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Tesla's New Cars Can Run The Witcher 3 on Their 10-Teraflop Gaming Rigs (ign.com) 117

Tesla has unveiled refreshed versions of its Model X and Model S cars, revealing that both are equipped with gaming hardware supporting "up to 10 teraflops of processing power." This theoretically puts a car within the ballpark of a new generation console. From a report: The Tesla models, priced in excess of $80,000 and shipping in March, are fitted with hardware to power Tesla Arcade, an in-car gaming system that is already available in current Tesla models. The difference is that previous models are only able to run less demanding games such as Cuphead and Cat Quest, while the promotional materials for the new Tesla models show The Witcher 3 displayed on the 17" central console. This suggests a significant step up for the car's gaming potential. Specifics on how powerful the car's gaming rig is isn't easy to tell, as the quoted "up to 10 teraflops of processing power" can't be directly translated to the power of a PS5, which is capable of 10.28 teraflops. The accompanying components must also be taken into account, and Tesla has offered no details on the full specs of the hardware. It's unclear if Nvidia or AMD GPUs are being used, or if it all comes from Tesla's own system-on-a-chip. And while The Witcher 3 is an impressive game by... err... car standards, it's very much a last-gen experience now. Theoretically, though, the system in the new Teslas is capable of strong gaming performance.
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Tesla's New Cars Can Run The Witcher 3 on Their 10-Teraflop Gaming Rigs

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  • min text.

    • by DarkOx ( 621550 )

      If you have little kids or just don't have space for a good gaming setup I can see it.

      Go out to the garage. Sit in what is actually a pretty nice seat for gaming and good sound system that you can turn up without disturbing anyone. Only issue I can see is having the display off center would be ergonomically poor. If they made it detachable or something so you could set it up on the dash when the car was in park; the car would be a pretty sweet gaming rig.

      • Yeah, a Tesla in your garage is much cheaper than just a PC in your garage.

        • by DarkOx ( 621550 )

          Is it? I'd need heating, air, furniture, the high end pc, a sound system, and a bigger garage so I could still park a car in there. -or- I could leverage all those things that are in the car already.

          • Point taken, but it's entirely relative. Where I live I spent less that $160k CAD for my house (2500sq/ft) sitting on 3/4 acres in a subdivision.

            Willing to bet I could come in at under 80k for all you mention and a basic car :)
            Though, country living aint for everyone I suppose...

            I see this as just a really nice value add for a person willing to spend as much on a car whether or not it could game.

            • by DarkOx ( 621550 )

              I am actually in a similar situation to yourself. Where I live owing a electric would be pretty impractical. I also have "garage" that I could easily put four full size pickups in but we only have one pickup and one car.

              it is however unheated, not really insulated and therefore not best space to spend time in January. I agree though I could come in well under the cost of Model S.

              The GGP was being dismissive about this being useful. I suspect for some people its probably a nice little portable man cave.

              • So you are saying you have a garage that can hold 4 pickup trucks, but does not have a single electric plug socket? I think you were ripped off.
                • by DarkOx ( 621550 )

                  Not all. I am saying driving a lot places is a long trip. I don't have the sort of electrical service in the main building that would support sub panel in the garage large enough to run a high amperage charger. I don't even have 220 in the garage. So I would be charging an electric car in the slowest most expensive way possible; or have to make a substantial investment.

                  No thanks.

          • by leptons ( 891340 )
            It's such an edge case, I can't see bothering with building a gaming experience into a car. Kids have tablets and other devices they are glued to, they don't need a gaming rig built into a car. Phones have plenty of games for anyone sitting idle in a car waiting for their wife to finish up shopping, etc. I just can't see this as a selling point for a car, if anything it's just an upsell item but to include it in the price tag seems ridiculous.
      • by Eloking ( 877834 )

        If you have little kids or just don't have space for a good gaming setup I can see it.

        Go out to the garage. Sit in what is actually a pretty nice seat for gaming and good sound system that you can turn up without disturbing anyone. Only issue I can see is having the display off center would be ergonomically poor. If they made it detachable or something so you could set it up on the dash when the car was in park; the car would be a pretty sweet gaming rig.

        More to this, don't forget that the goal of Tesla is to have 'real' autopilot. So you could play video games while driving around.

        • More to this, don't forget that the goal of Tesla is to have 'real' autopilot. So you could play video games while driving around.

          How about they wait to add the gaming until *after* they've reached the "real autopilot" goal? Adding it now is just inviting irresponsible behavior.

          We don't need any more Tesla drivers beheaded... although perhaps others may disagree with me on that point.

          • They probably want the power for doing superior map visualizations and so on. The fact that it can play games is irrelevant, and only being used for publicity purposes.

