What this comparison shows

Four consoles, four clocks

Four machines is the most this view will show, and this is the comparison that earns the fourth column: all four manufacturers stated a main processor clock in their own hardware documentation, so the row is complete and the multipliers run from the PlayStation’s 33.8688 MHz to the PlayStation 2’s 294.912 MHz.

Look at what happens either side of that row.

The floating-point figures do not line up at all. The Dreamcast’s number is a matrix-multiplication peak and the PlayStation 2’s is a vendor-stated peak; they are different comparability groups, so they appear as separate rows and no multiplier is offered between them. The two older consoles state no floating-point figure whatsoever.

The memory rows split by role, which is the only way they make sense. Main memory is compared with main memory and video memory with video memory. The Nintendo 64’s single unified pool sits in a row of its own because it does both jobs. Dividing it by another machine’s main memory alone would quietly overstate the difference.

The graphics clocks are present for three of the four machines and refuse a multiplier because the baseline column (the original PlayStation) records no graphics clock. Every multiplier here is measured against the baseline.

At a glance

This card lists what each record states. These are the six questions every machine in the catalog is asked. A row with answers from different methods has no bar or multiplier; the line beneath it explains the difference.

Question	Sony PlayStationSony Computer EntertainmentConsole · 1994Retail console	Nintendo 64NintendoConsole · 1996Retail console	Sega DreamcastSEGA EnterprisesConsole · 1998Retail console	Sony PlayStation 2Sony Computer EntertainmentConsole · 2000Retail console
CPU clock	Sony PlayStation (Retail console)33.8688 MHzConfirmed	Nintendo 64 (Retail console)94 MHzConfirmed	Sega Dreamcast (Retail console)200 MHzConfirmed	Sony PlayStation 2 (Retail console)294.912 MHzConfirmed
Methods, caveats and sources for cpu clock Where these sit among 65 machines recorded this way 33 MHzIntel 80486DX PC 33.8688 MHzSony PlayStation 50 MHzCommodore Amiga 4000 67 MHzNintendo DS 94 MHzNintendo 64 200 MHzSega Dreamcast 294.912 MHzSony PlayStation 2 300 MHzIntel Pentium II PC Sony PlayStation — 30th-lowest of the 65 figures recorded this way, and 4th-lowest of the 9 from 1991–1997. Nintendo 64 — 33rd-lowest of the 65 figures recorded this way, and 3rd-lowest of the 7 from 1993–1999. Sega Dreamcast — 35th-lowest of the 65 figures recorded this way, and 3rd-lowest of the 8 from 1995–2001. Sony PlayStation 2 — 37th-lowest of the 65 figures recorded this way, and 4th-lowest of the 8 from 1997–2003. Positions on a linear scale. See all 65 over time.
GPU clock	Sony PlayStation (Retail console)unknownThe developer reference gives one system clock, in the processor’s specification table, and states no separate frequency for the drawing processor or the geometry engine.	Nintendo 64 (Retail console)62.6 MHzprovisionalConfirmed	Sega Dreamcast (Retail console)100 MHzConfirmed	Sony PlayStation 2 (Retail console)150 MHzConfirmed
Methods, caveats and sources for gpu clock Where these sit among 38 machines recorded this way 50 MHz3dfx Voodoo Graphics 62.6 MHzNintendo 64 100 MHzSega Dreamcast 120 MHzNVIDIA GeForce 256 150 MHzSony PlayStation 2 162 MHzNintendo GameCube Nintendo 64 — 7th-lowest of the 38 figures recorded this way, and 3rd-lowest of the 5 from 1993–1999. Sega Dreamcast — 8th-lowest of the 38 figures recorded this way, and 3rd-lowest of the 7 from 1995–2001. Sony PlayStation 2 — 10th-lowest of the 38 figures recorded this way, and 3rd-lowest of the 6 from 1997–2003. Positions on a linear scale. See all 38 over time.
