PS3: less RAM needed for the OS = old games run faster?

E

eloic

Veteran
Hello everybody.

I've read tons of articles and forum discussions but I still don't know if the fact that the PS3 seems to need less and less RAM to run its OS, each time its firmware is updated, benefits older games to run faster or if this has nothing to do with it.

I would also like to see some kind of chronological chart showing the amount of RAM needed for the OS in the consecutive PS3 firmware updates.

Thank you! :)
 
eloyc said:
Hello everybody.

I've read tons of articles and forum discussions but I still don't know if the fact that the PS3 seems to need less and less RAM to run its OS, each time its firmware is updated, benefits older games to run faster or if this has nothing to do with it.
Click to expand...
It's simply unused ram.
 
benefits older games to run faster or if this has nothing to do with it.
Click to expand...
It shouldn't really have an effect, as a console, the games were developed distinctly for the memory available at the time with no inbetween.
 
Of course if you had code to check the amount of free memory at run-time and allocate a pool with what was left, that would allow you to take advantage of any extra memory released by Sony's SDK? :)
 
noNchaoTic said:
Of course if you had code to check the amount of free memory at run-time and allocate a pool with what was left, that would allow you to take advantage of any extra memory released by Sony's SDK? :)
Click to expand...

Scaleable code like that could potentially improve backward compatability features in the future... maybe
 
If there's a drastic reduction in OS size, then that could noticeably increase the cache efficiency for the game code/data and lead to a reduction in stalls. But I doubt it.
 
Another question is: is it true that the PS3 is able to perform the same (or more powerful, in some exclusives) graphics that the Xbox 360 despite it has less memory available because of its OS?
 
False. The Operating System has nothing to do with it.

Now can this thread be closed before it turns into yet another VS thread?
 
BRiT said:
False. The Operating System has nothing to do with it.
Click to expand...
Ok. Thank you.

BRiT said:
Now can this thread be closed before it turns into yet another VS thread?
Click to expand...
Sorry? I just want some questions to be replied. If a stupid quarrel begins, I KNOW the moderators will act and stop it. I guess you are fed up of stupid fanboyism or abstract debates filled with vague figures and I don't like that, either, but there's no need to close this thread now, ok?

Thanks again.
 
eloyc said:
Another question is: is it true that the PS3 is able to perform the same (or more powerful, in some exclusives) graphics that the Xbox 360 despite it has less memory available because of its OS?
Click to expand...
Yup. Performance is context dependent!

Different techniques have different memory requirements, different games use different techniques based on that hardware, and that hardware may use memory a little differently.
 
eloyc said:
Another question is: is it true that the PS3 is able to perform the same (or more powerful, in some exclusives) graphics that the Xbox 360 despite it has less memory available because of its OS?
Click to expand...

This is a subjective matter.
Gears vs. Resistance, Splinter Cell vs. MGS4, GT vs. Forza etc.
Though, one thing everyone agrees about is the fact that Killzone 2 is the most advanced game available for 7th gen consoles, from pure graphics point of view.
I'll stop here, before i derail this thread even further...
 
LordNerevar said:
This is a subjective matter.
Gears vs. Resistance, Splinter Cell vs. MGS4, GT vs. Forza etc.
Though, one thing everyone agrees about is the fact that Killzone 2 is the most advanced game available for 7th gen consoles, from pure graphics point of view.
I'll stop here, before i derail this thread even further...
Click to expand...

I'll help you with that :D , because those questions were properly replied so far, thus let's just talk about the PS3 OS and put the Xbox 360 aside. I want you to reply the second question I put in my first post:
eloyc said:
I would also like to see some kind of chronological chart showing the amount of RAM needed for the OS in the consecutive PS3 firmware updates.
Click to expand...

Moreover, I want to know what is the current memory footprint of the PS3 OS.

Thanks!
 
Moreover, I want to know what is the current memory footprint of the PS3 OS.
Click to expand...
Last time I found info on this, it was 52MB reserved for the OS after the latest firmaware update -- still a far cry from XB360's 32MB.
 
noNchaoTic said:
Of course if you had code to check the amount of free memory at run-time and allocate a pool with what was left, that would allow you to take advantage of any extra memory released by Sony's SDK? :)
Click to expand...
Not true.. games are told the amount of memory available for the SDK that it was built against. Not the firmware revision.

So, for example, a game built against SDK 1.80 running on a current 2.60 firmware would be given the same free memory information as if it were running on a machine with the 1.80 firmware, ensuring compatibility. If you were to change the memory amount, you change the behaviour of the game (on an internal level), and you invalidate a lot of your testing as a result.

Cheers,
Dean
 
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