          • It doesn't invite irresponsible behavior, because it can't be used unless the car is in park.

            Honestly, this probably didn't take a whole lot of "engineering time" in order to do it as emulators and translation layers are widely available, very likely was a fun project for some employees to work on and enjoy, and makes for a pretty good advertisement disguised as a press release.

            I wouldn't be surprised if this was the result of some engineer getting it running in his spare time just to see if they could, sho

          • by Eloking ( 877834 )

            More to this, don't forget that the goal of Tesla is to have 'real' autopilot. So you could play video games while driving around.

            How about they wait to add the gaming until *after* they've reached the "real autopilot" goal? Adding it now is just inviting irresponsible behavior.

            We don't need any more Tesla drivers beheaded... although perhaps others may disagree with me on that point.

            So you're suggesting they wait that they got autopilot before they install 10 teraflops computer to their cars and retrofit the old one?

            Sound more logical to me that they install the hardware now don't you think? Furthermore, a powerful computer has many other advantages than gaming.

    • I dunno about "Witcher" but they also have a driving game that uses the steering wheel and pedals.

      • Yikes! Imagine you mistakenly step hard on the pedal while the car is on "run" mode thinking you're starting a game. And if you're able to accelerate the car in this mistake, it would be catastrophic! But I'm sure there're precautious builtin stuffs that'd prevent you from mistakenly move the car while in gaming mode. I don't own a tesla so what do I know lol.
        • and when some dies from that the courts may make Tesla pay out big time.

        • Except that you can't start the game unless you're in park, and you can't put the car into a mobile mode without the game exiting.

          It's almost like they thought of the most obvious problem with this without having the peanut gallery sign off..

          • by djinn6 ( 1868030 )

            That seems counterproductive to the main use of such a feature: entertaining the kids while you're busy monitoring the car's driving.

            • The kids already have tablets for that.

            • Full screen video becomes a problem if you need to use that screen for other stuff while operating the vehicle. Like navigation, climate control, etc. Plus, having video within view of a driver while operating a vehicle is actually illegal in many jurisdictions including the US - basically every video-capable head unit ever installed (unless defeated) has a lockout switch mandated to make sure either the vehicle is in park, or the parking brake is set before it will allow playing video.

              So what you think i

    • by MachineShedFred ( 621896 ) on Thursday January 28, 2021 @04:02PM (#61002604) Journal

      Because it's nice to have something to entertain yourself while at a supercharger on a road trip.

      Why not?

    • Gaming hardware and AI hardware are similar. My guess is this puts the hardware in place and gives a use for it before the self driving AI/ML software (while will need that hardware) is finalized

  • I looked at the pictures of the interior and notice that new Tesla S has weird steering wheel with no stalks of anything like that. I can't see this being ergonomic. This is just like these constant UI redesigns, only this time it is actual car.
    • Don't know about the steering wheel ergonomics, but it makes sense to me to get rid of the stalks. I can see how switching to buttons on the steering wheel, uh steering yoke, instead would be better than the stalks. We are used to stalks, but we'll get used to tapping the buttons just as easy if not easier. And yes there are buttons on the front of the steering yoke .. you can see it the tap symbols on it.

      • by sinij ( 911942 ) on Thursday January 28, 2021 @02:57PM (#61002290)
        The stalk has tactile feedback - you can tell status by feel. By moving it to buttons you are removing that tactile feedback. Cnsequently, you will have more people a) forget to signal turns b) forget to turn off turn signal.
        • By moving it to buttons you are removing that tactile feedback.

          Though I agree with the general idea of your post, you just happen to have picked the wrong example.

          Cnsequently, you will have more people a) forget to signal turns b) forget to turn off turn signal.

          - On virtually any vehicle, blinker have an auditory feed-back. Either a real hardware one (actual relays clicking on some very old vehicles) or skeumorphic one (speakers playing beeps or tick-tock sounds). You immediately notice when the sound is missing.
          - On nearly all modern vehicle except some entry-level motorcycles and motorscooters, the turn signal automatically shuts down at the end of the turn once t

          • by Strider- ( 39683 )

            Also note that the yoke as presented by Tesla is illegal in many jurisdictions. There are specific regulations on what the wheel must be like on production vehicles. I for one am glad, that yoke that Tesla is providing looks horrible.

            Also, I don't particularly care about autopilot (even if I could afford a Tesla) as I actually enjoy driving, as a task. It's a never ending puzzle.

    • The top of the steering wheel obscures the driver display. The hand positioning I find in a Tesla (Y at least) puts the “gear selector” stalk in an awkward position for many operations (as its function is overloaded). They are moving everything to a primarily autonomous future, which makes some sense— it will improve single hand driving on Autopilot for sure.

