Just Cause Dev Claims PS4 Will Out-Power Most PCs For Years

[Azaraxzealot]

Average PC? Yes. Average gaming PC? Possibly. Real gaming PC? Don't make me laugh.

But still, I admit that I'd rather buy PS4 when it's out and wait a while before more powerful PC components become cheaper than buy a $2000 PC just to be able to play a few new games.

I think the reason why your 16 gigs of RAM won't compete with the PS4's 8 is because all 8 gigs of the PS4's ram is GDDR5. So ALL of that memory is dedicated to graphics, unlike your RAM which is just dedicated to allocating memory for the executable.

No, it isn't. They're just using the memory that PC GPU's use. It doesn't mean that all of it is dedicated to graphics. It's shared memory. And even if it were only for the GPU, it doesn't matter. VRAM =/= power.

Well GDDR5 literally means "Graphics Double Data Rate Version 5" and it is specifically designed for graphics. But I understand that pure amount of RAM is not power, BUT the fact that it is of GDDR5 would mean it has a MUCH higher memory bandwith than DDR3 memory does. Which is why I think that 8 gigs of GDDR5 would be faster for games than DDR3 RAM.

 

[Tradjus]

There isn't enough facepalm in the entire gosh darned universe to respond to this guy's claims.
I mean, what in the H-E-Double Hockey Sticks does this knucklehead think he's shilling? Does he honestly expect us too believe this pile of poop? I can't freaking believe that anyone in the video game industry could be so entirely ignorant of the fact that the PS4 will be completely inadequate compared too most gaming rigs at launch, let alone in a few mother loving years!

 

[Something Amyss]

I really don't understand why he put so much credence in RAM either. I upgraded to 8GB recently because RAM is so bloody cheap at the moment (£30 for 8GB) and the performance increase is really not that noticable, maybe when you multitask in Windows it helps - not really console's forte.

Well, RAM was a BIG bottleneck on the PS3, so I'm not surprise they're touting how much more there is.

Still, my computer rocks 8 GB and that's only because I haven't got around to upgrading my motherboard and processor yet. RAM really is cheap, and outstripping 8 GB will not be hard. Hell, my computer's mostly handicapped by it being a relatively cheap unit that was dated when I bought it 3 years ago. I just needed A computer at that point, as my prior desktop died in a fire. Well, the attempt to extinguish the fire, but still.

At this point, I can likely upgrade my desktop to equal specs and save money, so that's probably what I'm going to do. Especially since most games I care about are supporting controllers now.

But by console standards, it's quite a leap. So I'm not surprised they're harping on it. The casual "core" gamers are probably sitting there talking about how sweeeeeet it is.

 

[itsthesheppy]

It's cute of the unwashed console masses to aspire to one day be as great as the glorious PC gaming master race. Really, we serve as an inspiration to them. It keeps them working hard, and I feel like that's doing the world a service in and of itself.

Do you have this image as a high-resolution wallpaper?

Here's the link for the article that has a nice big image. It should also give you enough info to find it on your own if you need a bigger size.

http://kotaku.com/5963127/the-rise-of-the-glorious-master-race-of-pc-gamers

 

[Megacherv]

Guys, can we all just ignore this and just appreciate how much the PS4 having an x86-64 architecture will improve the industry as a whole? Please?

 

[lacktheknack]

I think he means it will out power "The average PC" for years to come.

And by "years", he meant "around two".

Ah well, as long as Just Cause 3 is as good as Just Cause 2, and is on PC anyways, I'm happy. (Just Cause 2 is still a hell of a benchmark.)

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

I'm sure he does, but that seems an odd quote to throw out. Even the PS3 outpowers the "average" computer.

Not really, considering we're talking about 9 year old technology here. Recent games manage to look decent on consoles is because developers have learned all kinds of programming tricks to conserve resources, such as rendering the game in a lower resolution and then upscaling it to 720p.

When I say "average" PC, I'm taking the very bottom into perspective. I mean, they do have computers in the poorest regions of Africa. In Europe. Offices and schools across the globe are lined with affordable, last-gen computing solutions. I'm of the belief that laptops, Macbooks, gaming PCs and such - even the less capable ones - aren't plentiful enough to balance out the top-end in a way that the average computer would match a gaming console designed with 3D rendering in mind.

