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http://wii.ign.com/launchguide/hardware1.html
729 MHz IBM PowerPC "Broadway" CPU 243 MHz ATI "Hollywood" GPU 24MBs "main" 1T-SRAM 64MBs other 1T-SRAM 512MBs internal flash memory 3MBs texture memory on GPU Built-in 802.11b/g Wi-Fi capability One SD memory card bay AV multi-port: S-video, composite, component Analog (left/right) audio / DPLII Four GameCube controller ports Two GameCube Memory Pak slots Two USB 2.0 ports Compatible with up to four wireless Wii-motes Self-loading media drive Accepts 12cm Wii and 8cm GCN discs; no DVD movies
The Wii system has been designed to be "small, quiet and affordable," according to Nintendo. The machine, available at launch in glossy white, is just 8.5 inches long, 6 inches wide and less than two inches thick (the exact dimensions are 157mm x 215.4mm x 44mm.) The Big N is fond of comparing the system to the size of roughly three stacked DVDs. Wii can be placed horizontally or vertically. The console is roughly twice as powerful as a GameCube, putting it in horsepower territory beyond Xbox, but well shy of Xbox 360. Tech specs do not tell the whole story, which is probably why Nintendo itself has chosen not to provide intricate breakdowns for Wii's CPU and GPU.
http://www.ebgames.com/gs/wii/wii_signup.asp
- CPU IBM Broadway 729MHz - GPU ATI Hollywood - Supported Resolution up to 480p - System Memory Unknown - Wii Controller Ports Wireless (4 minimum) - GameCube Controller Ports 4 Ports - GameCube Memory Expansion 2 Ports USB 2.0 2 Ports - Internal Storage 512MB Flash Memory - Optical Disc Drive 8cm GameCube/12cm Wii - 12cm Disc Capacity 4.7GB (single) / 8.5GB (dual) - Memory Expansion 2 SD Memory - Internet Connectivity WiFi 802.11b/g - Disc Compatibility GameCube - Downloadable Content NES, SNES, N64, Sega Genesis, Turbo Grafx
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=13482
The Cube will be powered by the IBM CPU codenamed Broadway, which is very similar to the Gekko CPU used in the GameCube, but runs at around twice the clock speed and offers potentially two to three times the overall performance, and the ATI graphics chip codenamed Hollywood.
While Broadway is well-understood by developers, the ATI part remains "a bit of a black box", according to one senior developer we spoke to. "We have theoretical throughput figures and stats from Nintendo, but nobody's seen the hardware yet - we're just treating it like it's a faster version of the GameCube GPU, at the moment."
How much faster exactly it will be remains to be seen, but the chip - which "seems to be an evolution of the Radeon range" according to our source - will probably mirror the CPU by running at around twice to three times the speed of the existing part.
In terms of RAM, the system is well-known to boast 512MB of Flash RAM which can be used to store save games and downloaded content, but this will not be accessible to developers, we were told. What they'll have available is 96MB of main memory, built on the same 1T-SRAM architecture as the Cube, and "a few megs here and there for other stuff" - such as 3MB of on-board memory on the graphics chip, which will be used for a frame buffer. "That's plenty, since the Revolution isn't supporting HDTV," one developer added.
As for the storage media the Revolution will use, "they're pretty much standard DVDs," we were told, with capacity similar to current PS2 and Xbox discs. "The only clever thing about the drive, really, is that you can put the little Cube discs into it despite being a slot-loading drive - I think that's the first time you've been able to do that with a slot loader."
In other words, what Nintendo is planning to ship is a system which is no more than around twice to three times as powerful as the current generation GameCube - indeed, more than one developer who has access to the hardware specs suggested "about 2.5 times the power" as the benchmark for the new system.