Bandwidth is what makes these GPUs under-utilised
Phawx explains very easily that Series S handheld is not possible due to this very issue
Phawx would be wrong in this case because they can use a 256bit bus to get to 268GB/s with 7500pmhz lpddr5x.
AMD is known for not providing such wider buses on there APUs. He mentioned the same thing in his video as well. He even says that for series S going wider in bus is important so that uncore could run at lower speeds but have same bandwidth.
Is it only for mobile APUs?
Xbox One, Xbox one x, xbox series x, PS4, PS4 Pro, and PS5 all have 256 or greater bus.
Mobile APUs
Thatās why it is an issue on a handheld device.
Due to economics. There shouldnāt be a technical reason for this.
Technical reason is power draw actually
May not be a big thing on laptopsā¦ But an issue for handhelds
After playing around with the ROG Allyā¦
People that suggests Windows handhelds are in any shape a viable alternative for portable Xbox is completely delusional.
Your run of the mill console player wonāt even be able to install the update for the BIOS.
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The console is for those players
Ally is for enthusiasts
Based on the leak that Xbox has 50% chance of being on arm, I think in the event they decide on arm, they should go ahead with an ARM based portable, even if itās only capable of Xbox One BC.
The reasons been.
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As I mentioned before they can emulate x86 with maybe a 5% efficiency loss per Appleās Rosetta. A cutting edge ARM CPU should easily be 2-3x the Xbox Oneās CPU performance, allowing for FPS boost.
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The next Switch will also be Arm based. As long as this Xbox is at minimum equivalent to the Switch 2, the console will get a lot of ports naturally from the Switch 2. Xbox first party will also have the option of porting to Switch 2 to gain a larger install base.
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All the handheld PC devices run AMD chips. An ARM based Xbox portable will run circles around them in battery life.
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Consider the work to build an arm based portable to lay the foundation for the next Xbox. Lessons from the HW, the firmware, the GDK, and from game development will ensure a smooth transition from x86 consoles to arm consoles.
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Xbox is gearing upto launch a mobile store as well. Snapdragon has also entered in thin laptop chips. Those chips can be used power handheld gaming devices.
Stars are aligning. They should do itā¦ Even if there are compromises on some games not being supported.
Resident Evil has been ported to ARM. Others games can too. Build the market place firstā¦ Gamers will come.
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Thatās the thing, if MS adds a HW x86 translation layer that has better than 90% efficiency compared to running x86 natively, then porting isnāt necessary.
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This is just my opinion but for xbox to succeed it needs a gaming mobile device.
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It has so much potential as a vehicle for Game Pass. The same visual target as the Series S would make developers excited to develop for both the S and this.
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Really think it needs to be a PC so devs donāt have to actually do anything. Adding in a third sku as a console even if it is similar to series s would not be a good plan. It would also limit the market for the device. Nobody is buying it outside the Xbox community.
Make it an Xbox pc handheld with gamepass library and Microsoft Windows store and suddenly itās a different game. But of course that would need some considerable OS work from Microsoft.
I just think a dedicated console handheld is not going to move the needle for Xbox.
I still think the best way for microsoft to handle it is to improve windwos OS in handheld mode and allow OEMs to create hardware. They could eventually create their own handheld like they did with surface, but I think risk is too big for a handheld that could be handled by others to take on risk
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Agree completely.
I even wonder if maybe the path forward for Microsoft is to create a Windows-compatible Xbox OS. Basically a re-skinned, and heavily customized version of Windows. It would then run on whatever console(s) they release, including handhelds.
It seems to me it would be much easier to roll out various hardware configurations, including handhelds and consoles of different capabilities, without forcing devs to develop for a multitude of SKUs.
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I think so long term. And make it open source, but they wonāt do thatā¦.
The operating system isnāt as big of a problem as the targeting multiple hardware configurations. This is the biggest reason why PC ports have been such a shitshow.
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To an extent but the issue with that is - letās say, for sake of argument Microsoft build a dedicated handheld OS based on windows that works like say steamOS does on the deck. Yes you can do full windows if you want but by default you are in a more console like os. To achieve that is a lot of effort on Microsoftās part. A lot of effort. Maybe not possible in the next few years. But letās imagine it wasā¦.
And say, ASUS then build a branded Xbox handheld deviceā¦ā¦whilst it removes the risk from Microsoft it also creates additional risk for the devices support. ASUS donāt have much incentive to push the device that hard since itās likely going to be a small profit margin (but automatically much more expensive than a similar device from Microsoft) and thus if it sells averagely then there is little reason for ASUS to support it. Hence it dents consumer confidence in such devicesā¦
Xbox putting the work in - having a popular device that they could subsidise the price on benefits them because it grows their ecosystem and potentially expands the gamers in their ecosystem.
The higher risk but much higher reward route. Whereas the licence OS our to other hardware manufacturers sounds better initially but also brings with it a much lower likelihood the device actually does much for MS.