Next Generation Hardware Speculation with a Technical Spin [2018]

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issues would be anytime someone swaps a drive and damages connectors , has the new drive fail or doa , data transfer messes up etc

And is this an issue? Has it happened? If it were then I'm pretty sure Sony would have dropped it after PS3 (which also allowed internal HDD swap)...I certainly don't hear of issues and I've (touch wood) never had one even though I've swapped HDDs for over 10 years in playstation consoles.
 
Surely this depends on their plans for Navi/Arcturus though?

They state in the article linked by Anexanhume that a concern for a chiplet design is acceptance of it by developers, but that wouldn't be a concern in the console space, so even a monolithic GPU for Navi on PC isn't necessarily indicative of their semi-custom approach.

In an age of multi tier consoles and streaming, it's conceivable that TSMC could manufacture a GPU wafer per platform, and use a much higher percentage thereof by way of binning.

For a hypothetical example, TSMC manufacture a wafer of 20CU Navi PS5 chiplets and bin:
- the highest clocking chiplets, with all 20 CU's, for streaming servers. 8 chiplets per streaming PS5 Pro.
- lower clocked chiplets, each with 2 CU's disabled, for a PS5 Pro. 8 chiplets per console.
- even lower clocked chiplets, each with 2 CU's disabled, for a base PS5. 4 chiplets per console.
- those same lowest clocked chiplets, with 2 CU's disabled, for a streaming focused PS5 Micro. 2 chiplets per console.

So I agree that it's a great way to hit high performance, but I also think it's a great way to use the same silicon across each platform, bringing overall prices down and catering to each strata of gamer.
FWIW, an AMD engineer said Arcturus is not the arch succeeding Navi.

 
And is this an issue? Has it happened? If it were then I'm pretty sure Sony would have dropped it after PS3 (which also allowed internal HDD swap)...I certainly don't hear of issues and I've (touch wood) never had one even though I've swapped HDDs for over 10 years in playstation consoles.

I'd be surprised if it were an issue. SATA data and power connectors are (outside of a really poor implementation) generally going to be pretty sturdy as they were designed with hot-swapping drives in mind.
 
issues would be anytime someone swaps a drive and damages connectors , has the new drive fail or doa , data transfer messes up etc
Those are ridiculous hypotheticals. The drive is on a sliding metal tray, it's literally impossible to align incorrectly, there are no report of failed connectors either.

In terms of reliability, the alternative means when the internal hdd fails (which we do have statistics of hdd failure rate) you have to send the console for repair instead of just putting a new drive in it yourself.

Allowing both external and internal storage management by the user is obviously the best of both worlds and should be offered by both companies. It's not like the tray is expensive to add.
 
Chiplets are super effective when you need to drive performance at higher core counts and a single SOC is 1000mm^2. The idea that it’s also cost effective competing with the 360mm^2 mark needs more data points.
It'd be interesting for multiple SKU 's/tiers as well, but I know that's not a popular opinion for next gen launch. Still, I don't see people being upset about base vs midgen sales, and that didn't need chiplets.

:runaway:

(I should stop harping on about the idea :p)
 
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And is this an issue? Has it happened? If it were then I'm pretty sure Sony would have dropped it after PS3 (which also allowed internal HDD swap)...I certainly don't hear of issues and I've (touch wood) never had one even though I've swapped HDDs for over 10 years in playstation consoles.

I've worked as a tech for almost 10 years dealing with the public. I've seen them break all sorts of shit. The risk of something going wrong when removing the main drive is a lot more than pluging in a usb drive. So what is the warrenty on the ps4 when your swapping out the main hardrive ? If something goes wrong are you just shit out of luck or does sony handle that ?
 
It'd be interesting for multiple SKU 's/tiers as well, but I know that's not a popular opinion for next gen launch. Still, I don't see people being upset about base vs midgen sales, and that didn't need chiplets.

:runaway:

(I should stop harping on about the idea :p)
At launch unlikely ;), multiple SKUs are costly and it divides your base in such a way that you cannot maximize sales as optimally. A mid gen would make sense though!
 