Memory capacity	Sony PlayStation (Retail console)2 MiBConfirmed	Nintendo 64 (Retail console)4 MiBConfirmed	Sega Dreamcast (Retail console)16 MiBConfirmed	Sony PlayStation 2 (Retail console)32 MiBConfirmed
Methods, caveats and sources for memory capacity Where these sit among 68 machines recorded this way 2 MiBCommodore Amiga 4000 2 MiBSony PlayStation 4 MB3dfx Voodoo Graphics 4 MiBIntel 80386DX PC 4 MiBNintendo 64 16 MiBSega Dreamcast 32 MiBSony PlayStation 2 41 943 040 BNintendo GameCube Sony PlayStation — 17th-lowest of the 68 figures recorded this way, and 2nd-lowest of the 10 from 1991–1997. Nintendo 64 — 21st-lowest of the 68 figures recorded this way, and 3rd-lowest of the 9 from 1993–1999. Sega Dreamcast — 26th-lowest of the 68 figures recorded this way, and 3rd-lowest of the 9 from 1995–2001. Sony PlayStation 2 — 28th-lowest of the 68 figures recorded this way, and 2nd-lowest of the 9 from 1997–2003. Positions on a linear scale. See all 68 over time.
Memory bandwidth	Sony PlayStation (Retail console)unknownThe developer reference states the capacity of main memory and of video memory and the bus width, and no transfer rate for either.	Nintendo 64 (Retail console)500 MB/sNintendo 64 main memory (RDRAM)provisionalConfirmed500 MB/sprovisionalConfirmed	Sega Dreamcast (Retail console)800 MB/sDreamcast main memoryConfirmed800 MB/sConfirmed	Sony PlayStation 2 (Retail console)48 GB/sGraphics Synthesizer embedded DRAMConfirmed3.2 GB/sPlayStation 2 main memory (Direct RDRAM)Confirmed3.2 GB/sConfirmed
These figures describe different parts of a machine (the memory and the whole machine). The figures are shown separately, and no bar is drawn. See how they are accounted for.
Peak FP32	Sony PlayStation (Retail console)not applicableSony’s developer reference states that the geometry transform engine works in fixed-point format. A machine whose 3D arithmetic is fixed point has no floating-point rate to state, in the same way the 6510 has none.	Nintendo 64 (Retail console)unknownThe programming manual describes the Reality Coprocessor by what its microcode does and never rates it in floating-point operations per second.	Sega Dreamcast (Retail console)1.4 GFLOP/sHitachi SH-4provisionalConfirmed	Sony PlayStation 2 (Retail console)6.2 GFLOP/sEmotion EngineConfirmed
These records state this by different methods (Matrix instruction peak and Theoretical peak). The figures are shown separately, and no bar is drawn. See how they are accounted for.
Power	Sony PlayStation (Retail console)17 WConfirmed	Nintendo 64 (Retail console)unknownThe programming manual is written for developers and rates no power for the console.	Sega Dreamcast (Retail console)1.5 WHitachi SH-4Confirmed	Sony PlayStation 2 (Retail console)79 WConfirmed
These figures describe different parts of a machine (the whole machine and the processor). The figures are shown separately, and no bar is drawn. See how they are accounted for.

Sony PlayStation (Retail console), the first record, is the multiplier baseline. Each section covers its own metrics. This comparison has no overall score. Bars are drawn to scale within a row and carry no number of their own.

provisional A figure marked provisional is recorded but not accepted: its evidence is unsettled. It may rely on one source, an unconfirmed announcement, or a digit read from a damaged scan. The reason appears under the figure. The catalog shows the figure but never uses it in a multiplier. How records are judged.

Processing

Instruction rates, floating-point peaks, benchmark results and clocks. None of these converts into another.

