-
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 has 8 GB OF GDDR5 RAM
- Thread starter Log4Girlz
- Start date
More everything.
gaming_noob
Member
Yep. Exactly how I feel as well. They're very focused this time.
If the GPU and CPU arent fast enough to use it? Nothing.
The scenario where I see it being negative is if Microsoft goes 85% as powerful for $100 less and most multiplatform games will look the same to your average consumer and they'll just go with the xbox and Sony gets way behind.
AuthenticM
Member
More things on screen. Less lag. Less loading times and faster loading times. Just a more pleasant experience all around. It's terrific, and the best thing about the console, hardware-wise.
Osiris
I permanently banned my 6 year old daughter from using the PS4 for mistakenly sending grief reports as it's too hard to watch or talk to her
It's the most amusing method of downplaying I've ever seen.
Too much RAM, now a negative, and "bad for gamers" to boot, who would have thought it?
The mental gymnastics required to come to that conclusion should lead to pulled muscles and torn ligaments
dr. apocalipsis
Banned
What people are trying to say, it's that 8GB GDDR5 doesn't make a system more powerful.
Now gaffers are even denying Beyond3D folks because of their common sense. This is madness.
I would be excited over a change to Intel Core CPU, or stronger GPU. Who cares about RAM asside from gaffers?
8GB were pretty meh on Durango for everyone, and now it's the next big thing just because Sony included it. This makes even less sense than that silly CELL hype.
Do you even know what you're talking about? It's two very different types of RAM. 8GB of GDDR5 is unheard of.
8 GB of RAM is absolutely not a negative (well, disregarding price).
However, I think some words of caution are not a bad idea, since many seem to have a hard time understanding what exactly it means, and what its impact is. See, for example, the initial responses like "1080p60 is not a problem now". This shows a massive lack of understanding of what an increase in memory capacity actually means.
However, I think some words of caution are not a bad idea, since many seem to have a hard time understanding what exactly it means, and what its impact is. See, for example, the initial responses like "1080p60 is not a problem now". This shows a massive lack of understanding of what an increase in memory capacity actually means.
It's a big thing because it's 8 GB of GDDR5. It will in fact be the first consumer device in existence with this memory configuration. It's fair to be excited about that.
BobTheFork
Member
Well, this generation I think we have seen case of the Dev being limited by the hardware. With this power, they should be able to get the games running how ever they would like. We may see a case of the hardware being limited by the devs.
Not sure if serious...
THE:MILKMAN
Member
But then Durango has 32MB of eSRAM. That isn't likely cheap either. It is also said to have a ultra powerful audio chip beyond anything that might be in PS4 (Does the PS4 actually have a dedicated audio chip?) and chips for Kinect?
I think at this point it is swings and roundabouts on cost. This will be settled at E3, price wise.
perineumlick
Member
Exactly. Developers still need the skill and know how to use that memory efficiently, of course. There will be limitations, and things that have to be worked around, but silly statements like "8GB DDR5 means nothing" are ignorant too.
BloodMoney
Banned
Did anyone catch this?
Barack Lesnar
Banned
I agree, 8GB of GDDR5 is terrible for gamers. Just the thought of it makes me sick. The smell, too, oh god that stench. Should've gone with 2 gigs max -- far better for gamers.
The Omega Man
Member
Did anyone catch this?
Glorious, game journos in a nutshell
dr. apocalipsis
Banned
It's most of you the ones not knowing what they are talking about.
You need RAM fast enough to not bottleneck your CPU/GPU. If your RAM is not fast enough, GPU will miss cycles waiting for it. If your RAM is fast enough, your GPU will miss less cycles. Thats it. Nothing more than this.
RAM doesn't do Volumetric Shadows, doesn't do AA, Raytracing, reflections, shaders... RAM doesn't do ANYTHING.
Bethesda engines will run better, that's for sure, without starving for RAM or needing to stream things. But graphics will be the same with 2GB reserved for GPU than with 6GB.
It's that difficult to understand this?
Developers.
perineumlick
Member
So why even have RAM if it doesn't do anything? Why are developers constantly asking for more of it?
Come on, son.
dr. apocalipsis
Banned
Future proofing the machine, graphics aside.
My bet.
Oh, and hype gaffers to day one buy.
Zombie James
Banned
Did anyone catch this?
Link?
tfur
Member
Seriously people, this is getting a bit embarrassing.
Anyway that I can keep my data set closer to the cpu, is an advantage. The more I can hold in my data set is an advantage. The faster I can access my data set is an advantage.
Its always about memory speed and size, once you cannot keep everything in cache through cache blocking techniques. You never meet your theoretical cycles per second in real word computations, and that's where keeping cpu and memory as close and fast as possible matter the most.
