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Digital Foundry: the complete Xbox One architects interview

xboxone_dash_laggyv5sgr.gif

Damn! Pretty sure that would get ironed out by launch. If not, Gaf will explode with GIFs!


He tried to load a dev tool outside of dev kit mode.


[URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcC5bVpIQX4"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcC5bVpIQX4[/URL]

also its prerelease software and all that jazz[/QUOTE]

Yeah the rest of the video doesn't look so bad. Thanks for sharing!
 
All I know is we are in for some amazing times on nov 15- december here at the gaf.

A lot of us have been banging the drums hard, and some will have to face the music. :)

PS4 launch with no Xbox one will be the usual hype, joy, kaughter, tears and pain. And the PC master race probably laughing at us.

Then the 22nd will roll around and the Multiplatform comparisons. That's when it'll get really messy.

Especially because they won't be a great measure of any kind of technical advantage - cross gen plus likely quick PC ports and possible gimping (surely not?) means that both sides will be able to argue incessantly for weeks. Unless at least one or two PS4 versions of Multiplatform titles are way better looking than Xbox, you'll get accusations of political gimping, Xbox fans asking 'where is the supposed advantage' and lots more.

We don't even get the PS4 in Europe until the 29th, so we get to sit back and watch the fireworks for a couple of weeks
 

I think this has already been discussed in another DF thread. I don't know what he means by uncomfortable but if he means uncomfortably good then I agree with him.

EDIT: I think they also said that the reason they chose ESRAM is because of price and is better to use in a single die than EDRAM.
 

“In terms of getting the best possible combination of performance, memory size, power, the GDDR5 takes you into a little bit of an uncomfortable place. Having ESRAM costs very little power and has the opportunity to give you very high bandwidth. You can reduce the bandwidth on external memory – that saves a lot of power consumption as well and the commodity memory is cheaper as well so you can afford more. That’s really a driving force behind that. You’re right, if you want a high memory capacity, relatively low power and a lot of bandwidth there are not too many ways of solving that.” he said in an interview with EuroGamer.

This basically highlights the whole fiasco behind their memory architecture, they chose esram because they thought it was the only way they could get more memory. That didn't happen and now they're left with "but...GDDR5 is not balanced, consumes too much power" :D
 

Yeah clearly from the leadbetter article

I never understood that

How can any technical person feel comfortable describing an computer architecture as uncomfortable?

And then say nothing else about WHY it's uncomfortable?

Does Balanced -> Comfortable?

And if so could someone please define in a technical sense what comfortable and uncomfortable architecture means?

Does the additional cloud power make the XB1's architecture more comfortable while the weaker GPU balances it all out?

I can only surmise XB1's sleep like a rock while PS4's are insomniac's
 


first Nintendo squeezed out the wiiU turd and preached how eco-friendly it was on power consumption. now Microsoft if doing the same. last I checked I didn't see gamers arguing over how many watts their system was using and I really doubt many care if it costs them $5-$10 more a year to run something much more powerful.
 
PS4 launch with no Xbox one will be the usual hype, joy, kaughter, tears and pain. And the PC master race probably laughing at us.

Then the 22nd will roll around and the Multiplatform comparisons. That's when it'll get really messy.

Especially because they won't be a great measure of any kind of technical advantage - cross gen plus likely quick PC ports and possible gimping (surely not?) means that both sides will be able to argue incessantly for weeks. Unless at least one or two PS4 versions of Multiplatform titles are way better looking than Xbox, you'll get accusations of political gimping, Xbox fans asking 'where is the supposed advantage' and lots more.

We don't even get the PS4 in Europe until the 29th, so we get to sit back and watch the fireworks for a couple of weeks
What's the ratio of intelligent discussion to screaming and yelling? Will bodies start hitting the floor?
 
I think this has already been discussed in another DF thread. I don't know what he means by uncomfortable but if he means uncomfortably good then I agree with him.

EDIT: I think they also said that the reason they chose ESRAM is because of price and is better to use in a single die than EDRAM.

He argues with the costs to build the system. I guess he wants to say that you can have more for the same money with esram instead of gddr5.
 
I think he means power consumption or something like that.
If one thing this gen showed an unified pool is better then a split pool.

Does GDDR5's power consumption have anything to do with how thermals work versus DDR3+ESRAM?

If they do, I could see them choosing the latter out of fear of another RROD.
 
He argues with the costs to build the system. I guess he wants to say that you can have more for the same money with esram instead of gddr5.

I think this is only true regarding both consoles memory architecture. Undoubtedly, what is affected ,and is much more valuable in gaming, is the GPU die space. This actually lead to the inferior GPU specs that we see in Xbox One today.
 

Those comments are cancer, one of the most recommended ones:

Killzone is 1080p Native. Ryse will be upscaled.to 1080p. A difference of....108 pixels?

I think I threw up in my mouth a little bit...
 
I think he means power consumption or something like that.
If one thing this gen showed an unified pool is better then a split pool.

