PlayStation 4 includes an eight-core CPU clocked at 1.6GHz, 4GB of "ultra-fast" DDR5 RAM, and a special helping of "secret sauce", according to a new report.
Rumoured to be called 'PlayStation Orbis', Digital Foundry claims to have received "hard data" on the technical makeup of the next-generation PlayStation, alleging that the console will provide "cutting-edge visuals and gameplay" and "has some serious potential."
In addition to the DDR5 RAM and speedy CPU, Orbis is said to feature a Radeon HD GPU, rumoured to be based off of AMD's Radeon 7970M, running at 800MHz and featuring 18 "Graphics Core Next" compute units. 512MB of RAM is also said to be reserved for the operating system.
Part of the "secret sauce", meanwhile, is the addition of "a bespoke GPU-like 'Compute' module", designed to handle CPU-intensive tasks like physics processing.
But what does it all mean? Well, we'd be lying if we told you we knew exactly, but PlayStation 4 - or whatever it might be called - seems like it's shaping up to be an almighty powerhouse of a machine, and one finely-tuned for gaming.
Expect an official reveal at some point in March.
Source: Digital Foundry
User Comments
Endless@ BC_Animus
BC_Animus@ Neon-Soldier32
At the moment it's dozens of seperate services tied to individual accounts, with dozens of different payments, with no way of combining them. In contrast look at Google, Apple and Microsoft - all of their services are more or less unified, with a single logon, a single identity and cloud access for each of them.
As for 4K... Personally I'm not planning on getting a 4K set (and the server devices to stream content off) anytime soon - but hey, Sony's been pushing their 4k/Ultra HD recently, so who knows. Imagine if Sony puts 4k capability on their next console. It's the perfect trojan horse, just like the PS3 was for blu-rays, and the PS2 was for DVDs before that.
thompo555@ Endless
Even if you had a 1ghz single core for the physics, it would be cheap and also kick out about the same physics capabilities as a discreet graphics card. Theoretically. It should up FPS too and make stuff look better all around.
I think it could work, but the proof, as always, is in the starters! ;)
Endless@ thompo555
thompo555
Interesting. Unless the information is completely bogus, this machine is going to have a LOT of graphical capabilities. DDR5 is currently the sort of RAM used on graphics cards. You literally cannot buy DDR5 memory for the general processes, the highest you can get is GDDR3. And I'm pretty sure if it's not in a PC on the high-street, it's not going to be in the PS4. Not unless you want to pay £1000+ on it..
If it is meant that the graphics card will have 4Gb of RAM then I really don't see why, unless everyone will be running multiple monitors in 4D or something silly like that.
The physics processor is a good idea but I really think that this will push the price up. It will mean that you will get lots more non-static items in game though. Maybe CoD will finally have destruction and keep their beloved 60FPS.
I'm calling it bogus here and now, gut feeling.
Neon-Soldier32@ BC_Animus
However, I do think that some of the current perks of PS+ (overnight downloads, cloud storage, automatic updates etc) should be available for all users. I think that the applets PS3 has, Netflix, iPlayer etc are good and I'd like to see more of them; radio for example. However, I don't want them to go down the whole media player route.
While the GPU may be able to handle 4K the quality won't be as good as, say, 1080 games. While 4K may sound impressive, the majority of people won't use it and will probably complain about lower technological advantages; number of items on screen simultaneously etc. Instead of worrying about 4K I think consoles should acomodate for better sound for example, a built in 5.1 card.
My 'friend' liked the media streaming capabilties of the PS3 also. Being able to stream from Azurus from a laptop, I'm told, to the PS3 was a brilliant feature and one I'd like to see stay in the PS3.
But, all of these feature will mean nothing if the games are crap which, for the first year, at least, they will be.
BC_Animus
The smart move really would be for Sony to focus on the services side of things. They NEED to have some kind of unified service (maybe under the PSN+ moniker), offering a series of affordable and innovative services under a simple combined payment plan, services which should all be well integrated with the console (and with each other), and should be accessible on multiple devices and systems.
Knowing Sony however we'd probably end up with a series of high quality and high tech ridiculous pieces of gimmicks, controlled via rubbish software and UI, with no demand and no future support, and promoted via a series of creepy ad campaigns that makes less sense than a banana with a hat.
I like Sony, I really do. I grew up with their Walkmans, their TVs, stereos, consoles, and even laptops, and I have a lot of love for their products, past, present and future. However, I can't help but feel that they've lost their way somewhere along the line, and I have doubts about their continual survival in the years ahead...
rbevanx
MJTH@ BC_Animus
BC_Animus
Neon-Soldier32
The GPU seems impressive, however I can't really see why you'd have more slower CPUs than say a 6 core 2.5GHz processor.
Regardless, those specs seem impressive and as long as there's enough for cross-game chat I'm happy. Although I suspect the launch price tag may be around £400 at the lowest.