PlayStation 4 (codename Orbis) technical hardware investigation (news and rumours)

[Love_In_Rio]

The 2.75GHz "maximum clock frequency in the system" is clearly the WCLK of the GDDR5 running at the announced 5.5 Gbps. GDDR5 needs two clock signals to work, one at 1.375GHz and the other one at the mentioned 2.75GHz (for 5.5Gbps operation), which is likely the highest clock in the system, not the CPU clock.

Ok, this explains it. A pity there is no more specs in that sheet. And what about the 35º?. Isn´t it too low?.

 

[Arwin]

So final hardware devkits are out there ... Sony must be pretty close to having the factories start pouring the PS4s out then?

 

[(((interference)))]

If you dont gain a lot of gfx from using +14 CU's for gfx, you might as well use the other 4 for compute instead.

Yup, from what I am told you might see diminishing returns from using more than 14 CUs for rendering (given the rest of the system's design) so you may get better bang for your buck using the remaining 4 for compute. Hence the 14+4 recommendation.

Good interview, but DF missed the chance to ask about the PS4 OS memory footprint.

If you read Richard's preamble:

as the interview began to unfold those sensations began to fade, as it became clear that there would be no grand revelations. Acutely aware that he was on the record - with all that represents - Cerny was guarded in some areas

So he probably didn't get answers to most of the jucier questions like the RAM reserve - which is probably the most important piece of info we're yet to find out for the PS4.

 

[Love_In_Rio]

So he probably didn't get answers to most of the jucier questions like the RAM reserve - which is probably the most important piece of info we're yet to find out for the PS4.

And CPU clock.

 

[(((interference)))]

And CPU clock.

Don't we know it's 1.6 Ghz?

 

[Betanumerical]

Yup, from what I am told you might see diminishing returns from using more than 14 CUs for rendering (given the rest of the system's design) so you may get better bang for your buck using the remaining 4 for compute. Hence the 14+4 recommendation.

Broad sweeping statements like this do not accurately represent the reality of the situation at all, and anyway who says the division can't be fluid?.

 

[(((interference)))]

Broad sweeping statements like this do not accurately represent the reality of the situation at all, and anyway who says the division can't be fluid?.

As I said before, it's simply a suggestion - all CUs are identical and you're free to use them as you wish.
You will notice that devs like GG are using basically all 18 CUs for rendering (the only compute work they're doing on GPU is memory defragmentation)

 

[DieH@rd]

Is that one or two WiFi modules? It would be nice if console had one dedicated module just for Remote Play connection.

 

[Love_In_Rio]

Don't we know it's 1.6 Ghz?

Only by vgleaks.

 

[Arwin]

And we assume it will be 1.6Ghz because increasing the clock beyond 1.6Ghz vastly increases the heat/performance ratio? (Don't remember the exact details)

 

[Deleted member 86764]

So he probably didn't get answers to most of the jucier questions like the RAM reserve - which is probably the most important piece of info we're yet to find out for the PS4.

It's entirely possible that the amount of RAM dedicated to OS function is undecided. Sony may even suggest varying numbers to different devs, so that no one really knows.

Sony have certainly shown in the past that they later open systems up later in their lifecycle. It happened with the PSP, which was originally clocked lower than the chip's upper threshold.

I'd take a guess that they aim for 3GB reserved for the system (same as Xbox One), even if they only intend to use a small fraction of it. I would imagine that the OS still uses as much as was originally intended, 512MB. As they wouldn't have totally rewritten the system since the Xbox One announcement/leak.

It gives them room later in the cycle to open the system up a bit. Maybe after assessing how much time people use the TV functions of their competitor.

 

[ZiGgY]

I'd take a guess that they aim for 3GB reserved for the system (same as Xbox One)

I simply refuse to believe they're going to waste so much of such an expensive part of the system and the one that is seen as giving them such an edge.

Putting so much of their primary advantage out of the reach of developers would be utterly stupid.

I've said before on here that I suspect they will reserve 2GB, giving plenty of room for growth, but at the same time ensuring they have a healthy 1GB advantage over the Xbox.

Instead of 8 cores 8GB, gaming will be a 6 core 6GB scenario.

 

[Kaarlisk]

Ok, this explains it. A pity there is no more specs in that sheet. And what about the 35º?. Isn´t it too low?.

They probably expect developers to work in airconditioned rooms

 

[Love_In_Rio]

And we assume it will be 1.6Ghz because increasing the clock beyond 1.6Ghz vastly increases the heat/performance ratio? (Don't remember the exact details)

20 Watts for 400 MHz upclock and 8 cores. There is room in between also.

 

[DieH@rd]

Ok, this explains it. A pity there is no more specs in that sheet. And what about the 35º?. Isn´t it too low?.

Isnt that recommendation for ambient room temperature? 5-35C

 

[Love_In_Rio]

Isnt that recommendation for ambient room temperature? 5-35C

Or could be the temperature the blower takes the air out.

 

[Cjail]

It's entirely possible that the amount of RAM dedicated to OS function is undecided. Sony may even suggest varying numbers to different devs, so that no one really knows.

No it's decided and develops know about it, Yoshida confirms it.

 

[Deleted member 86764]

No it's decided and develops know about it.
We don't.

Then surely the actual allocation used for the OS must be 512MB, as originally planned. Either that or 1GB depending on how much more OS function they've implemented since the change from 4GB to 8GB.

But that's not to say they're not planning on reserving more than is currently required, as I'm sure the competition have.

Shadow Fall's total RAM usage was about 5GB, which would indicate that they've either not had enough time to use the whole amount available to them, or that the OS reservation is indeed 3GB (at that time).

 

[Rangers]

Only by vgleaks.

And also the Killzone Shadowfall dev slides, 1.6 GHZ CPU was confirmed there.

And we assume it will be 1.6Ghz because increasing the clock beyond 1.6Ghz vastly increases the heat/performance ratio? (Don't remember the exact details)

It does but, only fro m something like 15 to 25 watts, which ermergersh 66% increase, but 25 watts still seems really workable no?

Shadow Fall's total RAM usage was about 5GB, which would indicate that they've either not had enough time to use the whole amount available to them, or that the OS reservation is indeed 3GB (at that time).

there is other strong indication of 3GB, I wrote up a post about it once, which I need to just bookmark and have at the ready because it's a long detailed post...

But basically some (chinese?) gaffer noticed a so called PS4 dev at a chinese BBS said 3GB was the reserve, and at least on the surface everything checked out.

I'm not saying it will stay 3GB, though.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

And also the Killzone Shadowfall dev slides, 1.6 GHZ CPU was confirmed there.

I had a look but couldn't see it. Which slide is it?

I'm not saying it will stay 3GB, though.

3Gb for OS reservations makes no sense

It was strongly believed that when the target RAM was 4Gb, the OS reservation would be no more than 512mb. And after Sony bow to developer pressure to put more RAM in, they give just 1.5Gb of that extra 4Gb to games, and 2.5Gb to the OS?

That's ludicrous. Microsoft are doing something different, their 3Gb OS reservation may make sense. Sony are making what is primarily a games console.