The OG Steam Deck (7nm, comparable to the Series S) has a die size of ~162mm2. In there, it packs an 4 core, 8 threads CPU and a 8 CU GPU.
On the other hand, the Xbox Series S packs an 8 core 16 threads CPU with 20CU GPU of the same architecture in ~197mm2 die.
This is a technical question, how come the Series S packs much more in just 25% more size? I’m not saying the Steam Deck should be as powerful as a Series S (that’d never happen, the power constraints would not make it possible), but I wonder if the CPU in the Series S is cut-back or if there’s anything in the Steam Deck’s SoC that could have been removed to get a lower cost.
Van Gogh has (suppsedly) 2.4 bn transistors while Series S has 8 bn.
Completely false. 2.4b transistors would mean it’s less than 1/3 as dense on the same node while being lower performant (so HP cells are not a factor). Why on earth would you even use 7nm when 20nm (and even 28nm) can reach that density easily.
Use you brain. Just because TPU listed wrong data, doesn’t mean you have to parrot it.
It has 40% the CU, 50% the CPU, 80% memory bus, nearly 100% front end (geometry, ACE etc), 100% display, video, I/O etc.
At bare minimum you are looking at 70% transistor count.