Did Sony change the Specs of PS3?

[gamepower]

http://www.gamezone.de/news_detail....=Playstation 3: Erscheinungstermin verschoben

I have read this on a german page,that the launch Date of Ps3 is in the end of 2006 in Japan/USA.So if this true,the console came out in 2007 in Europe.Did Sony change the specs,i mean look the X360 came out in Dec 2005 in good old Germany(Deutschland),if
PS3 come 12/16 month later to us,will the ram be the same(512MB),also the busbandwidth
with only 128Bit for the RSX??I cannot belive that Sony didn't change the specs.

In 2007 we have 512Bit Bus on PC-GPU's.

 

[Synergy34]

Did they? Nobody can say yes or no to that question. but it is very possible for that to happen, the PS2's EE got a slight bump in speed from the original announced spec. Just don't hold your breath.

 

[cloudscapes]

A console does not equal a PC. High-end PCs will always have higher specs than consoles.

Also, assuming Sony have mostly finished the design of the PS3, and the thing that's holding it back is blu-ray or legal issues, it would be kind of risky to change more specs on it so close to the release date, considering that devs at this point are developping with 512MB in mind.

Thirdly, the PS3 looks like it's going to be quite expensive to manufacture and sell. Why raise the price even more?

 

[Titanio]

In 2007 we have 512Bit Bus on PC-GPU's.

Yeah, and you still have a tiny bus to the CPU in PCs. Something that isn't a problem in PS3, and is directly relevant to the question of RSX's bus to its local pool of RAM "only" being 128-bit.

 

[hadareud]

Also, the RAM in the PS3/360 is not quite your typical RAM you can buy off the shelf. I would doubt very much that they decide to change the memory specs - it is just too expensive to do (even in 2007 or 2008)

 

[Asher]

Sony isn't exactly swimming in money and Bluray is expensive enough. I very much doubt you'd see an upgrade in specs. Most likely unchanged, but if anything, a downgrade.

 

[j^aws]

If developers didn't bitch hard enough, then I don't expect an upgrade in RAM capacity or bus widths. Maybe minor changes to clockrates for RAM, CELL and RSX is the most that could be expected.

IIRC, pressure from devs forced the X360 RAM from 256MB to 512MB. Conversely with the PSP and it's RAM configuration too...

The XDR bus is 64bit and yields 25.6 GB/sec B/W, whilst the GDDR3 bus is 128bit and yields *less* B/W at 22.4 GB/sec. One obvious move that would yield more local B/W to RSX (~double), yet still remain with a 128bit bus is to use XDR instead of GDDR3. But an XDR memory controller in RSX may need more transistors.

However, IIRC, it was mentioned in an interview around E3 that they kept GDDR3 because of cost benefit reasons.

Anyway, *if* the rumored relase in Spring 2007 in Europe becomes true, then, IMO, at that time frame, 512MB is kinda meh!

 

[Shifty Geezer]

They're not going to change specs for a Euro launch period though. Specs are set at launch day, whatever that is. Releasing in Spring 2007 won't warrant any changes if the hardware was good enough for a Spring 2006 launch elsewhere. Otherwise we'd be expecting the specs to be targetted at a Australia/India/somewhere else launch 2 years after first launch and saying 'the specs aren't up to snuff'!

 

[j^aws]

They're not going to change specs for a Euro launch period though. Specs are set at launch day, whatever that is. Releasing in Spring 2007 won't warrant any changes if the hardware was good enough for a Spring 2006 launch elsewhere. Otherwise we'd be expecting the specs to be targetted at a Australia/India/somewhere else launch 2 years after first launch and saying 'the specs aren't up to snuff'!

You completely mis-read my post. Obviously they aren't just gonna change specs just for Europe. By the time those specs hit Europe, which I believe the OP was alluding to, those specs are kinda outdated. Especially if X360 has 512MB RAM, released in Europe Dec 2005, admittedly in limited numbers...

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I wasn't countering your point, just adding to it. There's no point comparing PS3 specs at Euro launch to XB360 specs at US launch if the PS3 actually comes out 6 months later regardless of appearing in the EU 18 months later, as the original poster is doing. By gamepower's argument, looking at the Indian market, an indian customer should expect PS3 to launch at 2008 quality specs if that's when the console becomes available there, despite the machine actually being created 2 years earlier. If when PS3 hit's Indian shelves in 2008 when there are 2 GB PCs with 1 GB cards, should the Indian buyers expect 1.5 GB RAM in PS3? Obviously not. You can't just look at launch period and derive relative specs from that, not expect specs relative to localised launch regardless of actually first manufacturing of the machine for other markets.

