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[robertsan21]

how much more expensive is it to upgrade a PC from 4gb ram ddr5 to 8gb ram ddr5?
just trying to understand why everyone is so hyped about this.. Sorry for the stupid question but I aint a tech guy but ask me anything about life under the water in a river or about trout and I can tell you pretty much everything hahaha

 

[PuppetMaster]

how much more expensive is it to upgrade a PC from 4gb ram ddr5 to 8gb ram ddr5?

No PCs currently use GDDR5 for system memory. It is an extremely fast high bandwidth type of memory that is currently only used by high end graphics cards. 3-4x faster than the system memory in a modern PC.

And no graphics cards exist today with more than 4GB of GDDR5.

So there is no direct comparison yet. Many people were every saying 8GB of GDDR5 was impossible with current fabrication techniques, until the Sony reveal proved them wrong.

 

[GoddyofAus]

I have 16GB of DDR3 and I don't even know what to do with all of that.

 

[JaseC]

No PCs currently use GDDR5 for system memory.

And no graphics cards exist today with more than 4GB of GDDR5.

Assuming you're referring to single-GPU cards, there's the 3GB 7970, for one.

Edit: I swear the figure read "2GB". I call stealth edit!

 

[Geoff9920]

how much more expensive is it to upgrade a PC from 4gb ram ddr5 to 8gb ram ddr5?
just trying to understand why everyone is so hyped about this.. Sorry for the stupid question but I aint a tech guy

GDDR5 is only used as RAM in graphics cards and the high end cards usually have 2-4GB of dedicated RAM. This would be separate from the 8+GB of DDR3 RAM usually found in your average gaming PC. As far as cost... not sure other than it's not cheap.

 

[darkwing]

I have 16GB of DDR3 and I don't even know what to do with all of that.

Adobe Master Collection

 

[robertsan21]

No PCs currently use GDDR5 for system memory.

And no graphics cards exist today with more than 4GB of GDDR5.

So this is good news then

Wow, going to be fun to see what Xbox comes up with for an answer to this stuff.

 

[Wishmaster92]

BOOM

from b3d



Looks like there is second chip for OS which will work even when console will be switched off (to low power mode) Meaning that OS won't be probably working on CPU or GPU meaning all power will go to games/applications and this is probably why OS functions like streaming and other things will be seamless.

Lead designer behind PS4 already said that live on stage but people didn't catch that.

I swear, every time someone brings this statement up it gives me the shivers.

 

[2San]

Assuming you're referring to single-GPU cards, there's the 3GB 7970, for one.

Edit: I swear the figure read "2GB". I call stealth edit!

Going SLI or crossfire doesn't stack the VRAM. So having 3 GTX 680's(4GB) still means 4GB VRAM.

 

[Forsete]

8GB GDDR5 is mind blowing. I never ever thought they would do that. Glad I was wrong though.

I have 16GB of DDR3 and I don't even know what to do with all of that.

Start editing 24 MP RAW image files. I thought my 6GB DDR3 was enough for that, but it quickly runs out.

 

[JaseC]

Going SLI or crossfire doesn't stack the RAM.

I know. I was implicitly excluding cards such as the 690. (Note that I said "single-GPU cards", not "single cards".)

 

[2San]

I know. I was implicitly excluding cards such as the 690. (Note that I said "single-GPU cards", not "single cards".)

I see, I've seen this misconception going around at times, hence the misunderstanding.

 

[AngryMoth]

I wonder if Sony deliberately leaked the 4GB number to try and skrew over Microsoft. I mean nobody was expecting 8GB. I bet the Durango team are panicking at the moment, if they don't change their plans for memory every 3rd party game will run better on ps4.

 

[diehard]

I'm still skeptical of the need for this bandwidth for main system memory, but i'll wait until someone like Anand does one his excellent analysis's to say its unneeded.

 

[i-Lo]

I wonder if Sony deliberately leaked the 4GB number to try and skrew over Microsoft. I mean nobody was expecting 8GB. I bet the Durango team are panicking at the moment, if they don't change their plans for memory every 3rd party game will run better on ps4.

They can not change the ram type but if Sony has shown us anything it is that the amount can be. So MS may not go with a 10/12GB system.

 

[Stampy]

Does increase in memory have any effect on teraflops? I ask this, because I rumors with 4GB were stating 1.8 teraflops, while on conference it was said that PS4 was below 2.

 

[The Abominable Snowman]

I honestly cannot imagine what a closed-space game would look like.

megatextures


megatextures EVERYWHERE


However, everything shown looked pretty open, which is fine.