    • The new idea is that it will guess whether you want to be in drive or reverse from sensors and context. That sounds like a good idea!

      You can override it from the touchscreen, but still....

  • Tesla seems to be setting itself up for some legal action when the first distracted driver has an accident/

    • by Jerrry ( 43027 )

      "Tesla seems to be setting itself up for some legal action when the first distracted driver has an accident"

      With current Teslas, you can't play the games while the car is in motion--only when stopped and the vehicle is in Park.

      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Which has been standard for years in many cars, particularly Honda who give you an HDMI port. Many let you okay video from USB drive as well, e.g. Kia.

        Except in Japan where you can watch TV while driving. They even have special broadcasts for mobile recievers.

    • better for that to happen now before selfdrive as that will let them setup an EULA and may some court cases. So when they do have full self drive then the have old cases to go back to get out of it.

    • by fermion ( 181285 )
      Or distracting other drivers. I remember when in car entertainment became a thing, and the kids who play porn movies mounted on screen in the back. Now we are going to have these big screen broadcasting video games.
    • And a few Slashdot posters seem to be setting themselves up for ridicule for thinking that you can be playing this, or any other game in the "toybox" while the car is able to move.

      It's all locked out unless you're in "park" just like the Netflix client that I'm sure you probably also raised the same nonsense objection to.

  • storage size and how fast to flash burn out?

  • And yet my car won't let me pair a new bluetooth device while the car is moving. Would be too distracting. Somehow they think the passenger can't do it.

    • by Corbets ( 169101 )

      They don’t think that. They just don’t trust the driver not to take advantage of the fact that the passenger could do it.

      Which, given all available evidence, seems to be a reasonable approach.

      • OK but how come Tesla can have dozens of functions hidden into their touch screen interface, and now games, but I can't let my passenger change a setting?

  • "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should."
    • "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should."

      Don't do that. Actual scientists are educated individuals that work for a living.

      Now, as far as the fucking marketing idiots rambling on about gaming console performance in cars...

  • by xack ( 5304745 ) on Thursday January 28, 2021 @02:58PM (#61002298)
    Let's see how many scalpers start buying up $80,000 cars to sell for even more.
    • cars lose value the sec they go off the dealer lot

    • People are doing this for the Cybertruck already. Yes, cars depreciate, but not if they are in extremely high demand. Good example is the C8 Corvette. People who manage to get one are selling them for way more than MSRP to people who did not manage to get in line for one. I don't know how pervasive this is, but I know of several people who have reserved several Cybertrucks with the intention to resell them more or less immediately.

  • For 100k my tesla better have a 3090 (or two)
  • by AlanObject ( 3603453 ) on Thursday January 28, 2021 @03:00PM (#61002314)

    I'm not a gamer, but if I were I would find it pointless to do it in my Model Y. I have several objections:

    I have played some of the board games in the parking lot while waiting for my wife in the store ("just five minutes no more! -- yeah.") In those games you interact with the screen. It gets uncomfortable (for me at least) being off-center from the screen, leaning over to make moves. Even in a few minutes it gets tiresome.

    For the games that use the steering wheel as an input, I develop an awareness that I am grinding my tires into the pavement. Probably most people don't care, but I'm the type of driver that tries to keep rolling whenever I turn the wheel so to minimize grinding the tires. And still looking over to the right for the game visuals gets tiresome as well. The offset isn't a problem when driving because you focus on the screen on a very low duty cycle (and peripheral vision takes care of the rest) but in a video game you focus on it 100%.

    This "feature" of the car is a pretty worthless gimmick I would say. They're doing it because they could, not because they should.

    • This "feature" of the car is a pretty worthless gimmick I would say. They're doing it because they could, not because they should.

      If you think that pointless feature creep is bad, you should see what they call a "phone" these days...

    • by dcw3 ( 649211 )

      Really? They can't shut off the steering while your in a game?

      • The software actually warns you that when playing the game with the steering wheel the wheels on the car will move, causing a hazard to anyone next to them.

        An obvious legal CYA.

    • by zmooc ( 33175 )

      This "feature" of the car is a pretty worthless gimmick I would say. They're doing it because they could, not because they should.

      That alone is just awesome. We need more manufacturers of anything to do things because they can. Great things are usually done because we can and not because we should.