 

[j^aws]

I wasn't countering your point, just adding to it. There's no point comparing PS3 specs at Euro launch to XB360 specs at US launch if the PS3 actually comes out 6 months later regardless of appearing in the EU 18 months later, as the original poster is doing. By gamepower's argument, looking at the Indian market, an indian customer should expect PS3 to launch at 2008 quality specs if that's when the console becomes available there, despite the machine actually being created 2 years earlier. If when PS3 hit's Indian shelves in 2008 when there are 2 GB PCs with 1 GB cards, should the Indian buyers expect 1.5 GB RAM in PS3? Obviously not. You can't just look at launch period and derive relative specs from that, not expect specs relative to localised launch regardless of actually first manufacturing of the machine for other markets.

You don't need to bring India into this. You're making it more complicated than what it is. The OPs point is simple. He's comparing two competing products in the 'same' territory and the ability to purchase said product. The difference being ~15 months in availability, yet you only get 512 MB of RAM in both products. The 'worth/ value' of said products at the 'time' of purchase, in "Europe", are unbalanced...

 

[Shifty Geezer]

But PS3 isn't going to get a bump in specs just to improve it's standing/perception in the EU market. If PS3 specs are good enough for it's inital launch territories to compete, they'll be stuck at that, on not think 'maybe we'd better beef up RAM because by the time we release this thing in the EU XB360 will already have been out for a year and match us on RAM'. The fact it launches later in EU and doesn't seem such an improvement over a rival console that's been available here for 12+ months before hand may affect marketability (doubt it) but isn't going to affect the final specs. The specs are determined to be what's needed for launch, not later regional distributions, whether those later regions are US, EU, Australia or India, which was my example.

 

[Titanio]

The difference being ~15 months in availability, yet you only get 512 MB of RAM in both products. The 'worth/ value' of said products at the 'time' of purchase, in "Europe", are unbalanced...

Are we just looking at RAM here or systems as a whole? RAM asides you're obviously getting more in the box.

 

[!eVo!-X Ant UK]

A console does not equal a PC. High-end PCs will always have higher specs than consoles.

But will never be as utilised as console's

 

[expletive]

I think you guys are making too much of the specs at the time of launch. The consumer is going to look at games, services, price when judging value. They arent going to make a checklist of RAM, FLOPS, pipes, or whatnot. Consumers happily buy these consoles throughout their lifecycles as the specs become less and less impressive, i dont see why it will be any different this time.

 

[j^aws]

But PS3 isn't going to get a bump in specs just to improve it's standing/perception in the EU market. If PS3 specs are good enough for it's inital launch territories to compete, they'll be stuck at that, on not think 'maybe we'd better beef up RAM because by the time we release this thing in the EU XB360 will already have been out for a year and match us on RAM'. The fact it launches later in EU and doesn't seem such an improvement over a rival console that's been available here for 12+ months before hand may affect marketability (doubt it) but isn't going to affect the final specs. The specs are determined to be what's needed for launch, not later regional distributions, whether those later regions are US, EU, Australia or India, which was my example.

Are we just looking at RAM here or systems as a whole? RAM asides you're obviously getting more in the box

Guys the point is very simple. The longer it takes to reach *Europe*, the more 'devalued' the specs are relative to X360. The example the OP used was RAM and B/W upgrades to increase this value and how likely it would be. It wasn't about how competitive those specs are elsewhere in the world at launch but in *Europe* at time of release, compared to X360. These questions have already been answered.

Obviously Blu-ray will add value. Also a later launch will add value by allowing more time for games development. But I still think that 512MB in Spring 2007, in Europe is meh! Unless it's dirt cheap!

 

[Titanio]

Obviously Blu-ray will add value. Also a later launch will add value by allowing more time for games development. But I still think that 512MB in Spring 2007, in Europe is meh! Unless it's dirt cheap!

Well in the real world, RAM isn't the only component that costs

I appreciate the point that PS3 launching in 2005 vs PS3 launching in 2006 or whatever, represent two different points of value I guess. But I think it certainly stands tall launching in 06, or even March 07 in Europe (lets see how much other blu-ray players are in Europe then, for example).

 

[Alpha_Spartan]

No. Sony won't change specs and piss off developers just to make a few fan happy.

[Moderated]

 

[darkblu]

Obviously Blu-ray will add value. Also a later launch will add value by allowing more time for games development. But I still think that 512MB in Spring 2007, in Europe is meh! Unless it's dirt cheap!

jaws, no offence, but that was the most bogus post you've ever had on these boards. if you really think so i suggest you re-calibrate your notion of the console industry.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Guys the point is very simple. The longer it takes to reach *Europe*, the more 'devalued' the specs are relative to X360.

I know and never suggested otherwise. But the OP made those points as reason why PS3 should, in his opinion, be getting a spec upgrade. The very title of the thread shows he's talking about a potential spec upgrade and why he thinks there should be one, based on comparing PS3 to XB360 in EU, and wondering if there is one. To which my answer is no, there won't be a spec upgrade based on a comparison between XB360 and PS3 in EU because the specs are set for console launch, not later release.

I haven't disagreed with anything you've said. Do you disagree with me? Do you think someone in Sony is sat in board meetings saying 'hey, we need to up the specs of PS3 because though it's competitive with XB360 when it launches in Japan, it won't be by the time it launches in Germany'?