Clock frequencycpu

Method	Sony PlayStationRetail console	Nintendo 64Retail console	Sega DreamcastRetail console	Sony PlayStation 2Retail console
Nominal clock	Sony PlayStation (Retail console)33.8688 MHzConfirmed baselinecaveat Recorded as Vendor-rated. Stated by the vendor. Caveat Describes the integer core only. Geometry and lighting run on the GTE coprocessor and drawing runs on a separate GPU, so this figure covers less of the console's work than a processor clock usually does. Sources psx-hardware-reference	Nintendo 64 (Retail console)94 MHzConfirmed 2.8×the baselinecaveat Recorded as Vendor-rated. Stated by the vendor. Caveat The manual states a round 94 MHz, so this figure carries two significant digits and nothing more. Other accounts of this console quote a more precise rate; none is cited here, and adopting one would be publishing a number this project has not sourced. Multiplier `a ÷ b` (ratio v1, to 2 significant digits) Nintendo 64: 94 MHz Sony PlayStation: 33.8688 MHz Compares clock-frequency at cpu scope, obtained by nominal-clock. Valid only within this comparability group, and reported to 2 significant digits — the precision of the least precise input. Sources n64-programming-manual	Sega Dreamcast (Retail console)200 MHzConfirmed 5.91×the baselinecaveat Recorded as Vendor-rated. Stated by the vendor. Caveat The internal rate. Quoting it against a machine whose published clock is an external bus rate would compare two different things. Multiplier `a ÷ b` (ratio v1, to 3 significant digits) Sega Dreamcast: 200 MHz Sony PlayStation: 33.8688 MHz Compares clock-frequency at cpu scope, obtained by nominal-clock. Valid only within this comparability group, and reported to 3 significant digits — the precision of the least precise input. Sources dreamcast-hardware-spec	Sony PlayStation 2 (Retail console)294.912 MHzConfirmed 8.70748×the baselinecaveat Recorded as Vendor-rated. Stated by the vendor. Caveat Sony first published this clock as "300 MHz" a year before launch and as 294.912 MHz afterwards; see the conflict ledger. The figure also covers only the CPU: geometry runs on the two vector units and drawing on a separate chip with a clock of its own. Multiplier `a ÷ b` (ratio v1, to 6 significant digits) Sony PlayStation 2: 294.912 MHz Sony PlayStation: 33.8688 MHz Compares clock-frequency at cpu scope, obtained by nominal-clock. Valid only within this comparability group, and reported to 6 significant digits — the precision of the least precise input. Sources scei-ee-gs-single-chip-2003

Peak FP32 ratecpu

These figures belong to different comparability groups (matrix instruction peak and theoretical peak). They are shown separately, and no multiplier is produced.

Method	Sony PlayStationRetail console	Nintendo 64Retail console	Sega DreamcastRetail console	Sony PlayStation 2Retail console
Matrix instruction peak	Sony PlayStation (Retail console)not recorded	Nintendo 64 (Retail console)not recorded	Sega Dreamcast (Retail console)1.4 GFLOP/sprovisionalConfirmed baseline states nonecaveat Recorded as Hitachi SH-4: Vendor-rated. Stated by the vendor. Caveat Held provisional because the source does not state a precision. The FPU row directly above it offers both single and double IEEE 754, and a floating-point rate without its precision is the single most common way hardware comparisons go wrong. Recorded here as single precision on the strength of the operation named, which is an editorial reading rather than a citation, so the figure stays out of automatic multipliers until a source states the precision outright. Multiplier No multiplier: Sony PlayStation (Retail console) records no value here, so there is nothing to divide by. Sources dreamcast-hardware-spec	Sony PlayStation 2 (Retail console)not recorded
Theoretical peak	Sony PlayStation (Retail console)not recorded	Nintendo 64 (Retail console)not recorded	Sega Dreamcast (Retail console)not recorded	Sony PlayStation 2 (Retail console)6.2 GFLOP/sConfirmed baseline states nonecaveat Recorded as Emotion Engine: Vendor-rated. Stated by the vendor. Caveat Sony states the rate without an operation mix, a precision or a benchmark, so it is a vendor peak rather than an achieved result. It is not comparable with the Dreamcast's floating-point figure, which Sega derived from a specific matrix-multiplication workload. Multiplier No multiplier: Sony PlayStation (Retail console) records no value here, so there is nothing to divide by. Sources scei-ps2-specifications-1999

Graphics

Figures recorded against a graphics processor.