Does increase in memory have any effect on teraflops? I ask this, because I rumors with 4GB were stating 1.8 teraflops, while on conference it was said that PS4 was below 2.

Not directly, no. It is a lot more space to store data to feed the CPU/GPU to process more data and perform more FLOPs, though. but then again, data that needs to be processed like that is usually pretty small.

Not sure what developmental revolutions are on the horizon. I want to see what id Software has in store for us

 

[Chuck Norris]

Does increase in memory have any effect on teraflops? I ask this, because I rumors with 4GB were stating 1.8 teraflops, while on conference it was said that PS4 was below 2.

No. 1.8 is just below 2 if you're a marketer (and not a techy)

 

[Chuck Norris]

I'm still skeptical of the need for this bandwidth for main system memory, but i'll wait until someone like Anand does one his excellent analysis's to say its unneeded.

The system seems to be designed around making everything rapid and instant, getting rid of loading altogether if possible. Bandwidth will help significantly

 

[Lagspike_exe]

Does increase in memory have any effect on teraflops? I ask this, because I rumors with 4GB were stating 1.8 teraflops, while on conference it was said that PS4 was below 2.

GPU is 1.84 TF and the CPU is 100 MF, so basicaly the system is at around 1.94 TF peak performance. That's just a bit below 2TF.

 

[Neo C.]

I wouldn't say no matter what. We don't know what the differences are in terms of CPU/GPU versus Durango.

Do you expect the parts to be very different? Going by the rumours the CPU is more or less the same, while the GPU is better on PS4. It's not really a Xbox360/PS3 situation where everyone has their pros and cons.

 

[chubigans]

They can not change the ram type but if Sony has shown us anything it is that the amount can be. So MS may not go with a 10/12GB system.

Honest question- why can't they change the ram type?

 

[Chuck Norris]

Honest question- why can't they change the ram type?

Cause it will be coming out in the next in the next 9 months, and announced in the next few weeks.

They may have changed things because leaks could be as much as a year old, but if they are planning to change the RAM as a reaction to today it won't happen

 

[iceatcs]

Honest question- why can't they change the ram type?

Well if change the ram, they might have to drop ESRAM and some thing as well if the specs rumours true. It quite lot of changes if they haven't done yet.

 

[2San]

Do you expect the parts to be very different? Going by the rumours the CPU is more or less the same, while the GPU is better on PS4. It's not really a Xbox360/PS3 situation where everyone has their pros and cons.

Part of me hopes Microsoft can pull off a miracle and deliver a stronger GPU or CPU(with the same/similar architecture). Which shouldn't provide any trouble for devs to adjust to. Changing RAM types seem highly unlikely though.

 

[TheExodu5]

Do you expect the parts to be very different? Going by the rumours the CPU is more or less the same, while the GPU is better on PS4. It's not really a Xbox360/PS3 situation where everyone has their pros and cons.

And going by the rumors PS4 did not have 8GB of GDDR5. Don't assume anything.

 

[Cronq]

I think the RAM is overkill. But considering that generations last 10 years, perhaps it's a good thing. I just don't see how the rest of the hardware can utilize that much RAM. The RAM won't be a bottleneck.

I don't think comparing it to PC gpu's with 2-4GB is a proper comparison. There is no cost constraints on a high end desktop GPU. If the Nvidia Titan needed 8GB of GDDR5 to perform better, that's what would have been on the card.

I will be very impressed once I hear Sony and developers fully utilize that RAM. Until then I think Sony just wanted to throw a bone to spec junkies regardless of whether that RAM was needed.

 

[2San]

I think the RAM is overkill. But considering that generations last 10 years, perhaps it's a good thing. I just don't see how the rest of the hardware can utilize that much RAM. The RAM won't be a bottleneck.

I don't think comparing it to PC gpu's with 2-4GB is a proper comparison. There is no cost constraints on a high end desktop GPU. If the Nvidia Titan needed 8GB of GDDR5 to perform better, that's what would have been on the card.

I will be very impressed once I hear Sony and developers fully utilize that RAM. Until then I think Sony just wanted to throw a bone to spec junkies regardless of whether that RAM was needed.

While I agree with that the RAM is overkill. You can always use additional RAM for something though; for higher res textures, more npc's, etc. I'm no expert, but I'd have probably gone for a stronger CPU/GPU than more RAM.

 

[AgentP]

No PCs currently use GDDR5 for system memory. It is an extremely fast high bandwidth type of memory that is currently only used by high end graphics cards. 3-4x faster than the system memory in a modern PC.

And no graphics cards exist today with more than 4GB of GDDR5.

