Incredibly detailed XBOX article @ anandtech.com + PS2 comparison (super long) (1 Viewer)

[Kelly Scott Rickards]

This is the most detailed XBOX hardware article I have ever seen (16 pages)and is a FACINATING read....
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1561

 

[Dave Falasco]

Wow, that's good stuff! Thanks for the link. I'm looking forward to Part 2!

 

[Sam Posten]

Probably the ost important thing to be said in that article is that the reason that Xbox wont do 480p on DVD is due to Macrovision issues.

I'd be interested to find out what a Panasonic DVD player can do about Macrovision that Xbox cant.

sam

 

[Ryan Peter]

I like the fact it can handle 720p even if it can't offer 1080i.

 

[AndyVX]

Yup, very good article. I can't wait for part II though.

 

[Corey Hancock]

Looks like they posted Part II. Enjoy. http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1566&p=1
Corey

 

[Romier S]

I agree with the above. Both articles were great. Allot of good information (Almost too much)

 

[James D S]

Another great read! Thanks for the link. It should go a long way in helping anyone stuck on the fence about which system to buy.

Information is grand.

 

[todbnla]

Since I just got home with my own X-Box, this is the only part of the read that I like to see:
spolier's ahead as I cut out the punch line and put it in the spoiler.
A direct quote form the site shown above:

From what we've seen based on the launch titles that are currently available, the Xbox takes the crown in terms of visual appeal from games today. Titles such as Rogue Squadron II and Super Smash Brothers Melee for the GameCube do show off some of the Cube's power but the graphics quality does not match what titles like DOA3 are able to produce on the Xbox.
It's entirely too early to crown one platform a winner but based on specifications alone, Xbox is the more powerful console overall. Although the Flipper GPU's use of 1T-SRAM embedded into its die improves performance considerably, the overall package is not as powerful as the Intel/NVIDIA combination beneath the Xbox hood. Features such as real-time Dolby Digital Encoding as well as a very powerful programmable T&L core whose instruction sets have been publicly available for the past year now are only the tip of the iceberg. The inclusion of isochronous channels within the Xbox's HyperTransport link guarantee uninterrupted bandwidth to those tasks that require it which is very important when dealing with something like DD encoding, streaming off of the hard disk or network accesses.

And this is the only unit that truly does 5.1 audio in game playback

 

[Morgan Jolley]

The only thing is that all that power goes to waste without good games. If Halo and Sega as a third party developer are any hints, then the X-Box has all its bases covered.

 

[Kelley_B]

Sega as a third party developer are any hints, then the X-Box has all its bases covered.

I find it VERY VERY funny that you said that, especially as all you seem to do is bash Sega and the Dreamcast. If you look at the hardware in the DC you would realize that it and the XBox have a lot in common.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Kelley-

I don't bash the Dreamcast or Sega, I just express my honest opinion about both. Of the games I own for the DC, I like all of them (except maybe one) and got more than my money's worth out of it. Sega makes good games when they try (which they always do) and since a lot of their games are on the X-Box, then it should come out with a good library of games.

 

[Jason Handy]

I think Morgan is just trying to be more 'moderate" in light of a rough weekend on the Sega threads.

Back on topic. One of the things I wonder about with respect to X-box and Gamecube is disc storage capacity. The Gamecube used a smaller 3.1" disc to help alleviate pirating issues, but have only 1.5GB storage. On the other hand, X-box has a 9 GB storage capacity. My question is this: will this ever be an issue for Nintendo? I understand that multiple discs can be used but i wonder if Nintendo will end up overstretching its legs with the smaller capacity.

And, yes, I know that up until now, everything was made on CD with 650 MB capacity. But we are in a new era and the 256-bit game systems are a lot hungrier for data. Heck, PC games nowadays are asking for 1-2 GB installs, and I think storage will always be a funadamental parameter of a gaming system, be it PC or console. I also think that the X-box made a wise decision to implement the hard drive.

Jason