Clock frequencygpu

Method	Sony PlayStationRetail console	Nintendo 64Retail console	Sega DreamcastRetail console	Sony PlayStation 2Retail console
Nominal clock	Sony PlayStation (Retail console)unknownThe developer reference gives one system clock, in the processor’s specification table, and states no separate frequency for the drawing processor or the geometry engine. baselinecaveat Recorded as Stated by the vendor. Caveat Unknown, and it is the same finding the processor clock already carries from the other side: this is the machine where one frequency stops describing the hardware. Three chips do the 3D work and the manual times only the first of them. Sources psx-hardware-reference	Nintendo 64 (Retail console)62.6 MHzprovisionalConfirmed baseline states nonecaveat Recorded as Vendor-rated. Stated by the vendor. Caveat Held provisional rather than approved. The digits are legible, but the same list renders 110 as "liO" and the surrounding prose is badly corrupted, so a third digit read off this scan is not something to publish as fact. A provisional figure is visible but never feeds an automatic multiplier; it needs a second source before it can be accepted. Multiplier No multiplier: Sony PlayStation (Retail console) records no value here, so there is nothing to divide by. Sources n64-programming-manual	Sega Dreamcast (Retail console)100 MHzConfirmed baseline states none Recorded as Vendor-rated. Stated by the vendor. Multiplier No multiplier: Sony PlayStation (Retail console) records no value here, so there is nothing to divide by. Sources dreamcast-hardware-spec	Sony PlayStation 2 (Retail console)150 MHzConfirmed baseline states nonecaveat Recorded as Vendor-rated. Stated by the vendor. Caveat Sony states 150 MHz and derives the chip's own bandwidth figures from it, so the two agree; accounts outside Sony's documentation frequently give 147.456 MHz instead. No source cited here states that value, so it is not recorded. Multiplier No multiplier: Sony PlayStation (Retail console) records no value here, so there is nothing to divide by. Sources scei-ps2-specifications-1999

Peak FP32 rategpu

Both records address this quantity, but neither states a value. The figures are recorded as an explicit absence, so there is nothing to compare.

Method	Sony PlayStationRetail console	Nintendo 64Retail console	Sega DreamcastRetail console	Sony PlayStation 2Retail console
Theoretical peak	Sony PlayStation (Retail console)not applicableSony’s developer reference states that the geometry transform engine works in fixed-point format. A machine whose 3D arithmetic is fixed point has no floating-point rate to state, in the same way the 6510 has none. baselinecaveat Recorded as Stated by the vendor. Caveat Not-applicable on a citation rather than on an inference. The catalog held nothing here because Sony’s reference never mentioned floating-point hardware, and absent evidence is not evidence of absence; the overview chapter does say what the engine computes in, which is the citation not-applicable needs. The console draws in three dimensions at speed and does it without a floating-point unit, which is why the wobbling geometry of the era looks the way it does. Sources psx-hardware-reference	Nintendo 64 (Retail console)unknownThe programming manual describes the Reality Coprocessor by what its microcode does and never rates it in floating-point operations per second. baseline states nonecaveat Recorded as Stated by the vendor. Caveat Unknown rather than not-applicable: the R4300 has a floating-point unit and the signal processor is a vector machine, so the quantity exists. Nintendo simply never published a rate for it. The console generation that started quoting floating-point figures is the next one. Multiplier No multiplier: Sony PlayStation (Retail console) records no value here, so there is nothing to divide by. Sources n64-programming-manual	Sega Dreamcast (Retail console)not recorded	Sony PlayStation 2 (Retail console)not recorded

Memory

Capacity, bandwidth, bus width and timing. Binary and decimal prefixes are kept as the source wrote them.

