Report: PlayStation 4 Rumored to Use AMD Fusion CPU/GPU

[tomfreak]

sure a 7850 is inferior to 7970 gtx680. but looking at how developer can optimize put old slow 7800gt PS3 to run BF3.

if they can put in 7850 like GPU and code the APU build-in Radeon to work independently(not just crossfire but on rendering diff objects in the game + the console base optimization, it could push the game graphics to new high.

 

[face-plants]

[citation][nom]DRosencraft[/nom]I think the console makers should consider a Thunderbolt port for their systems. Hear me out; a common complaint some tend to have considering consoles is the lack of upgradability between generations. Adding a Thunderbolt port should allow for the later addition of an external gpu as a sort of mid-season upgrade. Just throwing that idea out there.[/citation]

As nice of an idea as this might be, I see external GPU's being much more realistic on PC's rather than consoles. Especially if it matures to the point where you can buy one powerful GPU and use it on whatever PC is most convenient....
Console games are developed for hardware with a very specific performance level and then highly optimized to run on that system. Having PS4's out in the wild with varying processing power would be a nightmare. Say Call of Duty 18 comes out and requires a PS4 with "GPU upgrade level x or above..." If they open that can of worms, it'll do away with the relative safety from obsolescence that buying a console usually gives (for 3-5 years at least).

 

[Zagen30]

[citation][nom]DRosencraft[/nom]I think the console makers should consider a Thunderbolt port for their systems. Hear me out; a common complaint some tend to have considering consoles is the lack of upgradability between generations. Adding a Thunderbolt port should allow for the later addition of an external gpu as a sort of mid-season upgrade. Just throwing that idea out there.[/citation]

They will never do that. One of the major points of consoles is that the hardware is exactly the same, so developers only have to code for one set of components (not counting die-shrinks, since the architecture itself doesn't change). It's easier for developers to optimize for a specific set of hardware than it is to try to make it play well on a number of different architectures and CPU/GPU combinations.

Even with your suggestion of one GPU upgrade a few years into its life cycle, there's still going to be tons of complaining from those who can't afford the upgrade and who will feel like they're not getting the full experience of their console, and the devs will still have to start taking into account 2 different architectures. I don't see anyone agreeing to that.

 

[IndignantSkeptic]

I think the future is cloud server rack gaming but I believe we will have those cloud rack servers in our homes. That way we get all the benefits but without the lag, jitter, and audio-visual compression artifacts.

 

[belardo]

[citation][nom]phyrexiancure[/nom]Well to be realistic Sony probably couldn't sell massive quantities of consoles with two 680's even though it would be insane. Still nice too know pc gaming will be where the real capabilities are rather than lame consoles.[/citation]

LOL... and as PC gamer... look at the writing on the wall. The $500 or $1000 gaming cards are a waste of money if there are NO games to use the hardware. For every AAA game for PC, there are 20 for the consoles. And what is mostly converted *TO* PC, are every bit as lame as the console version.

The publishers will go where the customers are at.

 

[hannibal]

So this would be a varition of AMD next gen APU or more propably mobile APU?
http://www.nordichardware.com/news/69-cpu-chipset/44214-amds-mobile-roadmap-up-till-2013-early-launch-of-trinity-confirmed.html
So it would a a variant of Samara, Kabin or Kaveri. With two Jaguar or steamroller cores and AMD next gen GPU... It is possible, but hard to see that it would be even near 7850 power. It depends a lot how much they will put die space to CPU and how much to GPU part of the chip and allso memory controller. The cooling is allways problem in consoles, so mobile version of APU is more propable than desktop version.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5491/amds-2012-2013-client-cpugpuapu-roadmap-revealed
What is the thermal treshold of PS3? This has to be near the same or preferable less, so it would produce less heat.

 

[dreadllokz]

So, its gonna be less crap then ps3, but a LOT more crap then a 3 times more expensive PC.
I guess thats the best they can do for a console, right?
Where is the FKING CLOUD???? All consoles should be cloud based gaming devices!

 

[NuclearShadow]

As interesting as they would be, it is just a rumor and without any evidence isn't something to get too excited about. But I will say it would be unlikely that any hardware contributed by AMD will be amazing for the Sony console, at-least not to PC standards. The reason for this is costs, because the better the hardware the more cost to the consumer.

With how global economy in bad shape and in America alone the average American household has lost 40% of their wealth during the last three years. (According to the Federal Reserve) If anything we should expect a lack-luster next generation of consoles when it comes to hardware advancement.
Too high of prices at this time will only mean certain failure.

 

[darkavenger123]

What's the hoo haa about this...just some boring specs....so it's going to be more powerful than current consoles and less power ful than a mid-range PC by then....what's new???

What's more important is, WHAT ARE THE NEW THINGS THEY CAN BRING TO THE TABLE. MS has locked on the market for hands free motion gaming and will continue to do so with an improved Kinect next. Nintendo is willing to experiment with a very weird controlller.....and SONY??? Same old specs specs specs.....no wonder they are falling further and further....they already can't compete with Samsung on mobile phone and TVs and electronics.....once the PS4 Falls...it'll be the end of SONY.

 

[sbuckler]

[citation][nom]A Bad Day[/nom]I hope AMD doesn't get rejected like the Apple situation due to insufficient manufacturing capability.[/citation]

AMD won't make it - Sony will. AMD just provide the design.

