Insight
EMBEDDED SOLUTIONS Power and performance
The cost of the “bleeding edge” hardware can be an issue as well as the lifecycle of the hardware. Much of the very highest performance hardware our customers may want to use is high price targeted at the “prosumer” and “enthusiast” market where typical longevity for a particular model may be six months before the next model is introduced. So the gaming ODM definitely has to strike a balance between cutting edge performance hardware and a platform that will be around for a reasonable period of time and at a cost that is within budget. Craig Stapleton, Advantech-Innocore
“The high cost of seeking regulatory approvals means that manufacturers want to maximise the useful lifespan of the hardware they select and want the technology to have the capability to support whatever new features future games might offer. We also provide considerable support through our Gaming Ecosystem to help customers improve the efficiency with which the hardware is utilised.” Jon Jayal, Quixant
Is there a trade-off with improved performance in terms of increased power, heat and noise?
Mark Perkins, Heber: For clients looking at ultimate performance it is difficult to get away without the need of fans to manage the heat dissipation. From a design point of view we look for long life fans. In addition, fans are now monitored allowing software to detect a fan failure so a service call can be made. Noise is not always a problem but the use of a larger fan that runs at a slower speed can significantly help reduce noise levels.
Craig Stapleton, Advantech-Innocore: Yes the latest CPU and GPU technology pushes the limits of cooling and size constraints in some slot machines and other gaming applications. GPUs that use close to 200W of power are sometimes used for proof of concept but then have to be rationalised against the cooling, power supply and mechanical constraints. Cooling and noise can be problematic but most slot machines ODM can design for adequate cooling and the slot machine environment does not require machines to be silent (quite the opposite, the machines themselves usually have quite loud sound effects going on.
Jon Jayal, Quixant: Absolutely, more performance almost always leads to increased power consumption and heat generation. Quixant spends considerable
P56 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE /
247.COM
R&D effort to reduce this trade-off through innovative thermal solutions and purpose-built enclosure design. Quixant’s platforms are designed to offer higher reliability through the reduction in the use of fans for low to mid-range products and through innovative integrated cooling solutions using high reliability fans for high-end products.
Clyde Chen, Axiomtek: Yes, usually when games require higher performance, more processing power in terms of frequency speed and core counts have correlational influences on the thermal design power (TDP) where hardware manufacturers are challenged on the cooling system inside its gaming platforms. Manufacturers need to choose adequate cooling fans taking into consideration the Air Flow and noise levels created. Other components like heatpipes and other fanless designs could be used to reduce noise, but would also increase costs significantly.
What should game developers be focusing their attention on in terms of adding to the performance of their games and delivering next-gen experiences for players?
Jon Jayal, Quixant: Developers need to be unconstrained by the computer hardware platform so they can deliver their content ideas as they envisage them. Tis means using the hardware resources
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