So there is no direct comparison yet. Many people were every saying 8GB of GDDR5 was impossible with current fabrication techniques, until the Sony reveal proved them wrong.

I bought a 6GB Tesla card for work. And yes, we use it for rendering, not GPGPU

 

[Perkel]

I bought a 6GB Tesla card for work. And yes, we use it for rendering, not GPGPU

Well Tesla is not really your PC gaming rig card. Titan though has 6GB and it is newest thing

 

[Mononoke]

This is going to be interesting for PC gaming. For the longest time, even the most intense games on PC didn't push over 2gb (even at the 2560x1600p resolution). So if PS4 starts to actually use over that limit, I wonder if that is going to force all PC gamers to start using higher VRAM.

I'm not sure how that translates, going from Console VRAM to PC (not sure if it's 1 for 1). If it is, or close to it, then PS4 just made a lot of GPUS obsolete - since most of them adopted the 2gb or 4gb limit. Even that $1,000 Nvidia Titan card is 6gb.

 

[Chuck Norris]

And going by the rumors PS4 did not have 8GB of GDDR5. Don't assume anything.

Actually the most recent rumours did say Sony were aiming at upgrading to 8GB

 

[2San]

I bought a 6GB Tesla card for work. And yes, we use it for rendering, not GPGPU

Worthless for gaming though.

 

[mbmonk]

I think the RAM is overkill. But considering that generations last 10 years, perhaps it's a good thing. I just don't see how the rest of the hardware can utilize that much RAM. The RAM won't be a bottleneck.

I don't think comparing it to PC gpu's with 2-4GB is a proper comparison. There is no cost constraints on a high end desktop GPU. If the Nvidia Titan needed 8GB of GDDR5 to perform better, that's what would have been on the card.

I will be very impressed once I hear Sony and developers fully utilize that RAM. Until then I think Sony just wanted to throw a bone to spec junkies regardless of whether that RAM was needed.

This is the second time this general argument has been made. That the amount of RAM is more of a marketing ploy than anything else.

Seems a bit unlikely when viewed from a cost/benefit perspective. The amount of RAM & type will appeal to a very small minority of gamers, and since Sony will have to put 8GB of RAM in every PS4 they make, even 10 years down the road, it seems like that would add up, in terms of cost, over time to a be very expensive 'marketing' tactic. Just doesn't seem like it would be worth it. But this is just off the top of my head and out of my rear of course. So I could be wrong.

I would mention that some devs like Crytek asking for that much RAM. I assume that was an informed and reasoned request by them. But it is Crytek so maybe not

 

[Mononoke]

Maybe someone that actually understands this, can explain. But why are so many people set on next gen being 720p at 60 FPS or 1080p at 30 FPS?

Or is that not an issue with Vram, but an issue with the GPU/CPU architecture? If PS4 is so superior, shouldn't it be guaranteed to run at 1080p 60FPS? Since PC has been able to do this for a long time?

 

[ToD_]

According to the spec sheet, everything listed was subject to change. I haven't had a chance to watch the conference, but is 8GB GDDR5 confirmed to be final? Sorry, just can't help but be skeptical!

 

[Xiaoki]

And going by the rumors PS4 did not have 8GB of GDDR5. Don't assume anything.

8GB was hinted at by Edge.

And everything else was dead on. From the TFlops to the RAM bandwidth.

 

[KidBeta]

And going by the rumors PS4 did not have 8GB of GDDR5. Don't assume anything.

Theres a big difference between, lets double the RAM

and.

Lets change everything!

 

[The Abominable Snowman]

Maybe someone that actually understands this, can explain. But why are so many people set on next gen being 720p at 60 FPS or 1080p at 30 FPS?

Or is that not an issue with Vram, but an issue with the GPU/CPU architecture? If PS4 is so superior, shouldn't it be guaranteed to run at 1080p 60FPS? Since PC has been able to do this for a long time?

People being pessimistic.

the PS3 and 360 both had several bottlenecks that choked FPS. And their GPUs were very old architectures that were rapidly outpaced and outdated in many ways.

 

[Fistwell]

According to the spec sheet, everything listed was subject to change. I haven't had a chance to watch the conference, but is 8GB GDDR5 confirmed to be final? Sorry, just can't help but be skeptical!

During the show, they first mentioned 8GB. They much later talked about GDDR5. The spec sheet floating arounds does state 8GB GDDR5. Everyone assumes it is the case. It does sound almost too good to be true.

No, the 8Gb and GDDR5 where all mentioned quite early on..

