Nintendo Wii Hardware Specifications
Sunday, June 25th, 2006
Nintendo revealed the hardware specifications for their Nintendo Wii by adding a page in their Wii’s website. Even though some details are not properly given, it’s very informative. It has details about the size, controls, appearance, virtual console and many other features. Nintendo Wii in size is approximately equal to three DVD cases. This gives a great advantage for user as it can be added easily to the current entertainment setup. Wiimote brings leisure as one can place it anywhere according to his lifestyle. Its design makes it a natural addition and can be placed horizontally or vertically.
The Nintendo Wii contains 512MB of internal flash memory, two USB 2.0 ports and built in Wi-Fi capability. Also there is a slot for the SD memory card, enabling players to expand the internal memory. Single self-loading media bay plays single or double 12 centimeter optical discs for Wii. Also it has ability to play Nintendo GameCube discs. The CPU, code named “Broadway” is jointly developed and manufactured by IBM. It is made with a 90 nm SOI CMOS process. The Graphics Processing Unit is being developed with ATI. (more…)
Several weeks ago, ATI took new stand by claiming that their ABI partners were free to overclock any GPU in the ATI X1000 series. Last year, a similar statement about the X1800 cards came up from ATI. This is the first official open authorization from ATI to overclock any current generation board. An interesting claim came forward in the documentation that ATI partners are not allowed to underclock ASICs. It’s a drawback for those who want to be creative. With passive cooling, they still have to underclock on their own. Also, ATI claims that thermal damage will not be covered by RMA. The blown internal fuses in the GPU will notify RMA teams if the GPU has been stressed too hard. NVIDIA, on the other hand has an open policy on manufacturer overclocks. They are also are allowed to push clocks as far as they want. Many other companies have been selling overclocked cards for many ages now. This news was well received by the fans of ATI. Some joked about it that like they were waiting for permission from ATI that they can test their cards beyond specifications. Referring to thermal damage not being covered by RMA, many people claimed that this was a good business plan. They state that ATI intentionally wants them to break their cards by testing the overclock. So eventually what ATI is doing is: