick-

-Nick-

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ok remember back in the day we always just to talk about the power of consoles in 'bits' like the NES was 8 bit, SNES was 32 bit, ps1 32bit, N64 was 64, what was the ps2? 128 bit?

and now what is like the 360, ps3 and like 8800's?

i heard the ps3 was reported to be 8 times as powerful is this complete bull or is it not talking about the 'bits'?

i know this is pointless but was just wondering
 
Are they still "bit"? you don't hear of it as much any more. The PS2 was 128, right? so I guess the Xbox 360 would be 372 or more?! Perhaps it's called the 360 cos it's 360-bit :p
 
beast said:
Perhaps it's called the 360 cos it's 360-bit :p
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Its called 360, because it means that it is an "all round" console that can handle all your multi media needs.
 
what about the ps3 it's going to be more powerful than the 360.

and what are the 8800's or are pc graphics cards measured in a completely different way?
 
Hi

The PS2 was 128bit yes but to be perfectly honest with you the 'bit' rate of a console really doesnt justify its true power, for example the N64 in some areas could easily outperform the PS2, another example would be the Gamecube, this console could excel over the xbox in a fair few benchmarks even though it was a lot less powerful.

Its all down to the architexture and design of the components inside and how effecient the machine is at using the power it has available under its hood. Another example to note is the PS3 is NOT more graphically powerful than the 360! The 360 has more GFX horsepower but the PS3 has more CPU horsepower behind it, thus technically making them equal.

What makes this debate even more strange is the fact Nintendo have pulled out of the hardware race and gone for the more innovative route of developing new strategies and ideas for gaming especially with the itnroduction of the DS and the Wii, I must say the Wii is very very addictive even though its graphics are only a little improvement over the cube.

Mike
 
ah right cool. still yet to play the wii :(. so graphically would you say the 360 is equal to the 8800 or 7950gt or what? or does it surpass them all?
 
Hi

From the performance Ive seen coming from my BFG GF8800 GTX I would take a guess and saying that the 8800 GTX has more power in it, it excels at high resolutions, its as if its beginning for the resolution to be upped more and more. The 360 is the console with the biggest gfx system but the PS3 has a much more detailed cpu setup but there again CELL is multicore technology and we all know how multicore represents huge problems towards developers!

I think the PS3 and XBox 360 will be level pegged in terms of graphical output but personall Im in favour of the Wii, that tiny box with its ok graphics is strangely addictive, cute and just well amazing fun. I can play Wii Sports whilst drunk on that for ages :)

Mike
 
-Nick- said:
ah right cool. still yet to play the wii :(. so graphically would you say the 360 is equal to the 8800 or 7950gt or what? or does it surpass them all?
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8800 cards are bound to have more pixel pushing power than any console.
 
Hi

As with any budget/cutdown card your loosing all the performance of the card but still keeping the features of the 8800 GPU. Without waiting to see the power of these cards and how they benchmark its really not possible to compare them to a console.

Mike
 
The "bit" often used to refer to generations of console refers to the memory address bus NOT the processor's instruction set and is not a fair measure of the power of the console.

The SNES (best console ever made) has a 16bit memory address bus, not 32 as per the original post. SNES Information

You cannot accurately compare the XBOX360 and the PS3, since the 360 is based on a Power PC whilst the PS3 uses this new Cell technology. At the moment I think there's very little in it. The PS3 is twice the price of a 360 so in my opinion your money is better invested in a 360. On the other hand, the Wii is different from anything else around and is A LOT cheaper. After all, the PS3 and 360 are just mass produced mid-range PC's in a neat little package.
 
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The previous poster was quite correct. Let's not forget the Atari Jaguars rather spurious 64bit claims.

When we talk of '64bit' on current PC's we mean literally that the processor can handle 64 bits (0 and 1's) at a time. It's not the most important factor (it does give benefits to maths rounding precision and total addressable memory size)

Some console manufacturers in the past have even suggested that having two 32bit chips in a machine makes it a 64bit console!
 
mitor said:
Some console manufacturers in the past have even suggested that having two 32bit chips in a machine makes it a 64bit console!
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Again, the Jaguar 64 wasn't it? Are there any other examples you know of?
 
davejuk said:
The SNES (best console ever made) has a 16bit memory address bus, not 32 as per the original post.
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oh sorry typo i knew that like lol. i will back you up that te snes was amazing, i loved it so much i just had to get a emulator for my pc now i can play all the marios and class games that came with it :D
 
Emulators are never the same. I bagged a boxed snes street figher 2 edition console, and I keep buying the games from ebay for about £2-£3. Fantastic!
 
sadly that is true. i came across my old snes in the attic a while ago, but i remembered why i put it away, someone broke it :mad: :(
 
beast said:
Emulators are never the same. I bagged a boxed snes street figher 2 edition console, and I keep buying the games from ebay for about £2-£3. Fantastic!
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My US SNES was the best gaming purchase I ever made. Really miss it (it's in the attic b0rked). So many great games and the MarioKart/Streetfighter 2 tournaments with friends were extremely heated :p
 
beast said:
Emulators are never the same. I bagged a boxed snes street figher 2 edition console, and I keep buying the games from ebay for about £2-£3. Fantastic!
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Agreed. Get a copier unit for your SNES and just download the ROMs. There are a couple that even hook up to your PC, and others that allow you to connect a hard drive.
 
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