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Crytek wants 8GB of RAM in next-gen consoles
- Thread starter shinobi602
- Start date
EvanTheGamer
Banned
Even with the low prices of RAM today, 8gbs of gaming quality would make consoles very expensive, no thanks.
Mr. Pointy
Member
Considering that consoles don't have OS overheads or need to output higher than 1080p, you won't need more than 1GB of very fast RAM. You might get a bit of extra RAM for post-processing, etc.
I think Nintendo are going to go for 512MB-1GB GDDR5 and a block (~64-128MB) of fast SRAM for their Wii2.
I think Nintendo are going to go for 512MB-1GB GDDR5 and a block (~64-128MB) of fast SRAM for their Wii2.
Angry Fork
Member
Multiply that number by 10 million+ and you've got the kind of costs for Sony/MS which is the main problem. They have to justify that money and they're probably not sure if there's enough people willing to fork out a minimum of 400 for a beast of a console. I'm sure a lot of gamers would come next-gen, but nowadays it's all about casuals so I suspect they're going to go somewhere in the middle like 4gb, even though by 2014 that's gonna be child's play compared to PC once again.sprsk said:
The annoying thing is they generally go all out when it comes to CPU/GPU. At launch they're generally really high end particularly the CPU's but then the RAM is always so shitty it bottlenecks all of that. The one thing I like about consoles though is that developers really squeeze as much as they can out of every bit, I wish developers would do the same on PC more often. I can't imagine what we'd see if Naughty Dog developed a game exclusive to PC with 8gb ram, quad core, etc. all that.
universalmind
Member
It's nice to want things.
People still talking about 8 gigs of ram need to take into consideration that a console is a closed system. Devs can push that shit to the limit and not have to worry about scaling down for accessibility of other machines running it. I would also love to see 8 freaking gigs of xdr ram in next gen consoles but I think that even 4 gigs of fast ass XDR ram would do magical fucking wonders for closed system like consoles. Just look at what dev houses have already achieved with only 512MB system memory and just think of what they can achieve with 4 gigs of system ram. That is not even taking the the GPU into account which will likely have it's own gig of dedicated memory.
Cost efficiency will be a huge issue yet again and I'm really interested to see what Sony and MS will do for their next gen hardware. I think that a beefed up Cell, 4 gigs of XDR ram and a decent GPU would yield absolutely godlike results in the hands of studios like ND, SSM, PD and so forth.
Cost efficiency will be a huge issue yet again and I'm really interested to see what Sony and MS will do for their next gen hardware. I think that a beefed up Cell, 4 gigs of XDR ram and a decent GPU would yield absolutely godlike results in the hands of studios like ND, SSM, PD and so forth.
wonderdung
Member
I expect 2GB and would be pleasantly surprised by 4GB. I don't see any reason for content sizes to drastically increase since we'll be sticking with 720p/1080p... but things just naturally tend to expand to fill the available RAM.
Death Dealer
Member
HomerSimpson-Man said:
I'd rather have 4gb and a more capable GPU. 8gb really is overkill.
metareferential
Member
Calculating manufacturing costs on actual retail prices is just stupid.
But still, 8gb seems a bit too much, 4gb unified ram would be really good.
Hell, even 2gb is an enormous leap in potential. Like, omg-leap.
Of course there's no such thing like "too much ram". But it's the mass market we're talking about.
But still, 8gb seems a bit too much, 4gb unified ram would be really good.
Hell, even 2gb is an enormous leap in potential. Like, omg-leap.
Of course there's no such thing like "too much ram". But it's the mass market we're talking about.
HomerSimpson-Man
Member
Death Dealer said:
Oh, I don't disagree. 4GB with a more powerful GPU is more ideal.
With consoles every single dollar choice counts, having too much of something cuts back from something else if you want power and still have budget constraints of a closed system.
I can dream though.
gundamkyoukai
Member
metareferential said:
Was just about to say this , i see people saying a GPU cost 300 to buy then they add it to the console. What you what to know is how much it took to make the GPU .
Any way i think MS and Sony going to go with 2gb of the fastest ram on the market at the time there console comes out .
Would love 4 but that's a dream.
Death Dealer
Member
gundamkyoukai said:
It seems to be on the outer limit of what is realistically possible, and not without precedent. An x8 increase in total ram is typical for a new generation. Maybe we'll get a compromise, 3gb.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
Death Dealer said:
I'd rather have 8GB and a more capable GPU.
HomerSimpson-Man
Member
ThoseDeafMutes said:
Oh yeah?
How about 4GB with a more more capable GPU. Now what son?!
Death Dealer
Member
ThoseDeafMutes said:
I actually wouldn't mind another $500-600 console launch. I bought a PS3 at launch. However I realize that's too much for the unwashed masses, people with only one job. But since without OS overhead, today's cutting edge PC games don't even need that much ram, I truly think it would be wasted in a next gen console. The only thing I can imagine a console using 8gb of ram for would be to preload data. I remember when I got a 1Mb ram expansion for my Apple IIGS, and I could load an entire game into memory.
I think the big thing to consider is that Sony/MS should also factor in the progression of games 5+ years into the 720/PS4's lifespan so that devs aren't strangled by the console specs again.
So while 512mb of fast ram was adequate for PS3 games 5 years ago, now it's becoming difficult apparently (I'm no dev).
