I’ve recently got a new mini PC and am surprised by the milage I’ve gotten out of a Radeon 780M. AMD is doing alright with integrated graphics.
While it’s true that consoles don’t have a dedicated GPU slot the way desktop pc’s do, their architecture is actually closer to that of a laptop where the GPU die is soldered directly onto the motherboard. Consoles are specialised devices meaning they are optimised for specific tasks which explains why they perform better in some games than pc’s with similar specs.
Now the Nvidia chips in the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 are a different story since they are more like the SoC’s you find in smartphones and tablets. That’s actually impressive, but there’s a definite difference in performance compared to more high end machines.
But modern consoles are just x86 CPUs. Sure in the past they where specialized not so much any more.
i always wondered about this. thank you for you explanation!
Also planned obsolescence
In the context of console hardware designs, especially how the GPU is integrated? IDK about that tbh? Sure, planned obsolescence is to a certain extent always part of the equation with the design of consumer electronics. But i feel like there are several design goals prioritized higher than that. Like costs, footprint, hacking/piracy prevention and so on.
Yeah, red ring and yellow light of death were a thing in the seventh gen. But those felt really unintentional. That was also more about shitty solder masks or smth like that? But apart from that instance i’m personally not aware of consoles which intentionnaly brick because of how tightly integrated the components on the MB are?
