We're currently in the middle of Sony's Playstation announcement and right off the bat they discussed system specifications.
(Update 2: Press conference was over a few hours ago, and we now have an official press release.)
The Playstation 4, as it will be titled, is very similar to a mid-range gaming PC. When discussing with developers, they requested for Sony to stick with a typical x86-based architecture. Of course that does not stop Sony from describing it as a “Supercharged PC architecture”. Still, they do seem to have quite a decent amount of hardware in this box.
- 8-core x86 CPU
-
2 Teraflops GPU integrated on same
die(update: chip). - I did not hear AMD mentioned, but it totally is.
- 8GB GDDR5 RAM (shared)
- Stereo Camera on the controller with a light bar, like the Wii, to judge distance to TV.
- Also touch sensor in the controller.
- (Update/correction: At least a …) Spindle-based Hard Drive
While these specifications have been sufficiently leaked in the recent past, we have not been able to pin down exactly how much RAM is provided. We found the development kit contained 8GB of system memory. The problem is that development kits require more RAM than the system it pretends to be to account for development tools and unoptimized assets.
As it turns out, the system itself will contain 8GB of GDDR5 shared between the CPU and GPU, which is quite a lot. Developers will need to finally push the PC platform past the 4GB RAM+VRAM 32-bit barrier in order to keep up with the next generation consoles.
Most of our gaming limitations were due to art assets being limited by memory constraints. Thanks to the new Sony console, PC releases could finally be taken off the 512MB-long leash of Sony and Microsoft.
(Update 2, cont.: The press release has official tech specs as below but are "subject to change")
| Main Processor |
Single-Chip Custom Processor
CPU: x86-64 AMD "Jaguar", 8 cores
GPU: 1.84 Teraflops, AMD next-generation Radeon(tm)-based graphics engine
|
| Memory | GDDR5 8GB |
| Hard Disk Drive | Built-in |
| Optical Drive (Read-Only) |
BD 6x CAV
DVD 8x CAV
|
| I/O Ports | Super-Speed USB (USB3.0), AUX |
| Communication |
Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T)
IEE 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.1 (EDR)
|
| AV output |
HDMI
Analog-AV out
Digital Out
|
So clearly Sony was slightly rounding up when they claimed it was a 2 Teraflop GPU. Still, this looks to be a healthy computer.
We now have the official confirmation we needed that AMD Jaguar cores will power the PS4. Given AMD's big wins in the console platforms, I would wonder if game developers would be able to take some of the tricks they will learn in a few years and be able to start optimizing PC gamers for AMD CPUs.
GPUs too for that matter… this could mean a lot for AMD's PC gamers.
Where are you watching the
Where are you watching the event? All the links i’ve seen aren’t loading.
Gametrailers has a stable
Gametrailers has a stable stream, although it was the third or fourth one I tried.
For text-based coverage, continue to visit your neighbourhood PC Perspective 😀
Thanks, it’s working.
Thanks, it’s working.
Well i’m impressed.
I am
Well i’m impressed.
I am really excited to find out what developers end up doing with all that extra memory, aside from massive textures of course.
are we also looking at the
are we also looking at the dawn of the new motherboard architecture with DDR5 as the memory of choice?
we only heard recently of dd5 5 for desktop- and now we will have a console with 8 gigs shared available at the end of the year. And since it is PC architecture porting between PC and Console should be easy. (unsure which way- i imagine PC-> console)
This is nice, but I would
This is nice, but I would like the TeraFLOPS to be at 2.5 with the right amount of Stream processors and Shaders! I want the “Next Generation” in GamePlay!!!
This seems like it would be an easier way to do a port tho!
Unreal Engine 4: Simple Specs
By AlfonPublished: February 13, 2012
Posted in: PC News, PS3 News, Xbox 360 news
Tags: Epic Games, next generation, Next genn, UE4, Unreal Engine 4
With some minute details on the requirements needed to run the engine properly.
Tim Sweeney’s presentation started off with a few facts on how humans perceive things; we can detect up to 72 frames-per-second (for all you naysayers who think 30 frames is the max we can see, take a look at this), the highest resolution we’ll probably ever need is 2560×1600 (30 degress) for HDTVs, and for the ultimate immersive experience, 8000×4000 (90 degrees). Of course, it will be some time before we can reach that level at appropriate frame rates. (You can find Tim Sweeney’s full presentation at the source).
For Epic Game’s next generation middleware however, the paper numbers are simpler: 2.5 TeraFLOPS to run the Samaritan Demo (roughly the amount of a GTX 590). As you can see from the comparison image above, the aging Xbox 360 only manages a measly .25 TFLOPS, but still packs a decent punch given the impressive visuals shown in some recent releases. Naturally, FLOPS (floating point operations per second) isn’t the only thing we have to consider; stream processors, shaders, and whatnot are a factor as well. Yet, since it’s a very simplistic and easy way to explain the amount of power required, it’s been used extensively as a marketing tool in the past decade.
Based on the paper numbers alone though, that previously rumored 6670 GPU probably won’t cut it for Unreal Engine 4, especially if it’s running at 1920×1080. This does however, make AMD’s next-generation “Southern Island” architecture that much more plausible in showing up inside Microsoft next Xbox.
For those that need a refresher on what level of graphics we are talking about: Samaritan Real-Time Demo.
This will not only improve graphics it will enhance everything!
do you think the next xbox
do you think the next xbox will be much different?
Oh god no not an AMD 8 core
Oh god no not an AMD 8 core ='( benchmarks show a last gen Sandy Bridge intel Pentium can outmatch an AMD 8150 in gaming. Plus no NVIDIA GPU? aww s*** no chance for PhysX now.
I would have settled for an AMD GPU but the CPU!?!? I’ve been loyal to Sony since the PS1, but there was that huge f**k up with the PS3’s CPU & now this? This is why Sony’s worth less now than the PS2 days.
Maybe AMD will pull something out of there a** and go back to the good days I remember and maybe all the hardware optimization consolse’s recieve will help out but idk.