Maes
I like big butts!
Posts: 10313
Registered: 07-06 |
Justince said:
Psx only had one processor, MIPS based. Saturn had 2 SH2 RISC processors.
I stand corrected. Still, the amount of features built-in the CPU itself (Geometry Transformation Engine, 66 MIPS, MDEC, 80 MIPS) made it quite competitive versus an early Pentium CPU in practical gaming applications, and that's without counting the capabilities of the external GPU chip. This led to the "paradox" of the "cheap game console" beating the CRAP out of anything but the most expensive Pentium-based computer one could buy at the time.
It was, in effect, a marvel of engineering of its time and for some years to come. Much more capable than the Pee-Cees single-CPU architecture, and more balanced than e.g. the N64 which came after it.
Compared to the previous generation of "next gen consoles" (32X, Sega CD, 3DO, Jaguar, Pippin, CD32, CDTV, CDi etc.) the PSX finally got the balance right. The former were essentially "multimedia machines" built around 16-bit Motorola or weak 32-bit ARM CPUs and a CD-ROM drive, with no other redeeming hardware features. No wonder they couldn't beat the Pee Cees at their own game, aka being generic and making up for lack of hardware features with brute force and continued upgrades.
The Saturn is worth a similar round of considerations, and had also interesting features of its own but, as we know, it flopped for its own reasons.
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12-07-12 15:36 