Yep, which is why i don´t understand why MS thought having 2 kind of separate ram is a good idea. The only reason that MS did this, as far as i can think off, is cost, but that comes on the account of easy development and weaker console. The sacrifice is too big imo.
 
PS4 also fast though.

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That's not a fair comparison, because one is actually running that speed in the wild, while the other is just a commercial. Luckily we actually do have a video of UI navigation by some gamers at the Eurogamer Expo. Link Here. While it can't boast snap functionality, it is still super smooth/fast.
 
That's not a fair comparison, because one is actually running that speed in the wild, while the other is just a commercial. Luckily we actually do have a video of UI navigation by some gamers at the Eurogamer Expo. Link Here. While it can't boast snap functionality, it is still super smooth/fast.

We also have Shu at the beginning of the conference showing off the UI and features.
 
If Microsoft were truly concerned with power, they would also have a separate ARM custom chip for downloads etc, whilst the console was in standby mode.

As for GDDR5 power consumption:

http://www.samsung.com/global/busin...t/graphic-dram/detail?productId=7824&iaId=759

This is a 4Gbit chip, which is in "mass production" and is used in "games consoles" and runs at "1.5 V/1.5 V, 1.35 V/1.35 V"

Which is essentially the same as DDR3. The "uncomfortable GDDR5" is purely a FUD message.
 
Those comments are cancer, one of the most recommended ones:

Killzone is 1080p Native. Ryse will be upscaled.to 1080p. A difference of....108 pixels?

I think I threw up in my mouth a little bit...
Really? Talk about not only wrong in multiplication but subtraction too. Someone needs to go back to school.

Did the MS fellow say this? If the fellow doesn't even know resolution, I don't think he'll know much about any benefits in gaming. This speaks volumes about their vision.
 
If Microsoft were truly concerned with power, they would also have a separate ARM custom chip for downloads etc, whilst the console was in standby mode.

As for GDDR5 power consumption:

http://www.samsung.com/global/busin...t/graphic-dram/detail?productId=7824&iaId=759

This is a 4Gbit chip, which is in "mass production" and is used in "games consoles" and runs at "1.5 V/1.5 V, 1.35 V/1.35 V"

Which is essentially the same as DDR3. The "uncomfortable GDDR5" is purely a FUD message.

Though I agree with your highlighted statement, voltage isn't enough to determine power consumption, right? Any idea what the wattage is?
 
Really? Talk about not only wrong in multiplication but subtraction too. Someone needs to go back to school.

Did the MS fellow say this? If the fellow doesn't even know resolution, I don't think he'll know much about any benefits in gaming. This speaks volumes about their vision.
I think it was just comments at the bottom of the article.

They probably just wrote it incorrectly, which would have been 180 pixel difference (vertically, anyway).

I'm assuming Ryse is 1600x900 (or "900p"), which is a difference of 633600 total pixels compared to 1080p.
 
Wonderful. Just great posts one after another. I completely agree with what you said.

Stop it man. I'm running out of praise words/gifs and I don't like repeating my comments.

Thanks. My fervent goal is that one day the people I am addressing these points to will respond as well :P

Nah, Fresh Face is a well meaning dude. I am sure if he has the time to respond to that... lengthy diatribe... he will do so :)
 
MS (well, these guys in the interview) are not saying Xbox is more powerful than PS4. They carefully avoid specific comparisons. They are purely talking about the Xbox in isolation.

I realise this always ends up in a 'but which is better' but this article doesn't really set out to answer that - it is there to help us better understand how Xbox is setup. For me, it does that nicely, and raises some questions I'd like to know more about - like the comments about having your render targets split between ESRAM and DDR3.

It is probably a more detailed look than we've had for PS4 so far (although that architecture does seem more straightforward so perhaps a deeper look isn't as necessary)

It appears that Microsoft's goal in these interviews is to attempt to obfuscate any attempt at a comparison between the consoles by trying emphasize the differences (ignoring that for the most part the consoles are very similar and the PS4's rather large power advantage is quite straightforward).

The ESRAM is there purely to partially cover for the DDR3. The latency advantage is so inconsequential that its mention is a red herring.

At this point it's not really a question as to which is more powerful, but rather how much better PS4 games will look. Generally it would be unwise to talk tech when your hardware is weaker than your opponent, but perhaps the hope is that launch games will look similar enough to one another that Microsoft can sell the "our system is better balanced and so the graphics are practically the same as PS4" marketing and get average Joe casual gamer to believe that so that he just buys the Xbox One for his Call of Duty fix.
 
Thanks. My fervent goal is that one day the people I am addressing these points to will respond as well :P

Nah, Fresh Face is a well meaning dude. I am sure if he has the time to respond to that... lengthy diatribe... he will do so :)
It's extremely difficult to come back after those post of yours. Let's just say I hope I never have to be in that position. I don't like getting called out. At all.

In the weeks surrounding the launches of both machines, people will be getting banned left right and centre. It will be hilarious.
I've always been afraid of getting randomly banned. I will continue to toe my own imaginary line until the dust clears.
 
