Next Generation Hardware Speculation with a Technical Spin [2018]

[Deleted member 11852]

I fully expect CPUs from the Zen line to be integrated into the next major hardware iterations from Sony and MS, but this may not have been work done specifically for a PS5 chip / devkit.

True, it could be Sony getting in on Zen on the gound floor with Zen 2 being preferrred/selected chip for PS5, however I can't remember the last time that Sony publicly involved themselves in an open source project for anything not related to an imminent or ongoing product. In this sense, they're similar to Apple. You can generally get a sense of what technologies Apple are interested it in future projects by observing their known engineers activities in open source projects.

 

[Tkumpathenurpahl]

What sort of lead time are we talking here? Does their public involvement now indicate 2019 or 2020? Dev kits or retail consoles?

 

[Deleted member 11852]

What sort of lead time are we talking here? Does their public involvement now indicate 2019 or 2020?

It doesn't indicate anything other than Sony engineers are contributing towards Zen optimisations for LLVM. You shouldn't read more into it than that.

 

[Tkumpathenurpahl]

But.... but... I want to...

 

[Deleted member 11852]

But.... but... I want to...

You can, but be prepared to be disappointed.

 

[Tkumpathenurpahl]

You, sir, have yourself a deal

 

[Deleted member 13524]

I fully expect CPUs from the Zen line to be integrated into the next major hardware iterations from Sony and MS, but this may not have been work done specifically for a PS5 chip / devkit.

It does sound like a very strong indicator that a future Sony console is coming with a CPU based on Zen, though.
Or at least that AMD is a design candidate advanced enough for Sony to get their engineers to work on their CPU arch.

What sort of lead time are we talking here? Does their public involvement now indicate 2019 or 2020? Dev kits or retail consoles?

It says very little about release time. If this was Sony working on Vega/Navi it could drive expectations towards 2019, and if they were working on post-Navi then it would drive those towards late 2020 or later. But Zen should be AMD's only CPU arch for the next 3 years at least.

 

[anexanhume]

True, it could be Sony getting in on Zen on the gound floor with Zen 2 being preferrred/selected chip for PS5, however I can't remember the last time that Sony publicly involved themselves in an open source project for anything not related to an imminent or ongoing product. In this sense, they're similar to Apple. You can generally get a sense of what technologies Apple are interested it in future projects by observing their known engineers activities in open source projects.

I believe there was some FreeBSD commits that showed up around PS4 rumor time. Wish I could find those posts. That would be a good place to snoop too.

Edit: ah yes, looks like Simon is working on AVX512 compatibility in FreeBSD. Hmmm. https://freshbsd.org/search?q=Rksimon

 

[DieH@rd]

It does sound like a very strong indicator that a future Sony console is coming with a CPU based on Zen, though.

Looking at what AMD produces now, next consoles have to use Zen [2].

 

[Deleted member 13524]

Looking at what AMD produces now, next consoles have to use Zen [2].

Only if AMD is the design winner.
They're the strongest candidate for custom or semi-custom solutions, but not the only one.

 

[Karamazov]

do you think they'll use an AI like in google home and other devices coming out these days ?
There's already simple voice commands on PS4.
"ok PS5, send a message to my friends to tell them to join me for a session of fortnite 2"

 

[anexanhume]

do you think they'll use an AI like in google home and other devices coming out these days ?
There's already simple voice commands on PS4.
"ok PS5, send a message to my friends to tell them to join me for a session of fortnite 2"

MS has that capability with Cortana. Kinect supported some basic voice commands. Given it’s dead, they’ll have to commit to a non-Kinect solution. The bonus would be they can assume all owners have it. Sony does not from what I can tell.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Kinect is just a voice-isolation system regards voice input. The actual mechanics of processing the audio and acting on it is present in Cortana and Windows 10 and likely present in XBNext. Doesn't need a hardware solution beyond a microphone somewhere.

 

[anexanhume]

Kinect is just a voice-isolation system regards voice input. The actual mechanics of processing the audio and acting on it is present in Cortana and Windows 10 and likely present in XBNext. Doesn't need a hardware solution beyond a microphone somewhere.

Agreed. I just meant it would be easy to include versus the Xbox One which has no microphone if there is no Kinect. They lost the guarantee of a user having one when they axed Kinect and didn’t rev it into the box or controller.

 

[bgroovy]

Agreed. I just meant it would be easy to include versus the Xbox One which has no microphone if there is no Kinect. They lost the guarantee of a user having one when they axed Kinect and didn’t rev it into the box or controller.

It was dumb to try and justify a $100+ 3D camera for a job a $2 included microphone could've perform. MS wouldn't even allow voice commands using a headset, but PS4 had that capability. A few years later and Amazon is selling more capable voice controlled devices for $30 that can interface with video apps and even games like Detroit. Both Sony and MS would be smart to try and interface with those solutions rather than roll their own. I could definitely see a world where Alexa, Google and Siri are all able to control a PS5 using a common API standard.

 

[Xbat]

Seems like John Kodera tweeted something about the PS4 entering its final stages of it's life cycle. He is the president of SIE.
2019 we are a go

 

[Karamazov]

i'd like it to be fall 2019.
But even if it's 2020, we're still closer to the PS5 release than the PS4 launch.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

New Seems like John Kodera tweeted something about the PS4 entering its final stages of it's life cycle. He is the president of SIE.

The quote is from him, but the tweet is from Wall Street Journal's Japan correspondent, Takashi Mochizuki:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/998777178278903810

It seems nichegamer.com had access to the whole article:

The Sony boss said to analysts and investors that while the console entering the end of its life cycle would have a negative impact on the unit, reoccurring revenue via membership services and related systems should help offset some of that.
Kodera also said that PlayStation VR is growing, but the industry’s growth is below market expectations. PlayStation Vue (their television streaming platform) is facing “harder-than-expected” competition, with both PS Vue and PS VR aiming to further their growth under a realistic outlook.
Kodera also noted that Sony “beefing up first-party titles wouldn’t just mean more new IPs,” and that their strategy includes “franchising successful IPs and refreshing existing IPs.” Naturally, he teased that fans should “expect more exclusive titles for PlayStation Platforms.”

I think we're looking at a 2019 release.
Looking at the industry as a whole, the only thing that could offset the release to 2020 would be RAM shortage and prices, but with news of cryptomining slowing down manufacturers getting lawsuits for price fixing, it seems this won't be an issue for 2019 and RAM will be plenty and cheap by then.

 

[anexanhume]

To me it just seems to be an acknowledgment that sales are beginning to contract. They still have a lot of MSRP mobility IMO.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

To me it just seems to be an acknowledgment that sales are beginning to contract. They still have a lot of MSRP mobility IMO.

The news about SIE acknowledging that console sales peaked in 2017 is 10 months old.
SIE's president openly stating that the PS4 has entered the end of its life cycle is a very different and much more obvious clue to the next generation being around the corner.
The PS4 won't stay in "the end of its life cycle" for almost 3 years (which is e.g. what a holiday 2020 release would mean).

The PS4 already sold 80 Million units and the good news for Sony is they did it without ever going toward the $200 mark. Give it another 1.5 years and the console will definitely sell over 100 Million before the PS5 releases, plus maybe another ~20 Million for the following 2-3 years while it co-exists with its successor (and at that time they may drive the MSRP down).