FEATURES MPU("Microprocessor Unit")* IBM Power PC "Gekko".
* Manufacturing Process 0.18 microns Copper Wire Technology
* Clock Frequency 405 MHz.
* CPU Capacity 925 Dmips (Dhrystone 2.1).
* Internal Data Precision 32bit Integer & 64bit Floating-point.
* External Bus Bandwidth 1.6GB/second(Peak).
* External Bus Bandwidth 1.6GB/second(Peak) (32bit address, 64bit data bus 202.5MHz).
* Internal Cache L1: Instruction 32KB, Data 32KB (8 way) L2: 256KB (2 way).
* Internal Cache L1: Instruction 32KB, Data 32KB (8 way) L2: 256KB (2 way).
* System LSI "Flipper".
* Manufacturing Process 0.18 microns NEC Embedded DRAM Process.
* Embedded Frame Buffer Approx. 2MB.
* Embedded Frame Buffer Approx. 2MB Sustainable Latency : 5ns (1T-SRAM).
* Embedded Texture Cache Approx. 1MB Sustainable Latency : 5ns (1T-SRAM).
* Texture Read Bandwidth 12.8GB/second (Peak).
* Main Memory Bandwidth 3.2GB/second (Peak).
* Color, Z Buffer Each is 24bits.
* Image Processing Function Fog, Subpixel Anti-aliasing, HW Light x8, Alpha Blending, Virtual Texture Design, Multi-texture Mapping/Bump/Environment Mapping, MIPMAP, Bilinear Filtering, Real-time Texture Decompression (S3TC), etc.
* Other Real-time Decompression of Display List, HW Motion Compensation Capability.
*The Gekko MPU integrates the power PC CPU into a custom, game-centric chip.
expanded informationThe Nintendo 64 was a highly advanced piece of hardware. However, because it had such superior capabilities, developers probably felt as if it was a "challenge" for them to produce for it. Because of this, along with complicating software development, N64 gained a reputation of being a difficult system on which to develop games.
Additionally, in response to the demand for new types of entertainment from users in the game trade, the scale of games became larger, and frequently special adjustments to software had to be made. This came back to haunt the developers in the form of development costs and it would not be an exaggeration to say that it made software development more challenging.
This type of problem, if not solved, could have a dramatic effect on the succeess of the game business.
Nintendo decided to focus on solving this issue by creating the Gamecube with the purpose of realizing the highest level of performance and to enhance the productivity of software development. This was Nintendo's vision of what a next generation game machine should do.
Instead of going for the highest possible performance, which does not contribute to software development, Nintendo created a developer-friendly next generation TV game machine that maintained above-standard capabilities.
In order to accomplish this, Nintendo has painstakingly removed the "bottlenecks" which hinder an efficient system. They also introduced 1T-RAM technology, which has a minimum of delays, into the main memory and the Graphics LSI Mixed Memory. Also, secondary cache memory with a large capacity was implemented in the MPU. With this combination Nintendo succeeded at creating reliable functionality that can be used with actual games.
The Nintendo GameCube can create worlds in which players can enjoy the feeling of actually touching the "worlds" created by the software. In addition, players benefit by building a bond with the game and characters in it.
The NINTENDO GAMECUBE carries on the "DNA" of Nintendo games and gave birth to a new kind of entertainment that surpasses existing concepts of what great gaming is.
The "New Generation of Entertainment" in the 21st Century starts right here.
Games 
Tue Apr 17, 2007 9:17 am
