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| ==Hardware Notes== | | ==Hardware Notes== |
− | ''More information: [[Gekko]], [[GX]], [[Flipper]], [[wikipedia:GameCube_technical_specifications|GameCube technical specifications (Wikipedia)]]'' | + | ''More information: [[Gekko]], [[GX]], [[Flipper]], [[Macronix DSP|DSP]], [[wikipedia:GameCube_technical_specifications|GameCube technical specifications (Wikipedia)]]'' |
| [[File:Gekko.jpg|alt=Gekko|thumb|Gekko]] | | [[File:Gekko.jpg|alt=Gekko|thumb|Gekko]] |
− | The GameCube has three main components; a [[Gekko|CPU]] (Gekko), a [[GX|GPU]] (GX), and a [[Flipper|system ASIC]] (Flipper). | + | The GameCube has three main components; a [[Gekko|CPU]] (Gekko), a [[GX|GPU]] (GX), [[Macronix DSP|DSP]] (MACRONIX), and a [[Flipper|system ASIC]] (Flipper). |
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| The CPU is a semi-custom derivative of the PowerPC 750, which was also notably used (under the marketing name "PowerPC G3") in several late 90s-early 2000s Macs. It is a superset of later PPC750 variants, with additional instructions for accelerated media and graphics processing. Some newer PowerPC 750-based Macs can also use these instructions if the correct HID register bits are set. | | The CPU is a semi-custom derivative of the PowerPC 750, which was also notably used (under the marketing name "PowerPC G3") in several late 90s-early 2000s Macs. It is a superset of later PPC750 variants, with additional instructions for accelerated media and graphics processing. Some newer PowerPC 750-based Macs can also use these instructions if the correct HID register bits are set. |
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| The GPU is fully custom; it was developed by ArtX, a startup which spun off from the [[Silicon Graphics]] Nintendo 64 hardware development team. ArtX was bought out by [[ATI]] in 2000, just as the GPU design was being completed; as such, the GameCube has ATI branding, although its hardware has no relation to ATI products preceding it. After purchasing ArtX, ATI used their GPU technology in Radeon video cards starting with the acclaimed R300 series, making the GameCube's GPU an ancestor of modern PC GPUs. | | The GPU is fully custom; it was developed by ArtX, a startup which spun off from the [[Silicon Graphics]] Nintendo 64 hardware development team. ArtX was bought out by [[ATI]] in 2000, just as the GPU design was being completed; as such, the GameCube has ATI branding, although its hardware has no relation to ATI products preceding it. After purchasing ArtX, ATI used their GPU technology in Radeon video cards starting with the acclaimed R300 series, making the GameCube's GPU an ancestor of modern PC GPUs. |
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| + | The DSP is fully custom; it was developed by Macronix, It is a custom 16 bit DSP that is used as a coprocessor for booting the dsp, memory card unlocking, gba link cable decryption, audio, running microcode programs written in assembly. It has it own ADPCM codec hardware decoder it is called DSP-ADPCM it is a codec developed by Nintendo used on GameCube, Wii, Wii U, 3DS. Instruction RAM is 8KB and Data RAM is 4KB, it also has two bootroms one is Macronix and other is Nintendo, then after that there is the boot ARAM/DSP Init microcode program stored in the IPL and every game, this is the final boot stage for the DSP. |
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| The system ASIC (similar to the chipset on a PC motherboard, implementing peripheral interfaces and other system functions) is fully custom, having been co-developed by ArtX and Nintendo. | | The system ASIC (similar to the chipset on a PC motherboard, implementing peripheral interfaces and other system functions) is fully custom, having been co-developed by ArtX and Nintendo. |