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PlayStation 2 CPU revealed?[02.16.99] » Sony unveils the tech specs and numbers for what will likely be the PSX2, and we're got all the digits. At the IEEE International Solid-State Circuit Conference in San Francisco, SCEI director Masakazu Suzouki revealed today a microprocessor and graphics chipset, for "high-end consumer electronics such as games and network applications," while constantly referring to videogame machines. The unconfirmed, but obvious implication is that the guts of the PSX2 have been unveiled to the gaming public. The processor will have both a CPU (central processing unit) and an FPU (floating point unit) and two Vector Processor Units (VPU0 and VPU1). The whole deal will work at 250 MHz with a 2 GB per second bus bandwidth. Additionally, half the processor's CPU power will be available while it is decompressing MPEG2 data. In theory, this could allow the playing of DVD-quality FMV simultaneous with the movement and maintenance of gameplay, somewhat similar to many scenes in Final Fantasy VII and VIII. The meat of the presentation were the 3D capabilities. For reference,
the Dreamcast can handle six million polygons without effects, whereas
the Voodoo 3 can handle nine million. Note that these figures are for
sheer graphical oomph, and don't take actually running a game, with AI,
music, textures, etc. into account. In any case, the PSX2 will handle: Bezier surfacing is a complex process used in high-end CG development, which essentially results in the designer creating a model, and the processor then building that model using as few polygons as possible. All in all, this looks like an impressive machine, though all Sony officials, including Phil Harrison and Andrew House (both VPs for SCEA) and Suzuoki all offered "no comments" when asked whether this would be the chipset for the PSX2. Industry pundits predict a formal announcement sometime in March.
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