Speculation about what lies under the Wii U's hood continues with reports about its custom Radeon GPU.

Following their Wii U announcement Nintendo has remained quiet about the technical aspects of the console. Their official fact sheet didn't say much about what is powering the console and they've avoided speaking about it ever since, simply saying the technology will be as good, if not better, than the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and they want to focus on the new controller.

This has led to a lot of speculation and after some snooping around it seems we at least now know a little bit more. Engadget report that the custom Radeon GPU at the heart of the machine is quite capable but by no means cutting edge. The chip is similar to some last-generation cards but that doesn't mean it should be written off as the Xbox 360 and PS3 are still running on cards that are now five years old.

The core also supports Direct X 10.1 and the ability for up to four SD video streams, although how this is used will be up to Nintendo and other developers according to Engadget. Hopefully Nintendo will release exact details soon to settle the numerous debates that have risen up but until then there's always speculation.