Memory capacitySystem memory · memory

Method	Sony PlayStationRetail console	Nintendo 64Retail console	Sega DreamcastRetail console	Sony PlayStation 2Retail console
Design capacity	Sony PlayStation (Retail console)2 MiBConfirmed baselinecaveat Recorded as PlayStation main memory: Vendor-rated. Stated by the vendor. Caveat The manual writes "2 MB", meaning 2 MiB. Video memory is a separate 1 MiB and is not part of this figure; the two are not one pool and adding them would describe memory the console cannot use interchangeably. Sources psx-hardware-reference	Nintendo 64 (Retail console)built differentlyStated as unified memory and for the whole machine, in another row here.	Sega Dreamcast (Retail console)2 MiBConfirmed16 MiBConfirmed several parts statedcaveat Recorded as Dreamcast audio memory: Vendor-rated. Stated by the vendor. Dreamcast main memory: Vendor-rated. Stated by the vendor. Caveat Main memory only. The console has a further 8 MiB of texture memory and 2 MiB of audio memory that this figure excludes, and the specification states outright that the SH-4 does not share texture or audio data with main memory. Multiplier No multiplier: the machine states this quantity for more than one part, so there is no single figure to divide. Sources dreamcast-hardware-spec	Sony PlayStation 2 (Retail console)32 MiBConfirmed 20×the baselinecaveat Recorded as PlayStation 2 main memory (Direct RDRAM): Vendor-rated. Stated by the vendor. Caveat The release writes "32 MB", meaning 32 MiB. The Graphics Synthesizer's 4 MiB is separate and unreachable from here, so the two are never added. Multiplier `a ÷ b` (ratio v1, to 1 significant digit) Sony PlayStation 2: 32 MiB Sony PlayStation: 2 MiB Compares memory-capacity at memory scope, obtained by design-capacity. Valid only within this comparability group, and reported to 1 significant digit — the precision of the least precise input. Sources scei-ps2-specifications-1999

Memory capacityVideo memory · memory

Method	Sony PlayStationRetail console	Nintendo 64Retail console	Sega DreamcastRetail console	Sony PlayStation 2Retail console
Design capacity	Sony PlayStation (Retail console)1 MiBConfirmed baselinecaveat Recorded as PlayStation video memory: Vendor-rated. Stated by the vendor. Caveat Reachable by the GPU rather than by the CPU, so it answers a different question from main memory, the same distinction the Amiga draws between Chip and Fast memory. Sources psx-hardware-reference	Nintendo 64 (Retail console)built differentlyStated as unified memory and for the whole machine, in another row here.	Sega Dreamcast (Retail console)8 MiBConfirmed 8×the baseline Recorded as Dreamcast texture memory: Vendor-rated. Stated by the vendor. Multiplier `a ÷ b` (ratio v1, to 1 significant digit) Sega Dreamcast: 8 MiB Sony PlayStation: 1 MiB Compares memory-capacity at memory scope, obtained by design-capacity. Valid only within this comparability group, and reported to 1 significant digit — the precision of the least precise input. Sources dreamcast-hardware-spec	Sony PlayStation 2 (Retail console)4 MiBConfirmed 4×the baselinecaveat Recorded as Graphics Synthesizer embedded DRAM: Vendor-rated. Stated by the vendor. Caveat The release writes "4MB", meaning 4 MiB. The figure is quoted from the 2003 description of the merged Emotion Engine and Graphics Synthesizer chip; the embedded memory was not resized when the two dies were combined. Multiplier `a ÷ b` (ratio v1, to 1 significant digit) Sony PlayStation 2: 4 MiB Sony PlayStation: 1 MiB Compares memory-capacity at memory scope, obtained by design-capacity. Valid only within this comparability group, and reported to 1 significant digit — the precision of the least precise input. Sources scei-ee-gs-single-chip-2003

