"http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1944&p=2"http://www.anandtech.c
om/showdoc.html?i=1944&p=2
"
Much like the Xbox, the ApeXtreme is basically a HYPERLINK
"http://itxt.vibrantmedia.com/al.asp?ipid=14&cc=uk&di=75739&ts=9175685&r
edir=http://www61.overture.com/d/sr/?xargs=02u3hs9yoaT0WOuyDD%2FBC6G8A4Y
YIKCyVjulLXFBhbyRwj8o2Ou6M%2Fv4uCNWwZ2mPNmv%2FwuetwTFToXTLd%2FiZ0o%2BzhM
4dUB8YnVpRAJwnULOYowaNpxGH4Z8A2D4mShlu73OPmrbfdRKmWzO%2FNNjTQ%2B1vsuhPbh
%2FjHXm1hWUcFZCY0rXYFZ1SGeS0Co5FKRJu8858sy48%2BKqyvKtLc5rJzVGS0T0z2EAAi1
Y54SfxEU%2FRoZ2u%2BoCWclkJ%2FAzaiWPEmgLafaY%2Fht2xhuxC0FgX8utEHVCdb"
\nPC housed in a consumer electronics-esque chassis. The system comes
complete with a HYPERLINK
"http://itxt.vibrantmedia.com/al.asp?ipid=14&cc=uk&di=152235&ts=9175685&
redir=" \nmotherboard, DVD-ROM drive, hard drive, on-board graphics and
DDR SDRAM. Unlike the Xbox however, the ApeXtreme does not try hard to
hide its PC ancestry as is made evident by the inclusion of things like
a DIMM slot on the motherboard.
The ApeXtreme runs Windows XP Embedded Edition, although the OS is not
physically accessible to the end user (without some hacking). As far as
game support goes, the console is designed to run all PC games – we'll
get to how that actually works later.
The system features 6 USB ports (much like any present day motherboard),
5.1 channel RCA audio outputs, optical/coax digital audio out, video
output in the form of component, S-Video, composite or DVI and topping
it all off the ApeXtreme has Ethernet and RJ-11 telephone jacks for
Internet/LAN gaming. The full set of inputs and outputs are made
possible by the fact that the ApeXtreme is essentially a PC, and neither
Apex nor VIA apparently had much desire to mask it.
The system can be controlled via a USB controller or a USB
keyboard/mouse. The controllers that were being shown with the ApeXtreme
honestly needed some work, but Apex assured us that they were working
feverishly to get driver support for all of the popular USB controllers
into the shipping version of the ApeXtreme. If the ApeXtreme is going to
succeed as a gaming console, support for better controllers is an
absolute must. A controller that would integrate keyboard and joystick
functionality into the pad is apparently in the works.
The ApeXtreme is based on VIA's latest 0.13-micron C3 core running at
1.4GHz, although the prototypes now are running at 1.2GHz. The
motherboard features VIA's CM400 chipset and a DeltaChrome S8 graphics
core. We'll actually have a look at the motherboard later, but now let's
get a feel for how this thing works.
As we mentioned before, the ApeXtreme will play any off-the-shelf
HYPERLINK
"http://itxt.vibrantmedia.com/al.asp?ipid=14&cc=uk&di=75739&ts=2785914&r
edir=http://www61.overture.com/d/sr/?xargs=02u3hs9yoaT0WPTSCD%2FRDcNwLaw
gM4HKuAb0nsPaDdxNitVGxV%2F3ay%2Feh45czmZX3lH%2BwfMX7uzp0fU78G6YzP%2F%2BH
0PdIcLp1QUxidWlEAmCcEvaSjho0ukbfDTgFgurkoNfn9zt5qm0PEQtksTPyzY5o%2Fa31%2
FQvv3PxityfpFMVU7Xgohy6w6IzXLaBQciVIl%2BdI5%2Bcy%2F5dLWkllSR3OSi81TkdEdM
bhBAEqtHPET%2BLCmHtDetTxQFVlqR0nN1hYASaguvNpg%2BGfbJWb1VxiaZ%2F2W%2FQFUw
L0%3D" \nPC game, but given that the OS is not exposed to the end user
how do you install/play the games? The claim of support for any PC game
does have one caveat – the game must be supported by a special script
that will install/run the game when the disc is inserted. Apex is
working on developing scripts for as many games as possible, with around
600 ready right now. The script basically detects the game and handles
all of the installation of the game onto the hard drive; the
installation process obviously takes a while but once it is complete you
can just insert the game disc and you will be able to play the game.
