Xbox Series S speculation - Could Microsoft use same APU for switch-like Surface tablet ?

Marees

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Speculation on Xbox Series S

At the very end of the video below, Tom from Moore's Law Is Dead suggests that Microsoft would be smart to use same apu chip for both Xbox Series S and a future Surface (gaming?) device


The AMD code name for this (RDNA2 ?) APU could be Cézanne (van gogh is rumored to be used in future apple device)

https://www.guru3d.com/news-story/next-generation-apus-from-amd-will-be-code-named-cézanne.html
I think it is quite possible that AMD can do a zen3 based chip similar in configuration to a rumored Series S. However I think at this point in time MS would still not have finalized the configuration for Xbox S apu. All we've heard so far is that it will have 4 tflops performance. But it will be a while yet before MS zeroes in on final spec

Or Microsoft could do a Nintendo switch & release both an Xbox & Surface gaming device using a zen 3 RDNA2 chip with appropriate power envelope suited to NUC (Xbox S) or Tablet (Surface gaming!?)
 
I wouldn't seriously entertain the thought of an APU able to meet series X on the cpu side being also switch like in portability.

The cpu has to be clock wise around the same in behavior to the 3.6//3.8 GHz constant Scarlett, this is not negotiable to deliver the proper experience with non bugged game code logic, and that alone dampens it working on a portable fashion since portables gain their battery life by doing smart throttling, trying to spend as much time as possible in a low power state.

That's also ignoring that even 1/3rd the gpu is in total a package much higher in power requirements than a ultrabook surface could use.

Can you make an amazing surface tablet with Renoir in general? Absolutely! And I bet that we will see one such being announced later on, but don't expect 5TF of rdna2 on it yet.
 
XBSX has a 400 watt+ PSU. No way in this reality that this APU, lives in a tablet.

But I would be all over it if they used it a SFF PC.

Heck just use the same HW/Case with a change to the UEFI, and vanilla Windows 10. That way you don't need any more R&D on the HW.
 
I wouldn't seriously entertain the thought of an APU able to meet series X on the cpu side being also switch like in portability.
XBSX has a 400 watt+ PSU. No way in this reality that this APU, lives in a tablet.

I am referring to a series S which is supposed to be 4 Teraflops & not 12 Teraflops like the series X

So it should be possible that whenever AMD releases an APU with RDNA2 igpu, it should be close to series S specs, so Microsoft can think of using same chip in both series S & surface devices
 
I am referring to a series S which is supposed to be 4 Teraflops & not 12 Teraflops like the series X

So it should be possible that whenever AMD releases an APU with RDNA2 igpu, it should be close to series S specs, so Microsoft can think of using same chip in both series S & surface devices

Actual general purpose APU are limited by memory bandwidth and will not approach the capabilities of that rumored console.

And that rumored console chip would still consume too much power to be used in a tablet.
 
I am referring to a series S which is supposed to be 4 Teraflops & not 12 Teraflops like the series X

So it should be possible that whenever AMD releases an APU with RDNA2 igpu, it should be close to series S specs, so Microsoft can think of using same chip in both series S & surface devices


I know what it is, do you know how consoles in a family are designed? They are designed with fixed cpu and variable gpu in the same family and I'm pointing that the way the cpu needs to fit the current Scarlett specification it would not work as a portable**.

Fixed static cpu speed instead of smart throttling is required for the points I raised about the game code logic needing to behave in the same way, you could shave a couple mhz for the 1/4th resolution and still it won't last long enough prior to accounting for the power draw of a 5TF gpu and yes it needs a bit more than the 1/3rd because not every load scale perfectly linear neither when going up the resolution nor down it.


If you change the form factor from a surface to a proper laptop it would work and that would be the proper series s, why do you need a bigger form factor? For once heat dissipation, the increased volume will allow a much more robust heat dissipation than a thin surface tablet, for the other would be proper battery life.

Edit:**
I'm referring for a portable of the ultra thin surface format.
 
Or you can do what Sony did with the Vita and stream your games from the main console to the portable if you want to play those or play lower specced native games.
 
I just saw this month old post today GFX1040 refers to VanGogh Lite. Could this chip be used for Xbox Series S !?

比屋定さんの戯れ言@Komachi (@KOMACHI_ENSAKA) Tweeted:
https://twitter.com/KOMACHI_ENSAKA/status/1233129072227520512?s=20

https://twitter.com/KOMACHI_ENSAKA/status/1240510815960088578?s=20

ETcuAuXUUAAeFtA.png



via Segment Next
https://segmentnext.com/2020/04/01/amd-van-gogh-custom-apu-will-use-rdna2-architecture/
 
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Another old post from 6 months ago

Could Sparkman be AMD's codename for dev/test kits for Xbox series S !?

I understand that there are absolutely no details whatsoever for the cheaper Lockhart box beyond a potential codename for the processor (Sparkman - again, this is unconfirmed). In fact, what little we can glean about Series X from this leak suggests a top-end, premium-priced console that practically demands some kind of cheaper, mass market stablemate - and with that in mind, it's curious that nothing substantial about that chip has leaked
— EuroGamer

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...laystation-5-xbox-series-x-spec-leak-analysed

https://twitter.com/chiakokhua/status/1181577204263612417?s=20

EGXOMsUXoAAjjPr.jpeg
 
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XBSX has a 400 watt+ PSU. No way in this reality that this APU, lives in a tablet.

But I would be all over it if they used it a SFF PC.

Heck just use the same HW/Case with a change to the UEFI, and vanilla Windows 10. That way you don't need any more R&D on the HW.

An update 7nm Fenghuang would be a pretty sweet piece of tech. With low enough clocks and RDN2, it doesn't seem impossible.
 
Some new Lockhart leaks:
https://www.guru3d.com/news-story/x...7-5gb-of-usable-ram-and-a-4-tflops-gpu,2.html

It looks to be a strong 1080p machine and may edge out the OneX in most scenarios based on the specs:

CPU - most likely it will be slower than the Series X flagship, but come on, it will not have any problems destroying the Jaguar CPU in the One X. At lower res, this was the biggest issue for the last gen flagship.

Ram size - Leaks show 7.5 GB which is 6 GB under the Series X or possibly 10 GB total. Possibly the only place where it falls short of the One X. Should still be enough at 1080p, though.

Bandwidth - If it is 10GB, that would hint towards 320 bit gddr6, which would be plenty fast.

GPU - The current leaks shows 4 TFlops of power. At first glance, this seems much weaker than the 6 Tflops of the OneX, but 1 TFlop of RDNA2 is much more potent than 1 TFlop of Polaris. Best guess is they should be close in actual gaming performance.

All in all, could be a great system if the price is right.
 
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