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Gaming System Comparison (X-BOX, PS2, GameCube) What's under the hood?
Here are some specs I cooked up for those of you deciding between which system you'd buy. I'm trying to decide myself and did some research so I thought I'd share. Personally after discovering these specs I would go with an X-BOX. I know PS2 has games like SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs. But X-BOX has games like Halo 2, Ghost Recon, Medal of Honor and Rainbow 6. I could compare games all day, but in the end the X-BOX lives up to the same amount of sweet games as PS2. As for classic games like Metroid Prime, MarioKart DoubleDash, Mario, StarFox, Zelda, 1080 Avalanche, etc.. If I really had the money I'd get the GameCube also.. just for the kid inside favorites. Whatever you choose, I'm sure you won't complain.. now you compare specs and tell me which system you'd buy. (or which system you already have) If you have both X-BOX and PS2, or an X-BOX and GameCube it would be interesting to hear how they compare. So give some input you gamers!
X-BOX:
- A media communications processor (MCP), also from Nvidia, that enables broadband connectivity, and a 10/100-Mbps (megabits per second) built-in Ethernet that allows you to use your cable modem or DSL to play games online (56K Optional)
- An NVIDIA GeForce 250-MHz graphics processing unit (GPU), delivering superior graphic performance.
- An Intel 733MHz Intel Pentium P3 processor, the most powerful CPU of any console.
- 64MB Samsung double-data-rate (DDR) SDRAM (memory)
- An internal hard drive (8 or 10 gig) [I've researched and seen both], for massive storage of game information — a first in the console gaming industry.
- CD-ROM 24x / DVD-ROM 5x
- Polygon rendering: 300 million Polygons per Second
- Resolution higher than the highest HDTV on the market
- Four game controller ports that allow easy multiplayer gaming and enable other peripherals, ranging from game pads to voice-activated headsets.
- 128-bit / Bus speed: 6.4-Gbyte/s
- The cost-of-goods-sold for Xbox is an estimated $323, including accessories (table). With a cost-to-produce in excess of the $299 retail price, the Xbox is clearly the profitless hook to entice purchases of high-margin software and accessories
- A custom 3-D audio processor that supports 256 audio channels and Dolby AC3 encoding
- 8-MB removable memory card
- HDTV support and an Expansion port
- 4.7-GB CD/DVD games
Playstation 2:
- 300MHz processor
- Dolby Digital 5.1 theater-quality sound
- RDRAM (32 MB memory)
- CD-ROM 24x / DVD-ROM 4x
- Polygon rendering: 75 million Polygons per Second
- 2 memory card slots, 2 USB ports & a FireWire port (called iLink by Sony)
- 128-bit / Bus speed: 3.2 GB per second
- Graphics Synthesizer: 150 MHz
- Up to 8 controllers (optional)
- 4.7-GB DVD/CD games / The CDs are just as susceptible to scratches and intense heat as regular audio CDs -- even more so in fact, since a scratch on a game CD can make it totally unusable
Nintendo Game Cube:
- IBM Power PC "Gekko" 485 MHz
- 0.18 micron IBM copper wire technology
- An ATI 162-MHz graphics chip, called "Flipper".
- 128-bit / Bus transfer rate: 2.6 GB per second
- Image processing functions: Fog, subpixel anti-aliasing, 8 hardware lights, alpha blending, virtual texture design, multi-texturing, bump mapping, environment mapping, MIP mapping, bilinear filtering, trilinear filtering, anisotropic filtering, real-time hardware texture decompression (S3TC), real-time decompression of display list, HW 3-line deflickering filter.
- Polygon rendering: 12 million Polygons per Second
- Memory (40MB) (24 MB 1T-SRAM, 16 MB of 100-MHz DRAM)
- Two high speed serial ports (It allow users to connect to an online network with either a Modem Adapter or a Broadband Adapter) [or maybe even both] (also connects PDAs and digital cameras and some printers)
- A high speed parallel port (for Printers, Scanners, CD burners, External hard drives, Iomega Zip removable drives, Network adapters & Tape backup drives)
- Up to 4 controllers (Wavebird wireless RF game controller [sold separately])
- Analog and digital audio/video outputs
- GameCube uses 1.5-GB proprietary optical discs with a diameter of 8 cm (3.14 inches) [compared to PlayStation2's 12 cm (4.72 inches) compact discs)
- One thing the GameCube does have over the competition is its ability to interact with the Game Boy Advance (GBA), Nintendo's handheld system. The GBA plugs directly into the GameCube's controller port to allow the two systems to communicate with select games. In May of 2003, Nintendo will release an accessory that will let you play Game Boy games on a TV, through the GameCube
Price compare
- X-BOX: $179.99 (comes with Tetris World, Starwars & a month of X-BOX Live, free along with the controller and system) [also plays DVD's and CD's]
- Playstation 2: $179.99 (comes with a playable demo disc, and one controller) [also plays DVD's and CD's]
- Nintendo GameCube: $99.99 (comes in silver, blue, gold, purple and probably some colors I havn't seen. also comes with one controller) [does not play DVD's and CD's]
X-BOX:
- A media communications processor (MCP), also from Nvidia, that enables broadband connectivity, and a 10/100-Mbps (megabits per second) built-in Ethernet that allows you to use your cable modem or DSL to play games online (56K Optional)
- An NVIDIA GeForce 250-MHz graphics processing unit (GPU), delivering superior graphic performance.