>From the launcher screen you can elect to play the game, which will
start the game just like double clicking an executable would on a PC.
All of the features of the game are available to you by default, meaning
you could turn up the resolution, turn off features, reconfigure your
controls, etc… Since we're talking about unmodified PC games, a keyboard
is pretty much necessary to get the best gaming experience possible,
which is why Apex was demonstrating the unit with a HYPERLINK
"http://itxt.vibrantmedia.com/al.asp?ipid=14&cc=uk&di=162821&ts=2785914&
redir=" \nwireless keyboard.
The default resolution the system will run at is 1024x768, while all
games will run at their default installed resolution. Remember that
since all games have to be installed onto the hard drive just like you
would on a PC, the drive can eventually fill up. In the event that there
isn't enough room to install a game, the least used game will be deleted
in order to make room for the new game. If you decide to go back and
play that older game you'll have to go through the same installation
process when you insert the older game disc.
Since we are talking about a PC the ApeXtreme could potentially run much
more than games, although Apex and VIA are just focusing on games at
this point.
Under the Hood
>From the specs alone you should realize that we're not talking about a
very powerful gaming machine, but if you compare it to the Celeron 733
and the NV2A in the Xbox the system isn't exactly gutless. The
motherboard in the ApeXtreme is produced by VIA and occupies the right
side of the chassis.
On the motherboard there are three major chips - the VIA C3 processor,
the CM400 North Bridge, and the VIA DeltaChrome S8 GPU. The CM400 North
Bridge supports up to DDR400 memory, although Apex will determine
whether they will use DDR333 or DDR400 memory in the shipping product.
The CM400 also features a 200MHz FSB connection to the C3 processor,
offering 1.6GB/s of bandwidth between the CPU and North Bridge.
The interesting chip is the VIA DeltaChrome S8 GPU, which is the same
GPU that is beginning to ship on add-in cards within a month. The GPU is
an 8 pipeline design much like the R300, and features full DirectX 9.0
pixel and vertex shader pipelines. The GPU features support for both
24-bit and 16-bit floating point values in the pixel shader pipeline.
The GPU does not have support for the upcoming Pixel Shader 3.0 spec,
which is a part of DirectX 9.1. The GPU on the motherboard is clocked at
the same speed as the add-in cards at 300MHz, and it can be paired with
anywhere from 64 - 256MB of on-board DDR memory.
The current prototype features 64MB of DDR memory on-board although the
shipping version may feature more depending on the market price of
memory. The memory clock on the desktop DeltaChrome S8 is 300MHz and
although it could be that high on the ApeXtreme, the final decision will
come closer to the shipping date. The GPU has a single 128-bit memory
controller to drive up to 8 chips on the board (the motherboard itself
cannot physically accommodate more than 8 chips).
The VIA CM400 chipset does actually have an HYPERLINK
"http://itxt.vibrantmedia.com/al.asp?ipid=14&cc=uk&di=133988&ts=570949&r
edir=" \nintegrated S3 graphics core that offers significantly less
performance than the DeltaChrome S8; an integrated graphics version of
the ApeXtreme may eventually be launched as more of a Home Theater
HYPERLINK
"http://itxt.vibrantmedia.com/al.asp?ipid=14&cc=uk&di=75739&ts=570949&re
dir=http://www61.overture.com/d/sr/?xargs=02u3hs9yoaT0WOuzCD%2FBB3G2shxC
%2FC3kGFKWeKXZHribEChICE7on%2B%2FqZ8VsidozzRj%2FYLmbd3xU6H1C3B4mOV%2F5wu
4%2F2QLInkqXMJ5FSJOYLkq7rAOagZ8zW%2B5goGg3N2nGtV%2B4e%2FlS7ZiP2yxpl%2Fdv
u0htbu%2FjH2mn7C1wbIsayjnGkB6o7PPKiQEioRVO8w5%2BbS%2FM%2BLjSPKgRqKjS4lAG
aoemNZYpV%2Fx4gk6iI8h77Xqc%2BQEppCGyVlN1t0jcUhdeLdQcM92y83rqHNCygqKgP4aP
GoVA%3D%3D" \nPC box but Apex may want to re-evaluate how 'Xtreme' it is
after that.
The ApeXtreme is at least a couple of months away from retail
availability and during that time a number of the specifications may
change. Apex is shooting for a MSRP of $399 for the ApeXtreme at launch.
"
-Gel
---
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