First time he gave the number of 8GB, I most definitely did not hear him say GDDR5. I actually asked myself whether that was the case or not, i.e. "does he actually mean 8GB of GDDR5?". Might be that my stream skipped. Too lazy to go find out though.

 

[2San]

Maybe someone that actually understands this, can explain. But why are so many people set on next gen being 720p at 60 FPS or 1080p at 30 FPS?

Or is that not an issue with Vram, but an issue with the GPU/CPU architecture? If PS4 is so superior, shouldn't it be guaranteed to run at 1080p 60FPS? Since PC has been able to do this for a long time?

Well you still have the CPU that's pretty much a joke imo. I do understand why the went for it. The computational power of the GPU isn't all that hot either. 1080p@60FPS isn't that easily achieved on PC's either, unless you only look console ports. The Crysis series offered quite a few PC's struggles. BF3 performed excellent though. Next gen is aiming that level if fidelity if not higher.

 

[Snubbers]

During the show, they first mentioned 8GB. They much later talked about GDDR5. The spec sheet floating arounds does state 8GB GDDR5. Everyone assumes it is the case. It does sound almost too good to be true.

No, the 8Gb and GDDR5 where all mentioned quite early on.. he just kept re-iterating the fast RAM later on.. it's defo confirmed..

Although why people think 8GB over 4GB is such a big deal, it's good, and very welcome, but it's not life changing, the biggest effect is more likely to allow a more feature rich OS to exist..

Or is GB now the new GHz?

 

[Audioboxer]

Without a doubt this is the star of the show for me. Makes me incredibly happy that the days of PS3 memory complaints are gone, and the PS4 will now do great multitasking and party voice chat.

As someone who enjoys their PS3 greatly, what more can I want? Better graphics, 1st party studio development and everything like that was a given, Sony finally making an easy to develop for system is just happy making history.

 

[mr_nothin]

No, the 8Gb and GDDR5 where all mentioned quite early on.. he just kept re-iterating the fast RAM later on.. it's defo confirmed..

Although why people think 8GB over 4GB is such a big deal, it's good, and very welcome, but it's not life changing, the biggest effect is more likely to allow a more feature rich OS to exist..

Or is GB now the new GHz?

What?
The amount of ram directly affects how much you can do (especially when it's top of the line ram like this) much more than ghz which doesnt really tell the full story.
This isnt just a bump in speed, it's doubling the amount of GDDR5 that they had and that's a pretty huge deal.

 

[Amneisac]

My only question, will: "8GB GDDR5!" become the next hilarious 'meme' in gaming history? I can see that living on with the likes of "that 60 FPS feel!".

Maybe "8GB GDDR5 IS ABOUT TO MAKE YOU ITS BITCH" would be a good marketing slogan for them?

In all seriousness I'm sure this is great news for us gamers, but I'm already sick of people who have no understanding of RAM hyping this out the ass.

 

[Mononoke]

Well you still have the CPU that's pretty much a joke imo. I do understand why the went for it. The computational power of the GPU isn't all that hot either. 1080p@60FPS isn't that easily achieved on PC's either, unless you only look console ports. The Crysis series offered quite a few PC's struggles. BF3 performed excellent though. Next gen is aiming that level if fidelity if not higher.

Alright, thanks for explaining that. I figured it had to be an issue with overall design, just wasn't sure. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[Soriku]

Since I don't understand tech, can someone explain what this means and what devs can achieve?

 

[PistolGrip]

This is the second time this general argument has been made. That the amount of RAM is more of a marketing ploy than anything else.

Seems a bit unlikely when viewed from a cost/benefit perspective. The amount of RAM & type will appeal to a very small minority of gamers, and since Sony will have to put 8GB of RAM in every PS4 they make, even 10 years down the road, it seems like that would add up, in terms of cost, over time to a be very expensive 'marketing' tactic. Just doesn't seem like it would be worth it. But this is just off the top of my head and out of my rear of course. So I could be wrong.

I would mention that some devs like Crytek asking for that much RAM. I assume that was an informed and reasoned request by them. But it is Crytek so maybe not

It was definitely a love present to developers. Basically it fits their new model to make sure Developers are happy first.

 

[dazed808]

Start editing 24 MP RAW image files. I thought my 6GB DDR3 was enough for that, but it quickly runs out.

36MP files from a D800 have forced me to upgrade all our LR machines at work to 16GB. Even with 8GB ddr3 we had to restart each time we wanted to move to the next image after a correction. Just taken my home machine up to 24GB and LR and PS are butterysmooth now no matter what I chuck at it!

 

[GoldPunch]

8GB WOW and also GDDR5 ?!!!!

Shut up and take my money Sony.