Memory Bandwidth vs Memory Amount, great read

[Two4DaMoney]

Orbis has 50% more compute units, don't worry durango has secret hardware to make up for that
Orbis has more CPU modules and less dedicated cores for OS, don't worry Durango have special hardware blocks to assist the CPU
Orbis has higher bandwidth, don't worry durango is probably using the same type of RAM

All this magical super secret customized tech in one box with none of the expense passed on to the customer.

[Lefein]

It's just a dog and pony show. Until someone in their right mind can argue a case that 3 or 4GB Graphics cards are going to become industry standard for game developers, people can take their "slow ram is good in a console" argument and fly a kite.

[radgamer420]

Wow. Theres a whole lot of premature fanboy celebrating going on here all based off rumors and speculation.
The console fanboy wars have already started without either company revealing anything. Hooray, our piece of plastic will be better than your piece of plastic.

[Soldier 95B]

Wow. Theres a whole lot of premature fanboy celebrating going on here all based off rumors and speculation.
The console fanboy wars have already started without either company revealing anything. Hooray, our piece of plastic will be better than your piece of plastic.

[mynd]

All this magical super secret customized tech in one box with none of the expense passed on to the customer.

Err, you guys like ignoring history huh?

I'm not about to get all excited about what in either of the new consoles, but considering MS's past track record on the 360 (UMA, Unified Shaders, use of Edram), all stuff that was "super secret customization", you would think you would all just want to sit back relax a little and just wait till we know what the hell is in what.

I would PMSL if both systems end up with 4gb GDDR5, and for all we know it could happen.

You guys really need to stop reading these rumors, I think you may all well be getting wound up over nothing.

As for "compute units" etc, again its virtual dick measuring, as I have repeatedly said, no one in the know is going to really spill the beans on neogaf, or b3d or wherever it is you guys are reading this stuff.

Of course these "insiders" are going to try and out beat each other, they are twisted individuals who clearly love to think they know what they are talking about, you know over say highly paid Sony, Microsoft, AMD and IBM engineers.

[Lefein]

Wow. Theres a whole lot of premature fanboy celebrating going on here all based off rumors and speculation.
The console fanboy wars have already started without either company revealing anything. Hooray, our piece of plastic will be better than your piece of plastic.

Celebrating and defensiveness. You left that one out. It's all based off of speculation, obviously. However, at least one side of the argument is valid and coherent.

Let me frame this another way. Would we be having these discussions if the Xbox 720 wasn't rumored to have more RAM than the PS4? Riddle me this, riddle me that? You can't just blame the console wars on one side and look like the cleanest piggy in the pen. (Not personally pointing you out, but just the general state of things. This forum is not even close to being alone on this subject.)

[Nitey]

You guys really need to stop reading these rumors, I htink you may all well be getting wound up over nothing.

[mynd]

Celebrating and defensiveness. You left that one out. It's all based off of speculation, obviously. However, at least one side of the argument is valid and coherent.

Let me frame this another way. Would we be having these discussions if the Xbox 720 wasn't rumored to have more RAM than the PS4? Riddle me this, riddle me that? You can't just blame the console wars on one side and look like the cleanest piggy in the pen.

Depends which rumor you chose to believe last one I heard both systems where 8gb 8 core blah blah blah blah....
Its like listening to tales about the size of the one that got away, every time the fish gets bigger and bigger.

I suspect everyone who's keeping track of these rumors is going to be severely disappointed in both system when they come out....

[Completely Average]

Let me frame this another way. Would we be having these discussions if the Xbox 720 wasn't rumored to have more RAM than the PS4?

Allow me to answer that.

I don't believe for one second that the next Xbox will have 8GB of RAM.

I fully believe that BOTH systems will have 4GB of GDDR5.

I've explained this in another thread, but I'll go ahead and repeat it here. EVERY GPU CURRENTLY IN PRODUCTION USES GDDR5, even the cheapest budget cards. I do not believe that MS is going to pay a whole lot extra money to have AMD redesign a GPU and memory controller that uses RAM with half the bandwidth of the cheapest budget video card that they make right now. There isn't one single logical reason why they would. Using what is already available in off-the-shelf video cards is both cheaper and better performing.


I believe all of the current rumors floating around about the next-gen Xbox are based on alpha hardware debug kits. Like this one....

http://www.maxconsole.com/maxcon_for...and-8-12GB-RAM


Notice this quote from last July.....

He also claims that the Durango kit features more than 8GB of memory (other sources have suggested 12GB), and that it is 64-bit in nature - at this point it's worth bearing in mind that dev hardware typically features double the RAM of retail kit in order to accommodate debugging tools and other systems.

[Nitey]

So what if the next xbox or PS4 doesn't have GDDR5. Underwhelming?

[Lefein]

Now we're starting to make some sense here. I, personally, enjoy arguing the theoreticals. It's not so much to do with preference for consoles so much as preference for technology.

