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Can MS change their ram to GDDR5 or is it too late at this point?

G

Globox_82

Banned
Biggest surprise for me during PS4 event has to be "8 GB of unified GDDR5 ram". I went WOW, I could hardly believe. Just a few months ago we were talking about 2GB.

Now this is great proof that rumours about MS spec might as well not be true, because I think only Kotaku recently mention 8GB of ram for PS4 but mostly it was 4GB GDDR.
Rumor about nextbox is 8GB of GDDR3 while 1-2 GB being for Kinect 2. Not only is RAM slower but Kinect seems to eat up a lot.

Nothing is set in stone yet, sony might be lying, while MS final spec might be different.

But if this is all true, does MS have time or is it possible to update and switch to GDDR5?
 
M

Man

Member
Not without delaying the system so no. Xbox will have bottlenecked complex memory and less of it (for gaming) for the next many years.
 
Auto_aim1

Auto_aim1

MeisaMcCaffrey
Anything is possible if Microsoft is willing to invest. But DDR3 + ESRAM combination is pretty good. They might have to increase the ESRAM capacity.
 
Z

Zzoram

Member
I think people just have to come to terms with the fact that there is going to be a big power disparity this generation. There will be 3 clearly separate tiers of graphics.

Microsoft's entire Durango design was built to accommodate 8GB of slow DDR3 RAM. To switch to GDDR5 would basically obsolete all the R&D they've done so far. It would also negate any price advantage they would have over the PS4.

Microsoft is just going to go for a lower price, $150 to $200 cheaper most likely, and focus a lot on Kinect novelty to try to capture the Wii audience that didn't buy a Wii U. They'll probably sell more Xbox than PS4 with this strategy too.
 
R

Reiko

Banned
Anything is possible.

Zzoram said:
I think people just have to come to terms with the fact that there is going to be a big power disparity this generation. There will be 3 clearly separate tiers of graphics.

Microsoft's entire Durango design was built to accommodate 8GB of slow DDR3 RAM. To switch to GDDR5 would basically obsolete all the R&D they've done so far. It would also negate any price advantage they would have over the PS4.

Microsoft is just going to go for a lower price, $150 to $200 cheaper most likely, and focus a lot on Kinect novelty to try to capture the Wii audience that didn't buy a Wii U.
Click to expand...

If you're right you may have just predicted the future... If you're wrong, there will be crow to eat. I already had my serving of crow in the 8GB PS4 thread.
 
D

Devilgunman

Member
Too late and not gonna do any good for MS. At this point MS should have a clear vision of what the next box gonna be with the already setup hardware. They shouldn't deter their direction and vision just because another company does it differently.
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
I'd say it's too late for any significant architectural changes if the goal is to launch alongside the PS4 in Q4.
 
O

Oblivion

Fetishing muscular manly men in skintight hosery
At this point, barring any sudden changes, it seems pretty clear that Sony's system is gonna be quite a bit more powerful than Microsoft's.
 
A

antonz

Member
I don't see why they need too. MS is fine with the ram they have its the same stuff normal desktops use.

If anything Microsoft will likely find itself the lead platform for console development again and Sony will need to have developers pay special attention to take advantage of any bonuses it offers.
 
L

Lunchbox

Banned
Reiko said:
Anything is possible.
Click to expand...
zI0K4VK.jpg


16gb
 
E

Eusis

Member
antonz said:
I don't see why they need too. MS is fine with the ram they have its the same stuff normal desktops use.

If anything Microsoft will likely find itself the lead platform for console development again and Sony will need to have developers pay special attention to take advantage of any bonuses it offers.
Click to expand...
If Microsoft doesn't screw things up anyway and lose favor with everyone. Those rumors of no used games and always online ARE concerning, and it'd fit the trend of falling with the third console.
 
B

Brawndo Addict

Banned
Zzoram said:
I think people just have to come to terms with the fact that there is going to be a big power disparity this generation. There will be 3 clearly separate tiers of graphics.

Microsoft's entire Durango design was built to accommodate 8GB of slow DDR3 RAM. To switch to GDDR5 would basically obsolete all the R&D they've done so far. It would also negate any price advantage they would have over the PS4.

Microsoft is just going to go for a lower price, $150 to $200 cheaper most likely, and focus a lot on Kinect novelty to try to capture the Wii audience that didn't buy a Wii U. They'll probably sell more Xbox than PS4 with this strategy too.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this pretty much sums up how I feel about it. I think Microsoft is going to focus not just on Kinect however but other entertainment services like the rumored DVR capabilities. Games will take a backseat in comparison to PS4 though for sure.
 
D

DBT85

Member
zewone said:
Well, they did say that PS3 would have 3 Ethernet ports. And that was just ports.
Click to expand...