  • by 89cents ( 589228 ) on Thursday January 28, 2021 @03:01PM (#61002318)
    If only I could buy an electric car that:
    1. Matches the drive train efficiency and power/range of a Tesla
    2. Has a normal dash with a HUD and things like knobs instead of just a screen.
    3. Has normal door handles.
    4. Preferably the charge port near the front of the car. Every Tesla owner I see has to back into their driveway.
    5. And now to add to that, a normal steering wheel.
    • 4. Preferably the charge port near the front of the car. Every Tesla owner I see has to back into their driveway.

      Vehicle orientation in a driveway is akin to people arguing about the direction of toilet paper on the roll.

      At some point we might realize we should have never cared about this, but I highly doubt it.

      • 4. Preferably the charge port near the front of the car. Every Tesla owner I see has to back into their driveway.

        Vehicle orientation in a driveway is akin to people arguing about the direction of toilet paper on the roll.

        At some point we might realize we should have never cared about this, but I highly doubt it.

        Rather than argue about which end is better, how about putting a charging port at both ends? They can't cost that much and added convenience would be a feature that would make me consider a Tesla.

        • At some point the bean counters will get involved, and that is how we wind up with the charging port in the center of the roof.
        • Rather than argue about which end is better, how about putting a charging port at both ends? They can't cost that much and added convenience would be a feature that would make me consider a Tesla.

          Really? How many ICE designers had to even consider this bullshit? We don't even have gas tanks that are accessible from the opposite side of the vehicle. Forget the other end of the car.

          I really don't know if I could spell out spoiled rotten any more, but this pretty much takes the cake. I honestly hope that Tesla takes your advice, and then raises the price of a "dual-access" Tesla by another $20K, just to listen to future Tesla owners bitch about the ever-increasing price, all while making a profit o

          • The Jaguar XJ6 had two gas tanks (interconnected) and could be filled from either side of the car. The Lotus Europa had two gas caps on either side but a single tank. The Audi E-Tron has charging ports on both sides of the car.

            Maybe it seems absurd/decadent/spoiled but designers have looked at and implemented multiple ways to get energy into a vehicle isn't that radical an idea.

      • Vehicle orientation in a driveway is akin to people arguing about the direction of toilet paper on the roll.

        You clearly do not have a driveway. Or a driveway that opens onto heavy traffic.

    • by Reeses ( 5069 )

      5. And now to add to that, a normal steering wheel.

      I wouldn't count on that steering wheel passing US Federal safety standards. There's a reason most steering wheels in the US are round, or pretty close to it.

    • I agree with all your points as well noting that a steering wheel is a wheel and other companies have tried things like aircraft control columns over the years, but always come back to the same form factor - a wheel.

      Actually, rather than spend time on this crap, I'd love to see them do some serious work on coming up with a better interior and lose the big screen in the centre of the dashboard and place the functionality in more appropriate locations, like other cars do.

    • 4. Preferably the charge port near the front of the car. Every Tesla owner I see has to back into their driveway.

      Fixed with either of the following solutions:

      1. buy a charger that has a reasonable length to the cable. Tesla sells one [tesla.com] with both an 8 foot length, and 18 foot length for the same price.
      2. mount your charger on the side wall of your garage instead of the back wall so a shorter cable will reach with 'head-in' parking.

      That's sure a hell of a lot easier than getting every auto manufacturer to put the charge port in the same place. We can't even get that done with fuel fill tubes.

      Citation: I've done exactly

      • by dcw3 ( 649211 )

        Curious...what did your entire charger set up cost? I'm beginning to consider switching from my nine year old gas guzzler to something EV.

        • - The Tesla wall connector was $500. I have the second-generation one that actually has a 24 foot cable so there's a bit more length allowance than the current one.
          - I already had an 240VAC 80A circuit in my garage from a previous kitchen remodel (kitchen shares a wall with the garage and we were pulling in new electrical, so my contractor just pulled that at the same time in case I (or a future owner) wanted to have some high amperage capacity out there - I want to say we paid $500 for him to do

    • by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      1. Matches the drive train efficiency and power/range of a Tesla

      Teslas aren't particularly efficient - everyone on the market is getting 125MPGe+ except the SUVs and sports cars for obvious reasons. Teslas on efficiency is actually on the low end of the scale - many electrics already offer better energy efficiency.

      What they cars often don't offer is a ginormous battery pack - most BEVs have between a 50-60kWh battery pack, not a 80-100kWh one in a Tesla. But you don't want too big a battery pack or the roc

    • If only I could buy an electric car that: 1. Matches the drive train efficiency and power/range of a Tesla 2. Has a normal dash with a HUD and things like knobs instead of just a screen. 3. Has normal door handles. 4. Preferably the charge port near the front of the car. Every Tesla owner I see has to back into their driveway. 5. And now to add to that, a normal steering wheel.

