Discussion About Gpx2's Specs And 2d Accelerator.

[RoboJoe32]

The idea of 200MHZ base for the main processor and having a beefy 2D accelerator is interesting, but I am curious about one thing.......

If it were to have 3D and 2D acceleration (think geforce lineup) would that open alot more possibilities in any way?

Call me a lunatic, but I think more could be possible if the second processor was actually indeed another processor and not an accelerator, or if it was a 2D/3D Accelerator/GPU.

One way you sacrafice a bit for more versitility, the other way you win both ways.

 

[Alpha2]

I suspect the only thing a 3d acc chip would do is make it easier to do things in 3D. that dosent mean it'd make Emmulation any easier though.

'Ferinstantce: You might get a PS1 emmulator that does the lighting and shadding correctly but it'd still run at 10 frames per second. Better visually but still unplayable.

 

[RoboJoe32]

I know the PC N64 emulators are pretty video reliant (Not just quality but speed wise)

S'kinda why I brought it up, I know it sounds un-earthly to have N64 run at playable speeds on 200+ MHZ and GPU, But the idea of two 200+MHZ chips running in succession seems intrigueing.

 

[Jarska333]

Well, they've been looking at usin 3D cards to calculate stuff lately, just like a regular CPU...

 

[TandeM]

GPX2 Internals Block Diagram (MMSP 2)

My understanding is that there will be the 2D and video processors in addition to the two ARM9 chips.

 

[Alpha2]

I suppose the idea of using the current set up would suggest they simpley wanted to make a stronger 2D machine with a little extra horspower to make sure you dont have to overclock to get something to run smoothly.

The way I see it is it's like how we can get SNES games to run but without transparancy and with sound taking a hit for the sake of onscreen animation, but with the 2d acc chip on top of the 200mhz you get to have the transparancy and sound is uneffectedd because the extra chip pushes the video speed up a notch.

Of course I'm no engineer so I can't say for certain if that's really how it works.

 

[RoboJoe32]

whoa! The hell? so in addition to dual CPUs it has the accelerator and some form of video processing?

 

[Jarska333]

May well be, that they use a cheapo-version, without most of the nifty stuff, if they use that setup at all. Has GPH confirmed that system?

 

[trooper]

My understanding is, There is one main cpu @200mhz and one 2d cpu/video accelerator also @200mhz.

Trooper

 

[TandeM]

May well be, that they use a cheapo-version, without most of the nifty stuff, if they use that setup at all. Has GPH confirmed that system?

​

Yes.

 

[shinneri]

May well be, that they use a cheapo-version, without most of the nifty stuff, if they use that setup at all. Has GPH confirmed that system?

​

Yes.

​

So their MMSP 2 is exactly like the one shown then?

 

[Alpha2]

I think I recall reading where someone mentioned the "host" (connectivity?) wasn't going to be active, also I see no reason for the Touch screen portion to be there or the Camera processor unless (likely) that's for built in image viewing.

 

[madmac]

I think 3d calculations need at least a fpu or a vector/matrix unit. its not the problem in 320x240 to draw fast enough. its the problem solve equations to know what pixel in what colour!

 

[Prophet]

According to the official specs page, there's 2 CPU's, and one of them is also the video co-processor. So it's not 2 CPU's plus a GPU. Just 2 CPU's.

http://www.gpx2.com/product/product_spec.asp

CPU Dual CPU Cores
ARM920T : Host processor
ARM940T : Video Coprocessor

 

[Alpha2]

The diagram shows the two ARMs but lists the 2D acc separatly so maybe it's not as important as the ARM chipsbut it's still not one of the two mentioned processors.

 

[pea]

The whole reason that GPH is going with the dual-core chip (the 2nd chip runs the video and 2d stuff) is exactly because it is ONE chip.

This makes it cheap, and very easy to deal with. That is the reason there is no 3d accellerator - it would have to be a seperate chip. Then there would be the interfacing between the chips to deal with, and also the increased production costs to manufacture the board with the extra complexity required.

I dare say that if a dual core ARM processor with built-in 3D was available (rather than 2d) at a reasonable cost, they would have chosen that one, but here we are.

And I don't mind. There are clever ways to get the 2D chip to help out with 3D anyway - 3D still needs to get to the framebuffer stage - it still needs alpha calculations for lighting, transparency and texture.. so the 2D chip will definately help. The dev's just have to get fancy

 

[Squidge]

I've seen GPH say that the second processor can do floating point operations for the main processor if required, although how much faster this is than doing it all on the primary processor is anyones guess until the machine is out in the open.

I dare say that if a dual core ARM processor with built-in 3D was available (rather than 2d) at a reasonable cost, they would have chosen that one, but here we are.

It's possible I suppose, the only thing close is replacing the ARM940 with a 3D accelerator: http://www.mesdigital.com/images/VR3D_BD_s.jpg

That one does seem to have both a 2D and 3D in the same chip tho' It all depends on how much access we get to this second chip (the 940).