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Wii U dissected, innards pictured

With the Wii U now available in the US, we can finally get a look at its innards. Some of the details emerging confirm that it has 2GB of RAM in four separate 512MB chips, that the AMD GPU core is built on 40nm technology and the IBM CPU is based on a 45nm process.

Anandtech did a great breakdown, letting us also know that the memory provides 12.8GB/s of peak memory bandwidth, more than double of the original Wii. We also know now that there are two wireless controller chips, a 802.11b/g/n that handles WiFi connectivity, while the other is a dedicated 802.11n controller to handle Miracast streaming to the GamePad.

Storage is in the form of an 8GB Samsung NAND chip for user storage, while a secondary Tohisba NAND chip on the reverse of the PCB is kept separate for non-user storage.

Wii U Chip
IHS removed: the Wii U's GPU, CPU and what is presumed to be off chip memory. Image Source: Anandtech

There's only one fan inside, but it is quite small. This could mean that the Wii U is hardly a silent machine, but hopefully it only needs to spin up during long gaming sessions.

KitGuru Says: So who's excited for the Wii U's UK launch? Will you be buying one?

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