Rumor: Leaked 3DS Hardware Specs Prove Its Power

[Ayjona]

Did you miss the part about the dual core processor?
Coding for multi-core systems is a pain in the ass, but if the software is designed properly, a dual core system runs about 90% faster than a single core one of the same clock speed.
(of course, if coded badly, it can run worse. - double edged sword really.)

Granted, it's only 266 mhz, so ideal case it'd be about the equivalent of a 500 mhz processor or so.

However, the reality is, clock speeds and battery life are closely related...
Raise the clock speed, and you drastically increase the power requirements.
Tell me, how long does a current generation Iphone's battery last when doing demanding 3D graphics?

This has often been a fatal weakness of Nintendo's handheld competitors, so I suspect they're keen to avoid copying their competitor's mistakes...

But yeah, the stats don't sound the best on paper, but a lot depends on the way a device is used.

After all, a typical gaming PC will murder a console in terms of specs, yet you can't necessarily say the apparent performance difference reflects the difference in stats.

No, I didn't care about the dual core processor. My point was that a comparison to a 2007 device is peculiar, and puts the 3DS in a bad light. The dual processor does not factor into that conveyance. (Although I must say that an ideal case of 500 MHz still sounds rather lacking to me, since both iPhones, WM7 and Android devices come with processors close to or at 1 GHz these days.)

As for battery life, I'd take power over longevity any day, since opportunities abound to charge whatever handheld device I choose to bring with me.

And I must say that most of the time, the apparent difference between console games and their PC counterparts seems to reflect the difference in specs rather acutely. I've yet to see a console game that can come close to the same title run on a gaming PC.

But yes, I fully expect the 3DS to outperform its' own tech specs, so I do agree with you in that regard. If only Nintendo and Sony could realize that proper online gaming requires a constant internet connection. This is the stopper that makes me default to the Android and iOS platforms for all my gaming needs. Being able to just pick up my smartphone and play an adventure in an MMO with a few friends/execute a few moves or commands in an asynchronous strategy game against a pal/go head to head with people from all over the world in an action game/purchase a new title directly from my device and start playing within a few minutes is more fun and rewarding than any disconnected single player game, and a trend that is growing, avalanche-style. Strange that the (previously) dominant makers of handhelds completely fail to appraise the appeal of this element...

 

[The Great Zegrool]

...RAM in the current DS with a total of 64MB...

I honestly misread that as 64GB of ram. I thought the universe had gone crazy while I was on vacation.

Damn lysdexia messin' up mah readan.

 

[Electrogecko]

I've gotta say, I really have no idea what any of this means. But I don't care!!!

 

[Jared]

Oh my. Thats quite some power for the lil device. Heh, Nice leak!

 

[Rainforce]

or maybe Ill wait till the 3ds lite or the 3ds micro or the 3ds XL or the 3dsi// would you please stop fucking one upping your own shit god damnit.

thats Nintendo humor for you. one-upping. haha.
...
*cries*

 

[Unrulyhandbag]

The 3DS's processors appear to put it close to the iPhone, which runs on a single 412MHz ARM11, but the 3DS can unleash dual cores on games without having to worry about running an operating system in the background.

That was the first-gen iPhone, from 2007. Rather sad comparison. And curious. Would not comparing the 3DS to contemporary devices be more telling?

The current iPhone model runs an ARM Cortex-A8 Apple A4, at 800 MHz - 1 GHz. The 512 mb is another point where the iPhone 4 has drastically different specs to the 3DS.

Of course, the graphics chip, buses and less apparent specs are probably just as important in determining the 3DS' performance. Let's hope they are not as outdated as the processor and memory specs.

Comparing those specs is hardly fair though.
How much is an Iphone 4 when not bundled with network contract? in the UK its around £600; about three times the maximum people will pay for a portable console. Apple portables are only worth buying when subsidised and running apples OS is a major factor in the required power for an apple device.