Memory capacitywhole-system

Method	Sony PlayStationRetail console	Nintendo 64Retail console	Sega DreamcastRetail console	Sony PlayStation 2Retail console
Design capacity	Sony PlayStation (Retail console)2 MiBConfirmed baselinecaveat Recorded as Derived. Computed here from figures the vendor stated. Caveat Adds 1 memory-capacity figure obtained by design-capacity. Left out: 1 MiB of video memory (owned by the drawing processor and not part of the CPU’s working store). A total is only as trustworthy as the decision about what belongs in it, so both the terms and the exclusions are named records. Sources psx-hardware-reference	Nintendo 64 (Retail console)4 MiBConfirmed 2×the baselinecaveat Recorded as Derived. Computed here from figures the vendor stated. Caveat Adds 1 memory-capacity figure obtained by design-capacity. Nothing in the catalog is left out of it. A total is only as trustworthy as the decision about what belongs in it, so both the terms and the exclusions are named records. Multiplier `a ÷ b` (ratio v1, to 1 significant digit) Nintendo 64: 4 MiB Sony PlayStation: 2 MiB Compares memory-capacity at whole-system scope, obtained by design-capacity. Valid only within this comparability group, and reported to 1 significant digit — the precision of the least precise input. Sources n64-programming-manual	Sega Dreamcast (Retail console)16 MiBConfirmed 8×the baselinecaveat Recorded as Derived. Computed here from figures the vendor stated. Caveat Adds 1 memory-capacity figure obtained by design-capacity. Left out: 8 MiB of texture memory (attached to the graphics processor rather than to the CPU); 2 MiB of sound memory (the sound processor’s own store, reachable only across the peripheral bus). A total is only as trustworthy as the decision about what belongs in it, so both the terms and the exclusions are named records. Multiplier `a ÷ b` (ratio v1, to 1 significant digit) Sega Dreamcast: 16 MiB Sony PlayStation: 2 MiB Compares memory-capacity at whole-system scope, obtained by design-capacity. Valid only within this comparability group, and reported to 1 significant digit — the precision of the least precise input. Sources dreamcast-hardware-spec	Sony PlayStation 2 (Retail console)32 MiBConfirmed 20×the baselinecaveat Recorded as Derived. Computed here from figures the vendor stated. Caveat Adds 1 memory-capacity figure obtained by design-capacity. Left out: 4 MiB embedded in the Graphics Synthesizer (on the drawing chip’s own die and unreachable from the processor). A total is only as trustworthy as the decision about what belongs in it, so both the terms and the exclusions are named records. Multiplier `a ÷ b` (ratio v1, to 1 significant digit) Sony PlayStation 2: 32 MiB Sony PlayStation: 2 MiB Compares memory-capacity at whole-system scope, obtained by design-capacity. Valid only within this comparability group, and reported to 1 significant digit — the precision of the least precise input. Sources scei-ps2-specifications-1999

Memory capacityUnified memory · memory

Only one of these records states this figure in this form, so there is nothing here to compare it with.

Method	Sony PlayStationRetail console	Nintendo 64Retail console	Sega DreamcastRetail console	Sony PlayStation 2Retail console
Design capacity	Sony PlayStation (Retail console)built differentlyStated as system memory, as video memory and for the whole machine, in another row here.	Nintendo 64 (Retail console)4 MiBConfirmed baseline states nonecaveat Recorded as Nintendo 64 main memory (RDRAM): Vendor-rated. Stated by the vendor. Caveat One pool shared by the CPU, the RSP, the RDP and the I/O interfaces. It is not comparable like for like with the PlayStation's 2 MiB of main memory, because that machine has a further 1 MiB of video memory the CPU cannot reach and this one does not separate the two. Multiplier No multiplier: Sony PlayStation (Retail console) records no value here, so there is nothing to divide by. Sources n64-programming-manual	Sega Dreamcast (Retail console)built differentlyStated as system memory, as video memory and for the whole machine, in another row here.	Sony PlayStation 2 (Retail console)built differentlyStated as video memory, as system memory and for the whole machine, in another row here.

Memory bandwidthmemory

Only one of these records states this figure in this form, so there is nothing here to compare it with.

Method	Sony PlayStationRetail console	Nintendo 64Retail console	Sega DreamcastRetail console	Sony PlayStation 2Retail console
Theoretical peak	Sony PlayStation (Retail console)unknownThe developer reference states the capacity of main memory and of video memory and the bus width, and no transfer rate for either. baselinecaveat Recorded as Stated by the vendor. Caveat Unknown for both pools. The reference is unusually clear that they are separate — the processor cannot reach video memory directly — so even a stated rate would have been two rates, not one. Sources psx-hardware-reference	Nintendo 64 (Retail console)built differentlyStated for the whole machine, in another row here.	Sega Dreamcast (Retail console)built differentlyStated for the whole machine, in another row here.	Sony PlayStation 2 (Retail console)built differentlyStated for the whole machine, in another row here.

Memory bandwidthUnified memory · memory

Only one of these records states this figure in this form, so there is nothing here to compare it with.

