Been trying to peg down where exactly the VITA stands relative to its console brethren. GPU wise it supports quite a few features which RSX can't do- like MSAA + HDR as one example.. I believe it also gets MSAA quite a bit cheaper than RSX too. More or less, GPU side the Vita is very capable.
Some info I dug up:
SGX543: @200Mhz (1 core):
Fillrate: 35 MTriangles, 1000 MPixels
Bus Width: 64bit
Gflops: 7.2
These GPU's also scale very well with the addition of each core. Like 95%+.
So multiply those numbers x 4 for what the Vita can output theoretically.
SGX543 @200Mhz (4 core):
Fillrate: 140 MTriangles, 4000 MPixels
Bus Width: 64bit
Gflops: 28.8
Bandwidth: ??
(no idea what the Gflop measurement actually means, or if I'm missing something regarding the SGX543)
PS3 RSX:
Fillrate: 4,400 Mpixels, ??? MTriangles
Bus Width: 128bit
Gflops: 400.4
Bandwidth: 22.4GB/s
Especially considering the resolution it renders to is substantially lower than 1280x720p, so that also gives it an edge. In all, I would say that the SGX543 is probably more powerful in most aspects given its target resolution. I could be wrong, anybody with more info please chime in.
This is also assuming the graphics card is only clocked at 200Mhz. It could well be higher by some amount, in which case prospects look all the better!
Vita also has 25% more memory than the PS3.. It should also get other benefits here in relation to its smaller resolution and the fact that it's using super fast carts to stream information (smaller buffers).
So probably where Vita takes the biggest hit is the CPU side of the equation. Without knowing its clock or other benchmarks for sure.. The Quad A9 Cortex probably hovers at or slightly above 10,000 MIPS. As an example the 360 Xenon CPU is at roughly 19,000. But to be entirely honest I am not entirely sure what would make this a proper comparison. I know very little about CPU benchmark metrics vis a vis GPU ones.
If anybody came come out here and help fill in the blanks, that would be much appreciated.
I'm sure that the CPU in the Vita, portable solution not withstanding, has some pretty nifty features that neither console CPU does. If for nothing else because it came years later.