It appears that Microsoft's goal in these interviews is to attempt to obfuscate any attempt at a comparison between the consoles by trying emphasize the differences (ignoring that for the most part the consoles are very similar and the PS4's rather large power advantage is quite straightforward).

The ESRAM is there purely to partially cover for the DDR3. The latency advantage is so inconsequential that its mention is a red herring.

At this point it's not really a question as to which is more powerful, but rather how much better PS4 games will look. Generally it would be unwise to talk tech when your hardware is weaker than your opponent, but perhaps the hope is that launch games will look similar enough to one another that Microsoft can sell the "our system is better balanced and so the graphics are practically the same as PS4" marketing and get average Joe casual gamer to believe that so that he just buys the Xbox One for his Call of Duty fix.

Microsoft is certainly counting on multiplatform games looking similar, and they might be confident for many reasons other than the claimed "similarity" in power. That is where the disingenuity begins.
 
MS: GDDR5 is uncomfortable.
Me: Why?
MS: Because ESRAM is BALANCED (shocker).
Me: No. Why is GDDR5 uncomfortable?
MS: It just is.
Me: Why?
MS: Because... The Xbox One is balanced.
Me: You're not answering the question.
MS: What question?
Me: Why is GDDR5 uncomfortable?
MS: Because we designed the Xbox One for balance.
Me: So how is GDDR5 unbalanced?
MS: Because ESRAM is balanced.
Me: What the fuck is wrong with you?
MS: have you seen the keys to our truck?

I am to the point I hope MS crashes and burns with X1. The amount of FUD is overwhelming. Statements without merit. Statements without factual evidence. Its disgusting. While I hope they fail I do hope another contender enters the ring to keep Sony on their toes. As much as I think Sony has changed, more competition is good. It is becoming evident, however, that MS will try ANYTHING to blur the lines on the battlefield. Tsk tsk tsk.
 
I can't wait. It maybe more exciting than the console launch themselves.

I just need to make sure i myself don't get banned before launch :p
Should be interesting to watch the Head to head Digital foundry threads.

Richard can expect some big bonus in november with all the comparison articles he and the staff has to write :p

So I can buy an Xbox One and use dev tools?
That is what they have in the planning for 2014 one of the few reason im even getting an X1 there is just something about pushing things instead of getting an new GPU.
 
MS: GDDR5 is uncomfortable.
Me: Why?
MS: Because ESRAM is BALANCED (shocker).
Me: No. Why is GDDR5 uncomfortable?
MS: It just is.
Me: Why?
MS: Because... The Xbox One is balanced.
Me: You're not answering the question.
MS: What question?
Me: Why is GDDR5 uncomfortable?
MS: Because we designed the Xbox One for balance.
Me: So how is GDDR5 unbalanced?
MS: Because ESRAM is balanced.
Me: What the fuck is wrong with you?
MS: have you seen the keys to our truck?

GDDR5 is uncomfortable, however the GDDR3 in the Xbox 360 is perfectly fine :P
 
You make for some articulate posts but your criticism is unfair when the very foundation of your argument and posts for god knows how long it's been now is that this was a platform for anti consumerism. I keep thinking you're in on your own joke and you understand what anti-consumerism is but with every post, I begin to understand just how serious you take yourself and it's scary to be quite honest with you.

Look, if you're going to throw those words around and use your own definition, at least clearly state what that definition is because as it stands, there is no merit to your argument.

Are you suggesting that Microsoft is taking or controlling consumer choice when they opt for their ecosystem (an ecosystem,I might add, that everyone has enough information to make an informed decision before they opt into) or are you implying that a Microsoft is showcasing a movement to discourage consumption for social and environmental reasons (in which case how is that possible if you have a physical console and, philosophically, how is that even bad?)

Please explain to me this "campaign of misinformation" that only a minor group of gamers on this site is onto. If you're going to make a strong accusation of intent, you should be able to document with evidence.

Anti-consumerism:
-The initial DRM debacle and their stance toward the ownership of games.
-Their continued insistence on hiding services behind a paywall, as well as their continued insistence on shoving ads on you.
-The susceptibility of Kinect to be used as part of a "NU Ad" marketing campaign aimed at gathering data about you and catering ads exclusively toward you.
-Arguably the pricepoint of the system itself, in comparison to the PS4.

As for misinformation:
-Their inability to respond to damaging, detailed leaks that basically laid out the system (warts and all) before its May unveiling.
-The initial debacle after the official reveal concerning DRM and subsequent "clarifications."
-"If you're focused on backwards compatibility you're truly backwards."
-The "power of the cloud" bullshit they fed us for months.
-The current employment of buzzfeed nonsense terminology like "balance" and usage of Digital Foundry as mouthpieces to mask the technological shortcomings of the XBO when in reality, they just got caught with their pants down.

Some of these issues have been alleviated, de-emphasized, or rectified, but the point is that MS has constantly and consistently chosen to obfuscate instead of clarify as a matter of policy. Taken together, you can gather where they stand on their respect for consumers.

As for your comment about consumers having choice because they can "opt in" if they so choose, I think that largely misses the point. A business transaction can still be unconscionable, even if there's the illusion of consumer choice.
 
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