Future Gamer brings you the second part of our Project Dolphin special. Courtesy of IGN, we bring you up to date on the development of Nintendo's next-generation console and compare its vital statistics to those of the Dreamcast and PS2...


Author's Note:
The information regarding Nintendo's next-generation system below is not set in stone. Rather, it is a compilation of official statements from Nintendo, early system specifications from Nintendo, anonymous developer insight and intelligent speculation.
Matt Casamassina.


What are the official specs for Dolphin?
CPU: IBM Gekko Processor (an extension of the IBM Power PC architecture)
System Clock: 400 MHz
System Memory: High-speed DRAM technology
Memory Bus Bandwidth: 3.2 Gb/second Semiconductor Process 0.18 Micron Copper Technology
Graphics: Custom Chip designed by ArtX, Inc. of Palo Alto, CA
Clock Speed: 200MHz Semiconductor Processor 0.18 Micron embedded DRAM technology Maximum Polygon Rate: N/A
Software Medium: DVD. Enhanced counterfeit protection
Maximum capacity: 4.7 Gb


Additional Information
The combined video technology will later appear in other consumer electronic devices to be marketed under Matsushita's Panasonic brand. Nintendo promise quick access time comparable to a silicon cartridge. Manufacturing cost and time will be minimal. DVD movie playback capability is planned for the future.

How does Dolphin fair against the competition?
Not all of the system specifications for Dolphin have been made public, so it's impossible to say accurately. The following chart compares what we do know of Nintendo's next-generation console in comparison to the competition.

Polygon Power
Dolphin: N/A. Suspected to be in the 20 million polygons per second range.
PlayStation 2: Around 20 million polygons per second
Dreamcast: Around three million polygons per second
Nintendo 64: Around 150,000 polygons per second
PlayStation: Around 360,000 polygons per second (lacks comparable effects)

Main Clock Speed
Dolphin: 400MHz
PlayStation 2: 300MHz
Dreamcast: 200MHz
Nintendo 64: 93.75MHz
PlayStation: 33.86MHz

Memory
Dolphin: N/A. Dolphin's graphics chip alone will feature up to 16Mb of embedded DRAM.
PlayStation 2: 32Mb Direct Rambus RAM
Dreamcast 16Mb (plus 8Mb Video RAM, 2Mb Sound RAM)
Nintendo 64: 4Mb (+parity) Rambus D-RAM (expandable to 8Mb)
PlayStation: 2Mb (plus 1Mb Video RAM, 512kb Sound RAM)

Memory Bus Bandwidth
Dolphin: 3.2 Gb/s (Gigabytes per second)
PlayStation 2: 3.2 Gb/s (Gigabytes per second)
Dreamcast: 800 Mb/s (Megabytes per second)
Nintendo 64: 500 Mb/s (Megabytes per second) or about 0.5 GB/s
PlayStation: 132 Mb/s (Megabytes per second)

Software Format
Dolphin: DVD, 4.7 Gb capacity
PlayStation 2: DVD, 4.7 Gb capacity
Dreamcast: Propriety CD, 1 Gb capacity
Nintendo 64: Cartridge, 64Mb capacity (so far)
PlayStation: CD, 650 Mb capacity

Polygon Power
Dolphin: N/A. Suspected to be in the 20 million polygons per second range.
PlayStation 2: Around 20 million polygons per second
Dreamcast: Around three million polygons per second
Nintendo 64: Around 150,000 polygons per second
comparable effects)

Main Clock Speed
Dolphin: 400MHz
PlayStation 2: 300MHz
Dreamcast: 200MHz
Nintendo 64: 93.75MHz
PlayStation: 33.86MHz