Method	Sony PlayStationRetail console	Nintendo 64Retail console	Sega DreamcastRetail console	Sony PlayStation 2Retail console
Theoretical peak	Sony PlayStation (Retail console)not recorded	Nintendo 64 (Retail console)500 MB/sprovisionalConfirmed baseline states nonecaveat Recorded as Nintendo 64 main memory (RDRAM): Theoretical. Stated by the vendor. Caveat Provisional, like the graphics clock on the same page and for the same reason: the bullet this is read from is the one whose own clock figure the scan destroys, so a legible number on an illegible line waits for a second source. Note also what the manual counts: "9 bit bytes at 500 M/sec". The ninth bit is not the programmer’s, so this is 500 million bytes per second of data on a bus carrying rather more than that. Multiplier No multiplier: Sony PlayStation (Retail console) records no value here, so there is nothing to divide by. Sources n64-programming-manual	Sega Dreamcast (Retail console)built differentlyStated as system memory and for the whole machine, in another row here.	Sony PlayStation 2 (Retail console)built differentlyStated as video memory, as system memory and for the whole machine, in another row here.

Memory bandwidthwhole-system

Method	Sony PlayStationRetail console	Nintendo 64Retail console	Sega DreamcastRetail console	Sony PlayStation 2Retail console
Theoretical peak	Sony PlayStation (Retail console)not recorded	Nintendo 64 (Retail console)500 MB/sprovisionalConfirmed baseline states nonecaveat Recorded as Derived. Computed here from figures the vendor stated. Caveat Adds 1 memory-bandwidth figure obtained by theoretical-peak. Nothing in the catalog is left out of it. A total is only as trustworthy as the decision about what belongs in it, so both the terms and the exclusions are named records. Multiplier No multiplier: Sony PlayStation (Retail console) records no value here, so there is nothing to divide by. Sources n64-programming-manual	Sega Dreamcast (Retail console)800 MB/sConfirmed baseline states nonecaveat Recorded as Derived. Computed here from figures the vendor stated. Caveat Adds 1 memory-bandwidth figure obtained by theoretical-peak. Nothing in the catalog is left out of it. A total is only as trustworthy as the decision about what belongs in it, so both the terms and the exclusions are named records. Multiplier No multiplier: Sony PlayStation (Retail console) records no value here, so there is nothing to divide by. Sources dreamcast-hardware-spec	Sony PlayStation 2 (Retail console)3.2 GB/sConfirmed baseline states nonecaveat Recorded as Derived. Computed here from figures the vendor stated. Caveat Adds 1 memory-bandwidth figure obtained by theoretical-peak. Left out: 48 GB/s inside the Graphics Synthesizer (the drawing chip’s own embedded memory, which the processor cannot read or write). A total is only as trustworthy as the decision about what belongs in it, so both the terms and the exclusions are named records. Multiplier No multiplier: Sony PlayStation (Retail console) records no value here, so there is nothing to divide by. Sources scei-ps2-specifications-1999

Memory bandwidthSystem memory · memory

Method	Sony PlayStationRetail console	Nintendo 64Retail console	Sega DreamcastRetail console	Sony PlayStation 2Retail console
Theoretical peak	Sony PlayStation (Retail console)not recorded	Nintendo 64 (Retail console)built differentlyStated as unified memory and for the whole machine, in another row here.	Sega Dreamcast (Retail console)800 MB/sConfirmed baseline states nonecaveat Recorded as Dreamcast main memory: Theoretical. Stated by the vendor. Caveat A bus ceiling, not a measured throughput, and the source says so in as many words. It describes main memory only; texture and audio memory have their own paths. Multiplier No multiplier: Sony PlayStation (Retail console) records no value here, so there is nothing to divide by. Sources dreamcast-hardware-spec	Sony PlayStation 2 (Retail console)3.2 GB/sConfirmed baseline states nonecaveat Recorded as PlayStation 2 main memory (Direct RDRAM): Theoretical. Stated by the vendor. Caveat A bus maximum, not a rate any workload sustains. Rambus reaches it with a narrow channel at a very high transfer rate, which makes it more sensitive to access pattern than a wide, slow bus of the same nominal figure. Multiplier No multiplier: Sony PlayStation (Retail console) records no value here, so there is nothing to divide by. Sources scei-ps2-specifications-1999

Memory bandwidthVideo memory · memory

Only one of these records states this figure in this form, so there is nothing here to compare it with.