The hardware isn't old in the 3DS but it's all set to very low clock rates and why did they drop Nvidias latest portable graphics? I can only assume battery life was a major consideration for those hardware settings.
The ram is probably enough considering the screen resolutions and given the games we've been shown I doubt that it's going to be an issue for a few years.

The major issue is the PSP which will certainly make the 3DS's specs an embarrassment with it's next release as all it need to beat it atm is a newer graphics processor. The decider will be which will have the better games, the more friendly price and if 3d is enough of a pull.

 

[chris89300]

My old N95 8G was far more powerful, this is just worthless. Maybe it's enough for the games, but it wouldn't surprise me if it would lag like hell when browsing, for example.

 

[interspark]

hmmm, hardly the story of the year, the 3DS is better than the DS, somehow i think i already knew that

 

[Aurgelmir]

*sigh*

I'm still waiting for those battery specs.......

That is in my opinion what holds any hand held device back these days.
Look at the Iphone (which was mentioned in the article), it has a crappy battery life.

And no turning off things like 3G, WiFi and edge isn't really and option, for a "smart phone" is it?

So yeah battery life = priority One for most tech these days I say.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Nintendo's like MacGyver, it can make a nuke out of a paper clip and a belt buckle.

Apple know how to make things shiny and expensive, but not much else. If Nintendo can do SF4 on a handheld and it looks as good as it does on the consoles, then who cares how "dated" the specs appear to be.

 

[OceanRunner]

These tech specs go right over my head. Hopefully they'll do a side-by-side comparison.

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

Judging by the tech, I'm guessing the thing will be priced at 200 bucks, 250 max on launch. This tech is pretty old so it's cheap to produce, and 200 dollars is a reasonable selling price for a portable gaming device like this.

Anybody have any idea what all this means?

It means that all those devs claiming this thing could pump out current gen graphics were either full of shit or they have some impressive game development skills. These specs make it roughly the same power as a PSP.

I'm thinking it's the latter. Remember the GameCube specs wise wasn't supposed to be amazing, but for it's time it could pump out games comparable to an Xbox title (Rogue Leader, Resident Evil 4). Let's wait and see what they say, we've got under a week.

The only thing the iPhone puts to shame is itself.

Proof that you should never eat or drink while reading posts, that nearly made me choke.

 

[-Seraph-]

Judging by the tech, I'm guessing the thing will be priced at 200 bucks, 250 max on launch. This tech is pretty old so it's cheap to produce, and 200 dollars is a reasonable selling price for a portable gaming device like this.

Anybody have any idea what all this means?

It means that all those devs claiming this thing could pump out current gen graphics were either full of shit or they have some impressive game development skills. These specs make it roughly the same power as a PSP.

I'm thinking it's the latter. Remember the GameCube specs wise wasn't supposed to be amazing, but for it's time it could pump out games comparable to an Xbox title (Rogue Leader, Resident Evil 4). Let's wait and see what they say, we've got under a week.

The only thing the iPhone puts to shame is itself.

Proof that you should never eat or drink while reading posts, that nearly made me choke.

Oh I have no doubt that the thing can pump out some pretty games, but claiming it to be able to show off near current gen graphics sounds a little too far-fetched. And remember I'm sure the Gamecube was also the most powerful system at the time if I remember correctly (could be wrong).

I mean the hardware speaks for itself, near current gen graphics it will not pump out. But whatever, there is more to a system than horsepower.

 

[CrystalShadow]

[snip.]

However, the reality is, clock speeds and battery life are closely related...
Raise the clock speed, and you drastically increase the power requirements.
Tell me, how long does a current generation Iphone's battery last when doing demanding 3D graphics?

This has often been a fatal weakness of Nintendo's handheld competitors, so I suspect they're keen to avoid copying their competitor's mistakes...

[snip.]

As for battery life, I'd take power over longevity any day, since opportunities abound to charge whatever handheld device I choose to bring with me.

