(05-11-2009, 07:18 PM)Sythedragon Wrote: ironic considering the PS2 has an ATI GPU.
You are wrong
PS2 doesn't use ATI nor Nvidia GPU
And it wouldnt matter anyway, pcsx2 use high level emulation, it generate objects, textures and flush them into directx api functions and it doesnt matter if original hardware used ati, nvidia or whatever - it render things in its own way and whitin limits of PC OS.
Nope Nope I think the Gamecube was an ATI design but the PS2's GS is basically a souped up original playstation GPU. Lacks a lot of cool features but was great at pushing pixels and polys.
Hi. Let's stop making up stuff and consult the great oracle of information, Google! Best of all, Google works for free, so any of us can use it, assuming we know how to type (and if we didn't, we wouldn't be posting random non-facts, eh?).
Where oh where did the PS2's GPU come from? Why Sony, amazingly enough. They didn't outsource it at all. So you could consider it a souped up Playstation GPU since that, too, was an in-house development. Although really the two have nothing in common.
I quote from http://www.gamespot.com/news/6146891.html: "TOKYO--As a part of its corporate downsizing and ongoing layoffs, Sony will be dissolving the research laboratory that developed the PlayStation 2 graphics chip. The company today announced it will close down the Sony-Kihara Research Center in Tokyo by the end of June."
05-14-2009, 04:55 AM (This post was last modified: 05-14-2009, 04:57 AM by Air.)
Well there's a big difference between designing a GPU's functions, features, and general memory schemes, and stamping the ICs. I had no doubt Sony out-sourced the IC design and chip fabrication process, but that's only a small portion of the work involved in designing a capable piece of hardware.
Technically, according to the article you linked, the actual firm was ALTIUS Solutions:
"The firm was established in August 2002, but the business model used was from an earlier incarnation, as ALTIUS Solutions Inc of the US, established in Silicon Valley in 1998."
Furthermore, Altius went through 2 or 3 other mergers before being effectively disbanded in 2001 to reform in 2002 as Alchip. Pretty volatile little tech corp. The only part of the GS that Altius produced was the main IC, and it's questionable how much actual design on Altius' part went into it. As best as I could determine, Altius was a really small company at the time, and the only things I could find attributed to them are two Sony chips -- and when Sony's contracts dries up they merged, split, and disbanded in short order. So even if they weren't technically part of Sony, they were pretty well still just there to serve Sony's immediate needs.
(05-14-2009, 04:55 AM)Air Wrote: Well there's a big difference between designing a GPU's functions, features, and general memory schemes, and stamping the ICs. I had no doubt Sony out-sourced the IC design and chip fabrication process, but that's only a small portion of the work involved in designing a capable piece of hardware.
Technically, according to the article you linked, the actual firm was ALTIUS Solutions:
"The firm was established in August 2002, but the business model used was from an earlier incarnation, as ALTIUS Solutions Inc of the US, established in Silicon Valley in 1998."
Furthermore, Altius went through 2 or 3 other mergers before being effectively disbanded in 2001 to reform in 2002 as Alchip. Pretty volatile little tech corp. The only part of the GS that Altius produced was the main IC, and it's questionable how much actual design on Altius' part went into it. As best as I could determine, Altius was a really small company at the time, and the only things I could find attributed to them are two Sony chips -- and when Sony's contracts dries up they merged, split, and disbanded in short order. So even if they weren't technically part of Sony, they were pretty well still just there to serve Sony's immediate needs.
air, i didn't meant to start a fight about the history of some long forgotten sony joint venture my point was just that there was indeed a name besides ati, nvidia or sony involved in the design of the gs. nothing more really. and you're absolutely right, the economical independence of altius/alchip/whatever at that time is more than questionable.
(05-14-2009, 06:11 AM)KrazyTrumpeter05 Wrote: The Google knows all. The Google will quench our thirst for knowledge. We must worship The Google!
But srsly, good internet detective work, I always wondered about all the hardware info, but was never motivated enough to look it up myself.
it already found us (attached snap) ALL GLORY TO THE GOOGLETOAD!!!