So while 512mb of fast ram was adequate for PS3 games 5 years ago, now it's becoming difficult apparently (I'm no dev).
les papillons sexuels
Banned
Considering that many games this generation don't even utilize 8gigs on a dvd what exactly would the be loading into the ram?
HomerSimpson-Man
Member
les papillons sexuels said:
The. Entire. DVD.
wonderdung
Member
les papillons sexuels said:
Well DVD size isn't really indicative of anything since it's all zip compressed (or similar) for the purpose of speeding up load times.
But yeah, I think the entire texture set for the last game I shipped could fit in 8GB.
FantasticMrFoxdie
Mumber
Cool $1000 consoles sounds like a brilliant idea.
/sarc
/sarc
ElRenoRaven
Member
I want a console that has an attachment that comes out and gives me a blowjob but that isn't gonna happen any more then a console having 8 gigs of ram this next gen.
BigTnaples
Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
He is asking it for next gen consoles. Which will likely be on Blu Ray and similar media.
8 gigs would be awesome. With the way consoles seem to be living forever these days, the next ones we get had better be as future proof as possible.
8 gigs would be awesome. With the way consoles seem to be living forever these days, the next ones we get had better be as future proof as possible.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
Death Dealer said:
Imagine how crazy it would be to have a system with 16 GB of memory, where the whole game was slowly loaded into memory as you played. Like, a 20 second load on boot, then no load screens for the rest of the game. It's loading more and more levels even while you're still doing the first. Shit would be off the hook.
>16 GB games might have to load sometimes though
ElRenoRaven
Member
bhlaab said:
Well the 360 is running on 512 so I could easily see 1 gig for the next gen consoles and if we are extremely lucky 2 gigs however there will not and I repeat will not be one with over 2 gigs.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
Genesis Knight
Member
ThoseDeafMutes said:
LOL @ DDR3 in consoles.
DanielJr82
Member
I doubt we'll get 8 of anything in the next batch of consoles, lol.
SouthernDragon
Member
It's nice to want things.
Truespeed
Member
I think there's a pattern here.
The PS1 has 3.5 MB of RAM
The PS2 has 36 MB of RAM and 10.29 x the RAM of the PS1
The PS3 has 512 MB of RAM and 14.22 x the RAM of the PS2
So we can logically assume that the PS4 with also have a magnitude of RAM greater than the PS3. So 4GB system RAM and 1GB Video RAM.
The PS1 has 3.5 MB of RAM
The PS2 has 36 MB of RAM and 10.29 x the RAM of the PS1
The PS3 has 512 MB of RAM and 14.22 x the RAM of the PS2
So we can logically assume that the PS4 with also have a magnitude of RAM greater than the PS3. So 4GB system RAM and 1GB Video RAM.
ThatObviousUser
ὠαἴÏÏιÏÏÎ¿Ï Ïαá¿Ï εἶ
NotTarts said:
ThatObviousUser
ὠαἴÏÏιÏÏÎ¿Ï Ïαá¿Ï εἶ
NotTarts said:
Console RAM isn't directly comparable to PC RAM, never has been.
Death Dealer
Member
PsychoRaven said:
Well a total of 2gb would only be a x4 increase from this generation. I don't think we would be "extremely lucky", I think that's the least they will need realistically, 1gb of vram and 1gb system ram.
Isn't 1gb of ram what most PC games need for 1080p ? So allowing for console efficiencies, 1gb vram could be enough to last the whole of the next generation, although within a couple years after launch, 1gb vram could start to become limiting in the way that 256 did this generation. 1.5-2gb vram would be a comfortable amount, leaving plenty of room for post processing and image quality. On a console, the textures would look incredible with that much vram. But it's got to have balance with the rendering power. A mediocre GPU with infinite ram is worthless compared to a strong GPU with a tighter ram budget.
Historically 2gb total ram next gen would be a low increase. Most typically, next gens launch with 8 times the memory as the predecessor. So that would be 2 and 2 in a discrete setup. I think that would be ideal, but depending on what type of ram and how much of the budget they allocate to CPU/GPU, 4gb may be too expensive if they're aiming for a low price point, say a $400 launch sku.
To reiterate my prediction, 2-4gb of total ram is the sweet spot. Any less is definitely not enough and any more is probably too expensive and beyond the point of diminishing returns.
However, the next gen Nintendo system very well may have less than 2gb. Knowing they like to make a profit on hw from the start, 512/512 seems possible. But even such a low figure would represent more than x10 increase from Wii. It's doubtful Nintendo's internal game programmers could even make use of more ram than that. They make fun games, but they're not known for pushing the tech envelope.
Cry me a fucking river Crytek.
Graphical needs won't increase exponentially for much long. 360/PS3 level of graphical fidelity is already comfortable for alot of people. Give it another generation or so and increasing graphic fidelity will be a moot point. Therefore you won't have those new extra-ordinary shaders to make and it you won't need 2000gb or RAM.
Graphical needs won't increase exponentially for much long. 360/PS3 level of graphical fidelity is already comfortable for alot of people. Give it another generation or so and increasing graphic fidelity will be a moot point. Therefore you won't have those new extra-ordinary shaders to make and it you won't need 2000gb or RAM.
Kyaw said:
Agree that right now most games won't see much difference with more then 4 gigs. At least until PC developers make the switch to 64-bit. Once that happens I expect we will see game start making use of the 4+ gigs or so that more and more people actually have on their systems.