Could/Should PS4 Pro get a new, faster hardware revision? *spawn

I wonder if the PS4 Pro may see a slight bump in speed when it gets the slim treatment.

I could see them increasing the clock speed of the CPU, so that current games with unlocked framerates would run that bit closer to 60. But then, what would be the point?

The PS5 will be backwards compatible - we've had no official confirmation, but I'd wager my left bollock on it - and it would be a better use of resources to test PS4 compatibility on the PS5, than it would be to test how well they run on an upclocked PS4Pro.
 
Sony should look at the PS4 instead.

Easier frequency gains, better selling unit, more games that would benefit, less BW constrained than Pro once you add DCC.

Could even stick with the cheapest 6ghz GDDR5 bins.

Most games would work fine in boost mode as Pro already proves. No additional developer work required.
 
less BW constrained than Pro once you add DCC.
I do wonder about the impact of DCC on power consumption though I suppose it's not a guarantee; still it probably wouldn't hurt for them to throw it in there even if they don't change anything else.
 
I wonder if the PS4 Pro may see a slight bump in speed when it gets the slim treatment.

Nah. They were already so careful to guarantee backward compatibility, that would probably just make things needlessly complex. Makes more sense to just release a vastly more powerful device in two years.
 
I do wonder about the impact of DCC on power consumption though I suppose it's not a guarantee; still it probably wouldn't hurt for them to throw it in there even if they don't change anything else.

I thought I'd read that DCC used a little more energy on-chip, but it allowed to save far more off-chip due to lower clocked memory and/or narrower buses, and also fewer bits transferred (even at the same speed / bus width) saving power.

Then again I'm sure I read that Elvis was dead too, and that's definitely not true.
 
I don't know that they need faster hardware as much as they need more available memory. The 4Pro limit of only 5 GB of direct memory with some fraction of 512 Meg indirect memory is having a more visible difference in the texture quality than faster/more GPU.
 
I don't know that they need faster hardware as much as they need more available memory. The 4Pro limit of only 5 GB of direct memory with some fraction of 512 Meg indirect memory is having a more visible difference in the texture quality than faster/more GPU.
Not this again. Distinction is not necessary. It's 5.5. Sony were too pedant with that infamous statement.
 
Not this again. Distinction is not necessary. It's 5.5. Sony were too pedant with that infamous statement.

Technically its less than 5.5 since an application can not get every part of that 512Meg portion. (Read the SDK for details).

It still remains a given that having less than 5.5GB memory is a major deficit in the image quality of games.
 
Technically its less than 5.5 since an application can not get every part of that 512Meg portion.

It still remains a given that having less than 5.5GB memory is a major deficit in the image quality of games.
Yes it can. Memory is just not contiguous.

But yes I agree that it could be a problem notably in those max dyn framebuffers. Latest example with BF2: it's mostly hitting its maximum 1440p resolution on Pro. And from 1620p to 2160p on XBX, but very rarely 2160p and often 1620p according to latest NX gamer video.

But higher than 1440p max res on Pro maybe not possible because of lack or mem available 5.5 instead of 9GB on XBX
 
I wonder if the PS4 Pro may see a slight bump in speed when it gets the slim treatment.
Naah. Sony had the chance to bump specs on PS4 when it released new revisions several times in the past, and they never did. Not even Xbone S made them bump specs, and they haven't reacted to the Xbone X either.

They'll wait another couple years and release a PS5 methinks. No need to make customers upgrade now and blow their savings, only to be unable to buy the new, fancy system that will come out at some point.

They might well cost-reduce current systems though, but I wouldn't expect any more performance.
 
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There's not much point of it for the 4Pro, which seems bandwidth limited anyway.

4Slim/Orbis would need more bandwidth to take advantage of any clock increase, which would increase cost and power consumption (GDDR5 speed bin). DCC would only help with the ROP-side of things.

Boost mode on 4Pro isn't that large of a delta for the GPU side of things anyway, and they'll need what marketing points they can get to push people to choose 4Pro if they do care about performance (where unpatched games are the majority).
 
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They should simply focus on cost reducing the 4 Pro. The only real difference between the PS4 and 4Pro is the memory speed and SOC - if they can reduce the power consumption of the SOC then the overall BOM difference between the PS4 and 4Pro will be close to negligible going forward.

Put it this way, if the cost between the PS4 and 4Pro was less than £50, which would you choose?
 
They should simply focus on cost reducing the 4 Pro. The only real difference between the PS4 and 4Pro is the memory speed and SOC - if they can reduce the power consumption of the SOC then the overall BOM difference between the PS4 and 4Pro will be close to negligible going forward.

Put it this way, if the cost between the PS4 and 4Pro was less than £50, which would you choose?
With an HDR 4K set; there's no doubt. End of the day 4Pro is the best way to enjoy PlayStation games. If you want to get the full experience, paying a little bit more for it seems common.
 
I just meant with the mid-gen upgrade. MS had a greater motivation to push the boundaries since they were “losing” the generation. Technically they had the esram to adjust for as well. A bigger leap to make and a bigger reason to do it.

Sony’s attempt with the PS4P just looks like a cheap option fell in their laps and they took it. Low risk, low reward.
I agree, Sony had little to no reason to even release a midgen console, while MS felt that they had to release something significantly better.

But the way you put it makes it sound like MS is going to see higher gains from XB1X for pushing out a more compelling design. It will surely seem that way in the beginning, where a lot of existing XB1 owners will upgrade, but I'm pretty certain that sales are going to significantly drop due to the price.

They're both niche products, and XB1X being the more thought out design comes at the cost of being considerably more expensive. In the end, Sony may have made the smarter decision by going low-risk, but being just as successful (if not more) than XB1X in terms of unit sales.
 
I assume we’ll see a more compelling design for the PS5.

Yeah and they put pressure on Sony for the PS5. Now, they have to release a console that is significantly more powerful than the X at a reasonable cost. The X could delay the PS5 launch... lol.

Even if the PS5 primary goal is to replace the PS4 and not to compete with the X, an average power difference would produce a lot of bad buzz...
 
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