Removing excess ports and halving your RAM are not remotely close in scope for pissing off every developer on your system.

I imagine all of them gave no shits at all that an extra HDMI and 2 Ethernets were cut from the PS3.
 
S

Shayan

Banned
Hix said:
So you know the official spec then?
Click to expand...

I know official specs just like i knew official ones for PS4

and yes that DDR3 is what the next box has but the investors are not impressed and theres already a few games developed with gddr3 in mind

MS could change specs but that would cause a year delay and cause some 100s of million down the drain since they expected SONY to launch with 4 gig RAM

Guerilla convinced SONY to go with 8 gig RAM :)

MS wanted to showcase next box at the same time as PS4 unveiling too. SONY was gunning for 4gig initially. When they knew about MS specs and how far they were in the developments , they decided to up the ante and catch MS offguard

Initially both had plans for March unveiling
 
M

Mindlog

Member
Someone with better sources should look into it, but wouldn't this create Blue Diode levels of scarcity with no one getting their hands on enough?
 
I

i-Lo

Member
Anything is possible. However, their system is designed around the concept of fine tuning, balance and efficiency and the parts speak for themselves. They would have better luck changing capacity than type, much like Sony.
 
A

Adent

Can't manage for sh!t
None of us really know what kind of Ram the new Xbox will have. Who knows? They might both end up with the same type of ram.
 
F

FlutterPuffs

Member
They can of course, but it might not only set the system back a few months due to engineering or design issues, but also make it cost more than the PS4.
 
S

Spongebob

Banned
Going from 8GB DDR3 to 8 GB GDDR5 would add too much to their BOM which might already be high because of Kinect 2.0.

It's not happening.

MS simply doesn't need GDDR5 to capture the casual audience.
 
A

alphaNoid

Banned
Shayan said:
I know official specs just like i knew official ones for PS4

and yes that GDDR3 is what the next box has but the investors are not impressed and theres already a few games developed with gddr3 in mind

MS could change specs but that would cause a year delay and cause some 100s of million down the drain since they expected SONY to launch with 4 gig RAM

Guerilla convinced SONY to go with 8 gig RAM :)
Click to expand...

GDDR3 is not being used, its DDR3 + eSRAM vs GDDR5. All completely different type of hardware with different kinds of uses. Get your facts straight before you pretend to know what you're talking about. Also MS added more RAM to the 360 right before launch as well FYI
 
D

DBT85

Member
Shayan said:
I know official specs just like i knew official ones for PS4

and yes that GDDR3 is what the next box has but the investors are not impressed and theres already a few games developed with gddr3 in mind

MS could change specs but that would cause a year delay and cause some 100s of million down the drain since they expected SONY to launch with 4 gig RAM

Guerilla convinced SONY to go with 8 gig RAM :)
Click to expand...

He did get the 8GB of GDDR5 right.

Have you spoken to a Mod at all? Might help you establish more credibility if you can highlight to them extra tidbits.
 
S

Shayan

Banned
alphaNoid said:
GDDR3 is not being used, its DDR3 + eSRAM vs GDDR5. All completely different type of hardware with different kinds of uses. Get your facts straight before you pretend to know what you're talking about.
Click to expand...

sorry for the typo i meant DDR 3

and esram is irrlevant as it will only aid in selective functions

DBT85 said:
He did get the 8GB of GDDR5 right.

Have you spoken to a Mod at all? Might help you establish more credibility if you can highlight to them extra tidbits.
Click to expand...

everything i am saying is right unless these companies change specs
 
W

wrowa

Member
I don't think they need to. Apart of the enthusiasts most people either won't notice or care about the graphical difference between the two plattforms, especially since we can ecpect that most games are designed to run perfectly fine on the weaker plattform.

Having a lower price point is imo much more important. MS wants to succeed right out of the gate, while Sony might struggle with too expensive hardware once again.
 
S

Soi-Fong

Member
Switching from DDR3 to GDDR5 isn't an overnight change. Production will be delayed since a new type of memory requires a switch to a whole new motherboard.

The whole architecture changes.

MS is not gonna let Sony come out with the PS4 before the Durango.
 
James Sawyer Ford

James Sawyer Ford

Gold Member
Reiko said:
Anything is possible.



If you're right you may have just predicted the future... If you're wrong, there will be crow to eat. I already had my serving of crow in the 8GB PS4 thread.
Click to expand...

It's much easier at this stage to simply add more RAM.

It's difficult to make changes to the type of RAM you're using or boosting any kind of specs.

Basically RAM quantity is the only item that can truly be changed this late in development, outside of perhaps clock speeds (which wouldn't be anything major)
 
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