One day, we'll all be looking back on some of this stuff and have a good laugh. These pre- launch cycles are part of the fun with consoles. Whatever the braincases at Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony have planned for the next six or seven years, we're going to be stuck with it. In the meantime, why not have heated debates about the potential course of technology? It doesn't actually hurt anyone. That's the fun of it, there's no plastic box to wave in anyone's face. It's all speculation, rumors and people playing the "insider".

I'd say raising the spectre of console wars is disingenuous. If you want that, there's every single board on this forum and forums everywhere else on the internet about that with the current generation. This PS4/72o speculation is about as close to the actual propellerhead technical stuff you will get. Personally, it has brought me a lifetime of lols to see people sticking up for GDDR3. Paint me as a fanboy all you want. A lol is a lol, especially 8 gigs of lols.

[MonkeyClaw]

Allow me to answer that.

I don't believe for one second that the next Xbox will have 8GB of RAM.

I fully believe that BOTH systems will have 4GB of GDDR5.

I've explained this in another thread, but I'll go ahead and repeat it here. EVERY GPU CURRENTLY IN PRODUCTION USES GDDR5, even the cheapest budget cards. I do not believe that MS is going to pay a whole lot extra money to have AMD redesign a GPU and memory controller that uses RAM with half the bandwidth of the cheapest budget video card that they make right now. There isn't one single logical reason why they would. Using what is already available in off-the-shelf video cards is both cheaper and better performing.


I believe all of the current rumors floating around about the next-gen Xbox are based on alpha hardware debug kits. Like this one....

http://www.maxconsole.com/maxcon_for...and-8-12GB-RAM


Notice this quote from last July.....

I bet they will both probably end up with 4GB of GDDR5, but the real question is, how many bits will the memory interface be?! 256-bit, 384-bit, 512-bit? I know GDDR5 has to be a given like you said, they would be stupid not to go with that type RAM...

[mynd]

Now we're starting to make some sense here. I, personally, enjoy arguing the theoreticals. It's not so much to do with preference for consoles so much as preference for technology.

One day, we'll all be looking back on some of this stuff and have a good laugh. These pre- launch cycles are part of the fun with consoles. Whatever the braincases at Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony have planned for the next six or seven years, we're going to be stuck with it. In the meantime, why not have heated debates about the potential course of technology? It doesn't actually hurt anyone. That's the fun of it, there's no plastic box to wave in anyone's face. It's all speculation, rumors and people playing the "insider".

I'd say raising the spectre of console wars is disingenuous. If you want that, there's every single board on this forum and forums everywhere else on the internet about that with the current generation. This PS4/72o speculation is about as close to the actual propellerhead technical stuff you will get. Personally, it has brought me a lifetime of lols to see people sticking up for GDDR3. Paint me as a fanboy all you want. A lol is a lol, especially 8 gigs of lols.

Its bloody hard to argue a case for either system when the specs keep changing everyday. If we had one solid set of rumours id be right beside you arguing the theoreticals.

And its not gddr3 its ddr3. Which is far more insane. Gddr3 is whats in the current systems.

[Two4DaMoney]

I noticed that too...fits a post I made in another thread perfectly.

[mynd]

Its one thing to get pissed off with the rubbish being spouted, its another to actively engage in it.
If i knew for a moment that these rumours weren't just people trying to one up the last rumour id be somewhat excited but I've heard so many differing rumours now..sheez

[Completely Average]

So what if the next xbox or PS4 doesn't have GDDR5. Underwhelming?

I would use the word Stupid instead.

Stupid because it doesn't make any logical sense on any level. It wouldn't be any cheaper to use 8GB of DDR3 than it would 4GB of GGDR5, in fact it would cost more. There wouldn't be any performance advantage, in fact it would effectively cripple any GPU made right now, preventing even the cheapest GPU made from reaching it's potential. It would be harder to incorporate into the system because DDR3 chips are larger than GDDR5 chips, and it would be harder to cool.

There isn't once single logical reason to use DDR3 at all. It's not even designed for GPUs, it's system memory designed for CPUs.

I bet they will both probably end up with 4GB of GDDR5, but the real question is, how many bits will the memory interface be?! 256-bit, 384-bit, 512-bit?

Now THAT is a good question because that would really effect system performance. However...........

If I was to put my money on it, I would say they will both use a 256-bit memory bus. While higher bus speeds are possible, they are much more expensive to produce, and yields aren't as high. The 256-bit bus makes more sense from a financial perspective and provides plenty of bandwidth for the resolutions that these consoles will be working at.

To the best of my knowledge, the cheapest PC GPU in production right now that uses a 384-bit bus costs over $380. I just don't see consoles using that or higher because of the cost of production. NOBODY wants to produce a new console that they cannot make a profit on, and NOBODY wants to produce a console that costs so much that no one will buy it.