- An Intel 733MHz Intel Pentium P3 processor, the most powerful CPU of any console.
- 64MB Samsung double-data-rate (DDR) SDRAM (memory)
- An internal hard drive (8 or 10 gig) [I've researched and seen both], for massive storage of game information — a first in the console gaming industry.
- CD-ROM 24x / DVD-ROM 5x
- Polygon rendering: 300 million Polygons per Second
- Resolution higher than the highest HDTV on the market
- Four game controller ports that allow easy multiplayer gaming and enable other peripherals, ranging from game pads to voice-activated headsets.
- 128-bit / Bus speed: 6.4-Gbyte/s
- The cost-of-goods-sold for Xbox is an estimated $323, including accessories (table). With a cost-to-produce in excess of the $299 retail price, the Xbox is clearly the profitless hook to entice purchases of high-margin software and accessories
- A custom 3-D audio processor that supports 256 audio channels and Dolby AC3 encoding
- 8-MB removable memory card
- HDTV support and an Expansion port
- 4.7-GB CD/DVD games
Playstation 2:
- 300MHz processor
- Dolby Digital 5.1 theater-quality sound
- RDRAM (32 MB memory)
- CD-ROM 24x / DVD-ROM 4x
- Polygon rendering: 75 million Polygons per Second
- 2 memory card slots, 2 USB ports & a FireWire port (called iLink by Sony)
- 128-bit / Bus speed: 3.2 GB per second
- Graphics Synthesizer: 150 MHz
- Up to 8 controllers (optional)
- 4.7-GB DVD/CD games / The CDs are just as susceptible to scratches and intense heat as regular audio CDs -- even more so in fact, since a scratch on a game CD can make it totally unusable
Nintendo Game Cube:
- IBM Power PC "Gekko" 485 MHz
- 0.18 micron IBM copper wire technology
- An ATI 162-MHz graphics chip, called "Flipper".
- 128-bit / Bus transfer rate: 2.6 GB per second
- Image processing functions: Fog, subpixel anti-aliasing, 8 hardware lights, alpha blending, virtual texture design, multi-texturing, bump mapping, environment mapping, MIP mapping, bilinear filtering, trilinear filtering, anisotropic filtering, real-time hardware texture decompression (S3TC), real-time decompression of display list, HW 3-line deflickering filter.
- Polygon rendering: 12 million Polygons per Second
- Memory (40MB) (24 MB 1T-SRAM, 16 MB of 100-MHz DRAM)
- Two high speed serial ports (It allow users to connect to an online network with either a Modem Adapter or a Broadband Adapter) [or maybe even both] (also connects PDAs and digital cameras and some printers)
- A high speed parallel port (for Printers, Scanners, CD burners, External hard drives, Iomega Zip removable drives, Network adapters & Tape backup drives)
- Up to 4 controllers (Wavebird wireless RF game controller [sold separately])
- Analog and digital audio/video outputs
- GameCube uses 1.5-GB proprietary optical discs with a diameter of 8 cm (3.14 inches) [compared to PlayStation2's 12 cm (4.72 inches) compact discs)
- One thing the GameCube does have over the competition is its ability to interact with the Game Boy Advance (GBA), Nintendo's handheld system. The GBA plugs directly into the GameCube's controller port to allow the two systems to communicate with select games. In May of 2003, Nintendo will release an accessory that will let you play Game Boy games on a TV, through the GameCube
Price compare
- X-BOX: $179.99 (comes with Tetris World, Starwars & a month of X-BOX Live, free along with the controller and system) [also plays DVD's and CD's]
- Playstation 2: $179.99 (comes with a playable demo disc, and one controller) [also plays DVD's and CD's]
- Nintendo GameCube: $99.99 (comes in silver, blue, gold, purple and probably some colors I havn't seen. also comes with one controller) [does not play DVD's and CD's]
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