• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

PS4 is quite the engineering marvel

C

Canis lupus

Member
The console is much smaller than its direct competitor and 50 percent more powerful. The power brick is incorporated in the console despite the slim factor. After Sony announced the ram type there was discussion how and if they would be able to fit 16 4Gb GDDR5 chips in the console, the product would be rather colossal. The Xbox One is a huge console, and weeks prior to E3 everyone was certain the PS4 with its better specs would be of a similar size, if not even bigger.

950101.jpg
Click to expand...

Even Yoshida was amazed by its smallness:
"We were heavily involved in designing the DualShock 4 even at the time that no idea existed, because it’s the interface," Yoshida said. "We were there as a team. But the box, it’s just a box. When I finally saw it, it was near-final and I was amazed by the thinness and lightness of it. It looked already like the second generation of a console. I compared it to the second generation of the PS3. On PS4, first-gen is almost exactly the same dimensions. More than the aesthetics of it, the smallness of it. I am so psyched."
Click to expand...


This is not a size comparison thread but a question of ''how did they do it?!'' Why is the Xbox One bigger? This is how it looks inside:
xbox-one-hardware.jpg


I'm really stoked to see the internals of the PS4 and how it compares to the Xbox because I believe Sony engineers used magic arranging the innards of the console.
 
Certinty

Certinty

Member
I remember reading a few months ago that Sony didn't show the console back in February because it had 'secret features' of something.

I would now assume it's the size of the console they were hiding?
 
Pagusas

Pagusas

Elden Member
I think MS went for as conservative and open design as they could to avoid heat issues. Just looking at the box there is a ton of spare room compared to the PS3.
 
T

teiresias

Member
Canis lupus said:
This is not a size comparison thread but a question of ''how did they do it?!'' Why is the Xbox One bigger? This is how it looks inside:
xbox-one-hardware.jpg
Click to expand...

I'm a bit surprised the Xbone HDD mount uses actual cables for the power and SATA connection. Surely there's a surface mount, right-angle integrated solution for that by now for integrated systems so that the power tracing goes through the mobo directly to the connectors? Granted, I've never looked into it, so I could be off-base. That's just the first thing that stood out to me.
 
C

CornBurrito

Member
linko9 said:
Lets wait to see how hot/loud it gets and what the failure rate is.
Click to expand...

I hope it doesn't have this problem. Though I won't be buying at launch anyway.

Though the Gamecube was pretty damn powerful and extremely tightly packed. And I dont recall it getting super hot/loud or failing.
 
D

Dragon

Banned
Horse Armour said:
A mid range 2012 GPU and a netbook CPU is an engineering marvel? Must be nice to be so easily impressed.
Click to expand...

Certainly I'd rather lean on the positive side than the negative side on this stuff. Sony is much better at constructing their hardware than Microsoft is. We get it though, you've been very outspoken about the PC, everyone knows about its advantages! Most PS3 people I know had a PC in addition because it was the perfect complement.
 
R

reson8or

Member
Do we know if the PS4 will have an external power brick? I feel those should be added to the consoles size. The original 360 power brick was a massive pain in the ass to make room for.
 
R

Raymo

Member
teiresias said:
I'm a bit surprised the Xbone HDD mount uses actual cables for the power and SATA connection. Surely there's a surface mount, right-angle integrated solution for that by now for integrated systems so that the power tracing goes through the mobo directly to the connectors? Granted, I've never looked into it, so I could be off-base. That's just the first thing that stood out to me.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's really odd actually. Why could they have a docking mount right there and put a door in on the slide for a replaceable hdd? It's not like they don't have the room for it.
 
M

maltrain

Junior Member
Foxconn making this things is a great new to me, because they manufacture really good pieces of hardware. I really hope PS4 won't suffer from heat on that tiny box.
 
Chittagong

Chittagong

Gold Member
It's not really a massive marvel

- although Xbone is even more underpowered, the fact is that PS4 APU is fairly underpowered compared to gaming PCs already before launch
- one big chip is cooler than two big chips
- RAM is not a huge heat or size issue, not even GDDR5

The situation is very different to PS3 and 360 launch where the chips were massive, more cutting edge and there were two of them.

My only question is that wth is Xbone so huge rather than PS4 so small.
 
D

DouglasteR

Member
Hummm, that huge cooler with heatpipes SHOULD be able to dissipate the heat.

OMG, the horror stories from the 360 era (3RLOD)
 
I

IHaveCandy

Banned
Going from 3.2 Ghz down to 1.6 Ghz alone makes designing a console with less heat output a lot easier. I know clockspeed isn't the only factor, but it is a huge one.
 
Schrade

Schrade

Member
The Xbone insides look almost exactly like what it looks like in my DirecTV HR-22 DVR aside from the off the shelf CPU cooler they're using.

It almost makes me wonder if they contracted with whatever manufacturer that made DVRs to make their system. This also makes me think that perhaps the subsidizing with cable/satellite companies might come to fruition.

It's like they made it to be very mass produce-able and easy to reduce costs on it.
 
HoodWinked

HoodWinked

Member
its not that inconceivable there are gaming laptops with higher specs that are smaller than a ps4. size savings is primarily because custom form disc drive + custom fan cooling solution.

i think ms is just extra concerned about thermals arent going to risk rrod 2.0 from the pics from wired looks like they have plenty of room to improve for the inevitable redesign.

personally i dont think the ps4 design is all that inspiring and may have a design flaw. i couldnt find any intake vents which may mean the rear is both the intake and outtake which means it may cause thermal choke if placed in a shelf.
 
Majmun

Majmun

Member
Xbox One's size gives MS the opportunity to release at least 5 slimmer versions of the console.

Releasing a slimmer version usually means a hardware boost.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

In 2013, the PS4 released and saved console gaming
Analysis 2 3
121
5K
Humdinger replied
[Windows Central] Microsoft and Xbox announced 'Marvel's Blade' at The Game Awards — but could it also be coming to PlayStation?
Platform 6 7 8 9 10
499
35K
Darsxx82 replied
Competition killed ambition in regards to consoles. It is why consoles has become more stagnant over time.
2
88
5K
fart town usa replied
IGN/NXGamer: Assassin's Creed: Mirage PS5 vs Xbox Series X|S vs PS4 vs Xbox One Performance Review
2
70
7K
Gambit2483 replied
  • Poll
Which system made the biggest comeback? PlayStation 4 or Nintendo Switch?
Opinion Platform 2 3
100
4K
FullMetalx117 replied
Top Bottom