      I'm with you on everything but the handles (which I don't care about) and charging port position. I'm a back-er-in-er, but hey.

      I've got a Cybertruck pre-order, but we'll see if I accept delivery, based on most of the things you've mentioned. The steering wheel and instrumentation are huge steps backwards in my eyes.

      • Why bother tying up that cash with an interest free loan to Tesla for something you may not want?

        • Why bother tying up that cash with an interest free loan to Tesla for something you may not want?

          Fair question. The amount involved is non-impactful to me and to a small degree it's not supporting a Kickstarter campaign. If the deposit is useful to Tesla such that the end product is better than it would be without those of us who pre-ordered, that's a net win. If something brutal happens and Tesla ceases to be and I lose the deposit, it's such a small amount that the damage to me would be negligible. Finally, I really like what has been shown off so far, so I probably want the truck. There are jus

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Hyundai Kona or Kia eNiro.

      Their drivetrains are actually a little bit more efficient than Tesla, although they don't have silly acceleration modes.

      300 miles range, conventional car looks and interior, well made and comfortable. Much cheaper too.

    • >4. Preferably the charge port near the front of the car. Every Tesla owner I see has to back into their driveway.

      Either your drive is big enough to turn around in... Or you are the sort of idiot that reverses out of their drive. Reverse park, fowrward away. It should be the law.

    • by Strider- ( 39683 )

      4. Preferably the charge port near the front of the car. Every Tesla owner I see has to back into their driveway.

      See, this is something I appreciate (if I could own one). I was trained, and I always do, back into parking spots unless I have a very good reason not to. It's far safer not to.

      The only time I do not back in is when I know I'm going to need to load a lot of stuff into the trunk.

    • 4. Preferably the charge port near the front of the car. Every Tesla owner I see has to back into their driveway.

      That's the right way to do it.

      Backing into the driveway: you arrive at your house at the end of a trip. The car's been demisted, no snow on the windows etc. While approaching your driveway you have a good view of the street, allowing you to do the more difficult maneuver (reversing into the driveway) safely.
      When you set off the next morning, the car's facing the street, giving you again good visibility when you drive into the street.

      Driving nose-first into the driveway:
      When driving out the next morning, you

  • by Cyberax ( 705495 ) on Thursday January 28, 2021 @03:03PM (#61002328)
    But can it run Carmageddon? That's the only game I want to play in my car!
  • I think Tesla cars are awesome but their price tags are too much for me. Maybe I'll buy them in the future when they become more a common place product and cost below $30K. I only see this happening if multiple other manufacturers unveil their electric cars too. I'm not too much into the self-driving thing yet, I just want a car with a 500+ miles range.
    • by Reeses ( 5069 )

      I just want a car with a 500+ miles range.

      Then the Plaid+ model is right up your alley. 520+ miles of range.

    • Going to ask this because I just finished driving 3/4 of the way across North America and back in a Model Y: Why do you need 500+ miles of range if you can charge it in your garage every night and always have a "full" battery (usually not completely full because that induces extra wear on the battery)

      Unless your daily commute is over 120 miles each direction, having such a range only increases the price of the vehicle for capacity you would rarely, if ever, use.

      Just something to think about for the average

      • Good question. I often drive up and down west coast. Difference is that I cannot stop long enough for a charge but rather take few mins break to go to the restroom and fillup like I currently do. With 500+ range I can actually complete my trip and recharge at the destination.
    • I think Tesla cars are awesome but their price tags are too much for me.

      An economist looked into this. There might be some long term savings worth considering. Especially so if the car lasts longer due to simplicity (EV vs ICU).
      "My Tesla May End Up Costing Me a Lot Less than You'd Think"
      https://www.forbes.com/sites/g... [forbes.com]

  • Just fire this car into space, it won't be any less likely to end up in my garage. I will never give a cent to flipping dickhead anti-masker Musk.

    • Well we have always accused you of being a senseless hater, nice to see you finally admit it.

  • For all the tracking, telemetry and ads.
    • Please cite a source for your claim of ads in a Tesla that aren't from using a third party service such as YouTube.

      I won't wait, because there aren't any.

      • Yet
      • Please cite a source for your claim of ads in a Tesla that aren't from using a third party service such as YouTube.

        I won't wait, because there aren't any.

        Because you have to keep your eyes on the road now. Why do you think they're pushing self-driving so hard?

  • I am not in the market for a car that is more software (and all its current faults) than hardware.
    • I've spent 60 hours on The Witcher 3 and it's crashed on me at least 3 or 4 times. I would not tolerating my car crashing at that rate.

  • Read comments at -1.
    Not a single 'But does it run Doom?' comment.
    Color me disappointed.

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