At launch unlikely ;), multiple SKUs are costly and it divides your base in such a way that you cannot maximize sales as optimally. A mid gen would make sense though!
In what sense would it divide the base if they play the same games though? The higher powered one is just higher average res/framerate.

What wouldn't surprise me is if they used data for current mid-gen & base sales split as an indicator on how to produce two such SKUs next time.
 
Those are ridiculous hypotheticals. The drive is on a sliding metal tray, it's literally impossible to align incorrectly, there are no report of failed connectors either.

In terms of reliability, the alternative means when the internal hdd fails (which we do have statistics of hdd failure rate) you have to send the console for repair instead of just putting a new drive in it yourself.

Allowing both external and internal storage management by the user is obviously the best of both worlds and should be offered by both companies. It's not like the tray is expensive to add.

I had a person one time come into a past job telling me his keyboard didn't work. The keyboard looked fine, I check out the back of his tower and in one usb port was a plastic usb cover jammed into the slot breaking the slot . The person didn't realize there was a plastic piece he had to remove. I've also seen people do hardrive swaps on their laptops and put it in upside down and jam it into the sata slot thus destroying it.

So i'm going with personal experience in that it is something that does happen and will happen .
https://www.ign.com/boards/threads/ps4-hard-drive-upgrade-failure.454546311/
https://www.neogaf.com/threads/ps4-hard-drive-swap-failure-need-advice.1073219/

just on the first page of a bing search
 
I've worked as a tech for almost 10 years dealing with the public. I've seen them break all sorts of shit. The risk of something going wrong when removing the main drive is a lot more than pluging in a usb drive. So what is the warrenty on the ps4 when your swapping out the main hardrive ? If something goes wrong are you just shit out of luck or does sony handle that ?

And I've worked as a tech for 20 years (what difference that makes I have no idea lol). Regardless of the warranty, people have been swapping the drives since PS3 was launched and there's literally no complaints...you are making something out of nothing. Unless of course you have some evidence to back it up?
 
In what sense would it divide the base if they play the same games though? The higher powered one is just higher average res/framerate.

What wouldn't surprise me is if they used data for current mid-gen & base sales split as an indicator on how to produce two such SKUs next time.
Supply constraints: eg. the most extreme example:
You sell 2 SKUS, but for some reason everyone wants 1 not the other.

You build 500K of each console, so 500K is sitting unsold.
Thus you have a division, because the people want the 1 SKU not the other and you are now supply is constrained. And 500K consoles are sitting there doing nothing.

The reality is probably closer to 1 SKU selling out before the other, so you are losing profits each time that happens during launch. They can go over to the competitor etc.
If you have only 1 SKU, all the sales are maximized with every shipment no guessing required.
 
Supply constraints: eg. the most extreme example:
You sell 2 SKUS, but for some reason everyone wants 1 not the other.

You build 500K of each console, so 500K is sitting unsold.
Thus you have a division, because the people want the 1 SKU not the other and you are now supply is constrained. And 500K consoles are sitting there doing nothing.

The reality is probably closer to 1 SKU selling out before the other, so you are losing profits each time that happens during launch. They can go over to the competitor etc.
If you have only 1 SKU, all the sales are maximized with every shipment no guessing required.
I'm not sure volume will be a problem per se for 2020. Like I said, I'm guessing they'll use data on current sales split to inform them on how to produce the two SKUs percentage-wise, but it'd otherwise just mean they ramp up production accordingly to hit what they need for any potential launch anyway (from 2013 data on themselves and the competitor)
 
I'm not sure volume will be a problem per se for 2020. Like I said, I'm guessing they'll use data on current sales split to inform them on how to produce the two SKUs percentage-wise, but it'd otherwise just mean they ramp up production accordingly.
yea possibly ;)
or you know, only hardcore people buy launch pricing ;)

We also have to consider BC as well, not sure how that affects things. Or if games carry forward on PS4, transition timing etc.
But you're right, you can definitely try launching with more than 1 SKU.
 
yea possibly ;)
or you know, only hardcore people buy launch pricing ;)

We also have to consider BC as well, not sure how that affects things. Or if games carry forward on PS4, transition timing etc.
But you're right, you can definitely try launching with more than 1 SKU.
More of a problem for Sony (plus the apparent delay) I suppose, but for MS...

hm. Well, anyways, enough bran for today.
 