Method	Sony PlayStationRetail console	Nintendo 64Retail console	Sega DreamcastRetail console	Sony PlayStation 2Retail console
Theoretical peak	Sony PlayStation (Retail console)not recorded	Nintendo 64 (Retail console)built differentlyStated as unified memory and for the whole machine, in another row here.	Sega Dreamcast (Retail console)built differentlyStated as system memory and for the whole machine, in another row here.	Sony PlayStation 2 (Retail console)48 GB/sConfirmed baseline states nonecaveat Recorded as Graphics Synthesizer embedded DRAM: Theoretical. Stated by the vendor. Caveat A bus maximum. The 2560 bit are not one bus but three ports — separate read and write paths for the frame and Z buffers plus a texture path — so no single operation can consume the whole figure. Multiplier No multiplier: Sony PlayStation (Retail console) records no value here, so there is nothing to divide by. Sources scei-ps2-specifications-1999

Energy

A cooling-design target, a specified rating and a measured wall draw are separate quantities, and only the last supports a multiplier.

Rated power consumptionwhole-system

Method	Sony PlayStationRetail console	Nintendo 64Retail console	Sega DreamcastRetail console	Sony PlayStation 2Retail console
Rated power	Sony PlayStation (Retail console)17 WConfirmed baselinecaveat Recorded as Vendor-rated. Stated by the vendor. Caveat A supply rating for the SCPH-7501 revision, not for the SCPH-1001 that launched in 1995. Sony shrank and simplified the console repeatedly over its life, so a later revision draws less than the first, and this figure is recorded against the machine with the revision named, the same arrangement as the PlayStation 2’s rating, which comes from the SCPH-39001 manual. The developer reference this record otherwise rests on rates no power at all. Sources scei-psx-scph-7501-manual	Nintendo 64 (Retail console)unknownThe programming manual is written for developers and rates no power for the console. no value herecaveat Recorded as Stated by the vendor. Caveat Recorded as asked and unanswered. A figure is printed on the console’s own supply, but a nameplate photograph is not a source this catalog accepts, and Nintendo’s developer documentation does not repeat it. Multiplier No multiplier: no value is recorded here. Sources n64-programming-manual	Sega Dreamcast (Retail console)not recorded	Sony PlayStation 2 (Retail console)79 WConfirmed not a ratiocaveat Recorded as Vendor-rated. Stated by the vendor. Caveat A rating rather than a measurement: no workload is stated, and the console draws less than this at idle and while playing a disc. It applies to one revision of the hardware among many, and the metric forbids ratios for exactly that reason. Multiplier No multiplier: this quantity is not defined consistently enough for one figure to be divided by another. Sources scea-ps2-scph-39001-manual

Rated power consumptioncpu

Only one of these records states this figure in this form, so there is nothing here to compare it with.

Method	Sony PlayStationRetail console	Nintendo 64Retail console	Sega DreamcastRetail console	Sony PlayStation 2Retail console
Rated power	Sony PlayStation (Retail console)built differentlyStated for the whole machine, in another row here.	Nintendo 64 (Retail console)not recorded	Sega Dreamcast (Retail console)1.5 WConfirmed baseline states nonecaveat Recorded as Hitachi SH-4: Vendor-rated. Stated by the vendor. Caveat The processor’s rating, not the console’s: Sega publishes no figure for the machine, and this answers a narrower question than the Amiga 1200’s 23 watts or the Mac mini’s 150 watts, which are whole-machine ratings. The scope keeps them in separate rows for exactly that reason. "Typical" is the manufacturer’s own hedge and nothing here was measured. Multiplier No multiplier: Sony PlayStation (Retail console) records no value here, so there is nothing to divide by. Sources hitachi-sh7750-announcement-1997	Sony PlayStation 2 (Retail console)built differentlyStated for the whole machine, in another row here.

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