 

[alidan]

[citation][nom]belardo[/nom]LOL... and as PC gamer... look at the writing on the wall. The $500 or $1000 gaming cards are a waste of money if there are NO games to use the hardware. For every AAA game for PC, there are 20 for the consoles. And what is mostly converted *TO* PC, are every bit as lame as the console version.The publishers will go where the customers are at.[/citation]

they arent a waste... i dont know about you but i play games at 1920x1200, if i could max games out with everything, and still come out with a game that plays at over 60fps, i would spend whatever i had to. currently, a 500$ card wont do that and 1000$ barely hits it, and when the next gen comes, i will beforced to upgrade, but hopefully not more than 2-300$

i like playing games, but i dont need them fully maxed to enjoy them. i just need the parts i care about to be good.

 

[jasont78]

[citation][nom]monkeymonk[/nom]That doesn't sound bad at all[/citation]
doesnt sound bad now? remember doesnt even get released till end of next year now by then its gpu is 2 years old and expected to last another 5-10years after that!

 

[CaedenV]

slightly off topic, but I guess this news of moving to x86 coincides with the idea that they are going to be making their own desktop OS... could be interesting

 

[shin0bi272]

To quote stewie griffin on this article "Where did you graduate from again, the University of DUH?!?!?" Is this actually news to anyone at this point? I mean weve known they were going to include 2 gpus in the thing and they were going to be amd for what 6 months now? Anyone and their grandmother knew what that meant for a console... APU and discrete graphics card so that when you arent playing any games you could use the apu and when you needed the power it would kick over to the real gpu. Why is this news? Next up on Tomshardware... water is wet and the sun is bright.

 

[jurassic512]

Nothing about the AMD APU is next gen. A weak CPU mixed with a good GPU, is fail, and is a fail in computer gaming as well if you've ever seen low resolution benchmarks using said combination.

 

[silverblue]

[citation][nom]jurassic512[/nom]Nothing about the AMD APU is next gen. A weak CPU mixed with a good GPU, is fail, and is a fail in computer gaming as well if you've ever seen low resolution benchmarks using said combination.[/citation]
We'd be talking Steamroller by 2013, which will be faster than Piledriver. As we've not actually seen desktop Trinity yet, I wouldn't go and slate the second generation APUs for now.

The PS3 has an internal system RAM bandwidth of 25.6GB/s but it has separate RAM for the system and the GPU. It also makes use of XDR. They could easily license XDR2 and make a shared memory space, something that would no doubt fall right into place with using an HSA-based APU like Kaveri. There's also nothing saying that it has to be the equivalent of a PC version of Kaveri either - it could have more CPU, more GPU or both. It could have much faster clocks. There also exists the possibility of Hybrid Crossfire. I'm sure we'll find out in a few months.

 

[thehidecheck]

In the words of kevin butler, "you can't believe everything you read on the internet."
http://www.gametrailers.com/side-mission/2012/06/08/are-these-the-ps4-specs/
This is nearly where the rumor started and as you can see, it makes absolutely no technical sense. Two separate processors, 3 different types of storage? Some teenage nobody just wanted to make headlines with jank specs.

 

[thehidecheck]

[citation][nom]sbuckler[/nom]AMD won't make it - Sony will. AMD just provide the design.[/citation]
fuefuefue

 

[mobrocket]

[citation][nom]pliskin1[/nom]I don't believe we will see PS4 or Xbox 720 in 2013[/citation]

I think they will announce they are making them at E3 2013, with limited details
more info at E3 2014...
go on sale holiday season 2014

 

[notsleep]

the ps4 will probably cost $699.99 on launch just like the ps3.

 

[tomsreader]

but still, AMD quadcore is no match for STI Cell BE

 

[holodust]

[citation][nom]slabbo[/nom]I feel really bad for Sony, because they have absolutely nothing going for it. Sure you can put in a 7970 in their next console, but by that time PC users would have 8970's or even the 9970's for that 2014 release date. And do you even need a PS4 when you guys already have a PC? All you really need is gonna be a PC and a Wii U and you'll be playing 95% of all exclusives.[/citation]

That is if you care for Nintendo exclusives - if you prefer Sony's you'll really need that PS4

 

[manicmike]

[citation][nom]dreadllokz[/nom]So, its gonna be less crap then ps3, but a LOT more crap then a 3 times more expensive PC.I guess thats the best they can do for a console, right?Where is the FKING CLOUD???? All consoles should be cloud based gaming devices![/citation]

@dreadllokz - Are you attempting to be sarcastic, or are you that ignorant to the massive hurdles still very much in place that prevent mainstream cloud infrastructure, not to mention the problem "internet required" gaming caused with Diablo 3? Perhaps PC gaming can cluodify itself in the somewhat near future (2-4 years), but it still would not be the top end games. Streaming a game such as Crysis will still be all but impossible with most country's standard bandwidths (I think one of the Korea's has fastest avg with 22Mb/s actual).

Now that I got that out of the way, logically it makes sense that they would be branching away from the computer market, especially considering that they announced they're pretty much quitting the processor war with Intel

AMD backing out of CPU Speed Wars Against Intel Wed, May 23, 2012 (Posted on Tom's)
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/amd-intel-cpu-apu-processors,news-38634.html

Kind of depressing, really, I've enjoyed AMD CPUs in my last 3 builds... Hopefully they change their minds, but who knows...

 

[waethorn]

[citation][nom]sbuckler[/nom]AMD won't make it - Sony will. AMD just provide the design.[/citation]

Sony doesn't make their own computers. I doubt they make their own consumer electronics devices either.

 

[counselmancl]

Tom's, these mouse over pop ups with sound is going a bit too far.