I've worked as a tech for almost 10 years dealing with the public. I've seen them break all sorts of shit. The risk of something going wrong when removing the main drive is a lot more than pluging in a usb drive. So what is the warrenty on the ps4 when your swapping out the main hardrive ? If something goes wrong are you just shit out of luck or does sony handle that ?
Put back the original drive, if it doesn't work the console is under warranty, if it works it's just like a usb drive, under warranty from the company selling you the drive. There's very little distinction here.

This FUD could be spun off I guess...
 
So i'm going with personal experience in that it is something that does happen and will happen .
You should try reading those threads.

https://www.ign.com/boards/threads/ps4-hard-drive-upgrade-failure.454546311/
Sorted no problems. Due to dodgy drive.
Thanks so much folks! I was using the wrong update file. Once I started with proper update everything went south again. It took about 20 tries for me to figure out I had a bad drive. Swapped in another that I had planned to put in my PS3 and presto! Everything is working great.

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/ps4-hard-drive-swap-failure-need-advice.1073219/
Sorted copying to another drive.
PRAISE THE LORD, IT WORKED!

I had to duck out for a doctors appt, bu the time I got home she was all restored.

All I did was transfer the back up to a different external, it was exFAT too.

Feels good man
Any problems with the concept of swapping out drives are minimal, as proven by Sony allowing it in PS3 and then also in PS4, and people making use of it largely without trouble (two results on your first Bing results page instead of pages and pages of problems and cursing)?. A good system means you buy a new drive, swap out the old in a bay that only allows the HDD to go in one way, and it works. It's not beyond MS's ability to implement a similarly robust, or even better, system.
 
Any problems with the concept of swapping out drives are minimal, as proven by Sony allowing it in PS3 and then also in PS4, and people making use of it largely without trouble (two results on your first Bing results page instead of pages and pages of problems and cursing)?. A good system means you buy a new drive, swap out the old in a bay that only allows the HDD to go in one way, and it works. It's not beyond MS's ability to implement a similarly robust, or even better, system.

Which I imagine they would if it mattered to any great number of people. Having the option, though, is objectively better (IMHO) than not having it. As soon as Sony added support for external drives to the PS4 they could reasonably be viewed as having a better overall storage setup. There is an argument to be made in favor of the Xbox One's setup in that it allows multiple external drives which has a few use cases, but now we're talking corner cases of corner cases.
 
You should try reading those threads.

https://www.ign.com/boards/threads/ps4-hard-drive-upgrade-failure.454546311/
Sorted no problems. Due to dodgy drive.


https://www.neogaf.com/threads/ps4-hard-drive-swap-failure-need-advice.1073219/
Sorted copying to another drive.

Any problems with the concept of swapping out drives are minimal, as proven by Sony allowing it in PS3 and then also in PS4, and people making use of it largely without trouble (two results on your first Bing results page instead of pages and pages of problems and cursing)?. A good system means you buy a new drive, swap out the old in a bay that only allows the HDD to go in one way, and it works. It's not beyond MS's ability to implement a similarly robust, or even better, system.
Since PS2 even.

644px-Sony-PlayStation-2-Hard-Drive-wNetwork-Adaptor.jpg
 
XB1 wasn't designed for having the main drive swapped out, and it's serviced regards more storage with external drives if you don't mind the wires and box. MS may also see it as a security risk? Maybe also a cost thing as you have to design a user accessible bay. For a new machine using a limited capacity SSD, designing it with user serviceability in mind seems a good idea. You can even sell an official high-margin XB branded drive alongside the option to use any old drive.
 
XB1 wasn't designed for having the main drive swapped out, and it's serviced regards more storage with external drives if you don't mind the wires and box. MS may also see it as a security risk? Maybe also a cost thing as you have to design a user accessible bay. For a new machine using a limited capacity SSD, designing it with user serviceability in mind seems a good idea. You can even sell an official high-margin XB branded drive alongside the option to use any old drive.

They could have added it to the S. I think if they had seen a potential for additional sales if they did, that they would have.
 
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