Wii U Hardware Features IBM CPU and AMD GPU

Wii U

We've found out a little more about the Wii U's specs today thanks to Nintendo's official fact sheet. First up, there's confirmation that the Gamepad features an inbuilt rechargeable battery and weighs about 500g. The system can handle two Gamepads, four Wii remotes or Pro controllers, and the variety of nunchuk/classic controller/balance boards peripherals too. They also announced that they'll be featuring an AMD Radeon HD GPU chip, though not specifically which one, and below you'll find more information about the IBM chips

IBM's all-new, Power-based microprocessor will pack some of the most advanced technology into an energy-saving silicon package that will power Nintendo's brand new entertainment experience for consumers worldwide. IBM's unique embedded DRAM, for example, is capable of feeding the multi-core processor large chunks of data to make for a smooth entertainment experience.

IBM's 300mm chip plant in the state of New York will be the manufacturing facility for the new game chip. IBM plans to produce millions of chips for Nintendo featuring IBM Silicon on Insulator (SOI) technology at 45 nanometers (45 billionths of a meter).

The relationship between IBM and Nintendo dates to May 1999, when IBM was selected to create the microprocessor for the Nintendo GameCube. Since 2006, IBM has shipped more than 90 million chips for the Nintendo Wii.

"IBM has been a terrific partner for many years.  We truly value IBM's commitment to support Nintendo in delivering an entirely new kind of gaming and entertainment experience for consumers around the world," said Genyo Takeda, Senior Managing Director, Integrated Research and Development, at Nintendo Co., Ltd.  

"We're very proud to have delivered to Nintendo consistent technology advancements for three generations of entertainment consoles," said Elmer Corbin, director, IBM's custom chip business. "Our relationship with Nintendo underscores our unique position in the industry - how we work together with clients to help them leverage IBM technology, intellectual property and research to drive innovation into their own core products."  

Built on the open, scalable Power Architecture base, IBM custom processors exploit the performance and power advantages of proven silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology. The inherent advantages of the technology make it a superior choice for performance-driven applications that demand exceptional, power-efficient processing capability – from entertainment consoles to supercomputers.

Sliced Comments: IBM have been true to Nintendo since 1999 in making a very reliable core CPU for their consoles. We can't wait to see the full specifications of the Wii U revealed before its launch at the end of the year.

Reader Comments:

Posted by nshady 06/06/2012 2:57pm

That will be in the breakdowns of final hardware, no doubt - Nintendo doesn't really like to put clock speeds on their information pages. Still, looks promising.

Posted by Master Chief 06/06/2012 6:26pm

Is it really going to enter the market at $600?

Posted by zen 06/06/2012 11:02pm

dont see how - more like $450 - the $400 of the wii plus $50 for the gamepad thingy.
anything more and it moves in to xbox/ps territory which they know they will lose because of their featureset

Posted by nshady 07/06/2012 11:45am

I'd guess about $499 - they've got to make a profit early to please the shareholders after a year of losses and R&.

Posted by zen 07/06/2012 5:01pm

1 year loss vs several very profitable though...

Posted by nshady 07/06/2012 5:25pm

I know, but they're not like Sony. Their shareholders get antsy if it's not in the black.