Also, the notion that someone has to linearly read off of a bluray to fill 8GB or ram is ridiculous. I saw this as another argument against 8GB.
Osiris
I permanently banned my 6 year old daughter from using the PS4 for mistakenly sending grief reports as it's too hard to watch or talk to her
Windom Earle
Member
You missed one:
dr. apocalipsis: 8GB of GDDR5?!? That's bad for gamers!
xD
HyperionX has golden quotes in this thread:
andthebeatgoeson
Junior Member
What's the likelihood they dial it back, then? They raise it now? 'Oops, sorry, we want to launch at $399. Just 4 Gigs. Lol.'
$399 and great games means I'm interested. $450 or more means, not even for 2 years. Yes, it's a small bunch more but it's the truth. There is a psychological barrier and I'm not sure it's worth it. Especially when we know most games on PC are even really using that much. No OS overhead and they want me to swallow the extra cost, for what reason?
I find this notion that Sony is including 8GB of GDDR5 RAM strictly as some marketing ploy to be fairly unlikely.
a) how many people were not going to purchase the PS4 unless it came with that exact memory configuration?
b) how many regular joe consumers remotely care about RAM, let alone GDDR5? They're attracted by broad buzz words, not relatively esoteric technical specifications.
Not to mention the expense.
a) how many people were not going to purchase the PS4 unless it came with that exact memory configuration?
b) how many regular joe consumers remotely care about RAM, let alone GDDR5? They're attracted by broad buzz words, not relatively esoteric technical specifications.
Not to mention the expense.
Did anyone catch this?
Wait, he really said that (including Halo)?
Fixed. Thanks Osiris
I didn't watch the whole thing because it was kinda painful to see people actually trying their best to be underwhelmed. But he didn't say any of that.
You missed one:
dr. apocalipsis: 8GB of GDDR5?!? That's bad for gamers!
xD
Actually I did miss one:
Sony Engineers: "8GB of GDDR5?!? HOW ARE WE GONNA COOL THIS FUCKING THING?!?"
I get what people are saying, which is that if the CPU and the GPU can't use the fast memory because they aren't powerful enough, then it's kind of irrelevant how much RAM there is. It won't suddenly make everything 1080p60, because the processors might not have the power to push it for complex games.
Personally, I see huge advantages in the open world game department. That's obviously where the AAA industry is heading (thank god), and more fast memory like this makes it easier to make a large seamless world happen. Fewer loading screens, background features that don't cost a lot and possibly the memory to make more pretty stuff happen is a great thing.
What I'm worried about is cost and heat. I don't want a 500+ console which blows up after a year or two.
Personally, I see huge advantages in the open world game department. That's obviously where the AAA industry is heading (thank god), and more fast memory like this makes it easier to make a large seamless world happen. Fewer loading screens, background features that don't cost a lot and possibly the memory to make more pretty stuff happen is a great thing.
What I'm worried about is cost and heat. I don't want a 500+ console which blows up after a year or two.
AranhaHunter
Banned
Someone help me, I don't know much about this stuff. How can extra RAM help?
- Less pop ins?
- Better graphics?
- Better framerate?
- Bigger worlds?
- Better textures?
- Better AI?
- Better physics?
- Faster loading games?
- Anything else I missed?
Yep spot on.
These things, mostly.
Better graphics is less pop-in, better textures, physics. The RAM spec will directly impact two out of those three. Besides bigger worlds and faster loading times.
answers
Your question self answered. 8GB doesn't mean that they need to get those 8GB working all time. They could easly reduce loading times a lot for some game and other things.
I especially like "I'm doing some calculations here". That's almost "Tighten up the graphics on level 3"-tier.
That's not an issue. They managed to cool Cell and RSX. A few extra memory chips are child's play in comparison.
-ImaginaryInsider
Member
Bkilian worked on Durango, hinted at dealing with the special "audio-block", if Kinect 2.0 made a huge difference in the BOM, he probably would have mentioned it, but as it stands, he cited the ram as a fairly significant difference in cost between the two.
I think Durango was built to be cheaper, to get within a certain ball-park visually, and then use features and price to gain traction with the masses. I don't doubt Kinect ate some of the CPU/GPU/Ram resources, but I'm starting to think there was never any intention of getting anywhere close to what they did with the 360 from day 1.
But it's all speculation, I've never seen a BOM breakdown this early ever be any where close to accurate.
Reckless Onion
Member
except more framerate, sadly.
BloodMoney
Banned
Hahahaha, basically the first part, not the halo part. The image is intended as humor.
I don't think that is comparable. No one knows how they managed to put 8GB of GDRR5 ram into it. Stacking ?