[snip]

Ah. Now here I may be in the minority, but I find it a major nuisance.
Having a digital video camera with a battery life of about 1 hour, a laptop, which when running at full power lasts only 1.5 hours, and several other devices,
I can't agree with the idea that easy access to charging opertunities is a given.

Then again, I have made 8-14 hour journeys on average 4-6 times a year, and ones twice that long, all with little or no prospect of recharging a device along the way.

(and even with my camera, there's rarely a chance to recharge it when it's actually being use., so I've resorted to buying lots of spare batteries for it.)

From that experience, I know that anything less than 8 hours of use between recharges is a serious headache.
4 is about the minimum if you can easily get to a recharging location. (This is about what my laptop did when new, if I turned everything down to minimum performance. - And it was about sufficient to make a short trip somewhere and watch a dvd, or do a little bit of work.
But it soon led to a useless and heavy object in my bag.)

For longer trips, it's really annoying to have your battery run out. And doubly so if the device has a 'built-in' battery...

Back in the days when AA batteries in devices were common, you could just replace them.
It'd take about 1 minute.

Now, a lot of devices have batteries that cannot easily be removed, and are specialised (and thus, expensive, and difficult to find) just for that device.

As a result, having a flat battery now means finding a charging socket and being tied to that location for several hours.

I can give a simple comparison of the ocnsequences for me even with moving from my Game Boy Color, to the Game Boy Advance SP I replaced it with.

The Game boy color used 2 AA batteries. I used rechargable ones, but AA batteries are easy to get just about anywhere. - And a pair of AA alkalines lasted 29 hours in 1 test.
So, if the batteries ran out, I could get a new pair easily, and replace them within about 1 minute, then keep going. Even if I was in the middle of a journey.

You could argue about the cost of constant replacement batteries, but that's what rechargable AA's were made for. (I saw the Sony 'move' controller's website recently, and it boasted about it's built-in rechargable battery, compared to the Wii's AA's, and how this was somehow better - Well, a motion-sensitive controller cannot effectively be used with a cord attached.
And an in-shop demonstration made it blatantly clear that the 'move' controller could not be used while charging. I use rechargable AA's for my Wii remotes, and while it takes upwards of 18 hours to charge a pair, I can charge them will using a completely different pair for my remote... Thus, the supposed 'benefit', is actually an impediment.)

The game boy advance SP has a built-in rechargable lithium Ion battery. It's technically removable, but replacing it requires a screwdriver, and, an actual replacement battery, which is very hard to get hold of.
The battery life, in an ideal case is 14 hours, but drops to 8 if you have the backlight turned on.
Once the battery is flat, you need 3 hours to recharge it.
And since the device itself is the recharger, while you can use the device while it's recharging, you cannot move more than 2 meters from a power socket while you do so.

And on most journeys you'll have a hard time finding a socket. Let alone one you can afford to be in the vicinity of for several hours...

But, hey. What do I know right? Surely nobody else needs their 'portable' devices to actually, you know, be portable?

I would much prefer to get away from all these annoying modern devices with proprietary lithium Ion batteries.
Doubly so where the batteries aren't really removable without a big hassle involved.

But, since standardised rechargeable batteries that actually deliver decent battery life are pretty hard to make.
Not to mention that all these specialised batteries in devices these days are tailored to deliver voltages and currents that are quite specific to the device.

even so, it drives me nuts sometimes.

Anyway, sorry for the rant. But I just felt the need to point out that different people need different things.

 

[AceDiamond]

I love how people keep comparing the 3DS to smartphones. Let me make something clear. A phone has to do a lot more than just play games, and often has an OS running on it. the 3DS is not hampered by such things and thus it is stupid to compare it to a phone, just like it's stupid to say the iPhone is the second best-selling handheld of this generation because that assumes everyone that owns one bought ONE game for it.

Then again I'm not surprised really, people are going "hurr hurr low specs" completely forgetting it's a fucking handheld. It's not like it's competing with the PS3 or anything. The Escapist: Where Logic Goes to Kill Itself.