SEGA Dreamcast vs Sony PlayStation 2

Every spec side by side, from each maker's published figures.

Better figure, where one is clearly better

Dreamcast compared with PlayStation 2
SEGADreamcastSonyPlayStation 2
Overview
ReleasedOctober 1999November 2000
Performance
TypeHome consoleHome console
CPUHitachi SH-4, 200 MHzEmotion Engine, 294.912 MHz
GPUNEC PowerVR2 DCGraphics Synthesizer, 147.456 MHz
Memory24 MB36 MB (better)
Disc driveYesYes
CPUSH4 128-bit graphics-engine RISC CPU at 200 MHz, 360 MIPS, 1.4 GFLOPS128-bit Emotion Engine at 294.912 MHz (Sony)
GPUPowerVR2 DC, over 3 million polygons per second; bump mapping, fog, alpha blending, mip mapping, trilinear filtering, anti-aliasing, environment mappingGraphics Synthesizer at 147.456 MHz with 4 MB of embedded video DRAM (Sony)
Memory detail16 MB main memory, 8 MB texture (video) memory, 2 MB sound memory32 MB Direct RDRAM main memory, 4 MB embedded video DRAM, 2 MB I/O processor memory and 2 MB sound memory (Sony)
Storage detailGD-ROM drive (about 1 GB per disc), up to 12× speed; saves on the VMU (Visual Memory)DVD-ROM and CD-ROM drive; saves on 8 MB MagicGate memory cards (two slots). An expansion bay at the back takes a network adaptor
Display and video
Maximum output480p–
Built-in screenNo built-in screenNo built-in screen
Video outputAV out (composite, S-Video, RGB SCART); 640 × 480 progressive VGA through a separately sold adaptor, in supported games (ConsoleMods)AV Multi Out for analogue video, including composite, S-Video, RGB SCART and component with suitable cables
AudioSuper Intelligent Sound Processor with a 32-bit RISC CPU, 64 channels PCM/ADPCMSPU2 sound processor; analogue stereo; DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) with Dolby Digital and DTS for DVD films
Design and power
Weight1,500 g (better)2,200 g
Power use–50 W (220–240 V)
Colours–Black
Connections
Ports4 × controller ports, AV out, serial port, removable 33.6 kbit/s modem (SEGA hardware outline)Front 2 × controller ports, 2 × memory card slots, 2 × USB, 1 × S400 i.LINK; back AV Multi Out, DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL), expansion bay
ControllerDreamcast controller with analogue stick, analogue triggers and two slots for the VMU and other expansion unitsDUALSHOCK 2 analogue controller
Backward compatibility–Most original PlayStation games and PlayStation controllers and memory cards

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