If we said average PC being sold on today's market, then yeah, I'd re-evaluate. But the only way I can see his "PS4" comment working is if he meant the average computer of all computers currently in use.

 

[ResonanceSD]

oh the AVERAGE PC? glad he's taking into account the workstations of the world. Glad that the PS4 will be able to outpower those solid gaming machines.

 

[Joccaren]

To be fair, there is a big difference between DDR5 and DDR3 (you probably have the latter).

Yes, there is. DDR3 exists, DDR5 doesn't.
GDDR5 exists, and is in graphics cards aplenty these days, however its not as useful for normal computing. DDR3 works with lower latency than GDDR5, however it doesn't have as much bandwidth. Put very basically, DDR3 is tailored to run better with CPUs, whilst GDDR5 is tailored to run better with GPUS. There are certain things that CPUs are better at computing than GPUs, and these are things the PS4 will likely have problems with in the future due to the higher latency of GDDR5 RAM. It will, however, have enough VRAM to last a few more years thanks to this, and its some future proofing on the Graphics side whilst sacrificing the CPU side marginally.
Additionally GDDR5 is based off DDR3 RAM, and the 5 is not necessarily indicative of a faster rate or multiplier. Both are Double Data Rate RAM chips, the 3 and 5 just denote the version number.
Also, we'll have better than DDR3, supposedly this year actually. Its estimated that sometime this year DDR4 RAM will be released into the market, though it'll probably be a couple more years before Motherboards and CPUs take full advantage of it.

 

[Chaos Marine]

You know, one of the things I'd like to point out to people is that the PS4's 8GB of memory is GDDR5. GDDR is specialised ram designed for graphical utilities. GDDR does not handle every day processing all that well, that's why you can't get motherboards that come with GDDR memory lanes. And trust me, as an avid PC gamer who build his own gaming PCs (My current PC would piss all over a PS4 and it's two years old at this point), if boards with GDDR5 was available, people would but them. Look at the nVidia Titan. It's stupidly expensive but that doesn't stop people from buying them.

 

[unstabLized]

All of my thoughts on this topic can be summarized in two videos.

 

[Chaos Marine]

Chaos Marine:
You know, one of the things I'd like to point out to people is that the PS4's 8GB of memory is GDDR5. GDDR is specialised ram designed for graphical utilities. GDDR does not handle every day processing all that well, that's why you can't get motherboards that come with GDDR memory lanes. And trust me, as an avid PC gamer who build his own gaming PCs (My current PC would piss all over a PS4 and it's two years old at this point), if boards with GDDR5 was available, people would but them. Look at the nVidia Titan. It's stupidly expensive but that doesn't stop people from buying them.

That's a pretty unfair comparison, considering the Titan is literally the most powerful single-chip graphics card you can own. It's the difference between doing something that might be outright stupid and something that's simply less cost efficient. For all I care, if you've got the money to spend on the best possible setup there is, have at it.

I wasn't comparing Titan to the PS4. I was using that as a reference that there are some PC gamers who will buy stuff that are so crazily overpriced and over powered. GDDR isn't available for motherboards not because it's too expensive but because it's not optimal. Standard DDR memory is superior to GDDR in raw number crunching ability. Anyone who knows anything about PCs and gaming PCs in particular will tell you that if given a choice between DDR3 and GDDR5 for their motherboard, they'll stick with DDR3.

And for the record, my computer has the following hardware:

i7 clocked at 4.2GHz
12GB DDR3 1333MHz ram
Geforce 3GB 580GTX
64GB SSD
6TB SATA HDDs
Logitech G35 headset
Coolermaster RC1000 Cosmos Case
Corsair 950PSU
Generic DVD+/-R/RW/DVD+DL/CD-R/CD-RW burner/reader.
Win7 Ultimate 64bit (Retail, not OEM)

With a few HDDs and the PSU and the headset cannibalised from my old computer, I think I spent about fourteen hundred euros on this machine. I had been saving about fifty euros every month for the preceding few years for it like I'm going currently. I already have 2,150 euros saved with the same method and in about two years I'll do the same with the current hardware out then.

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 950 @ 4.2GHz 7.5
Memory (RAM) 12.0 GB 7.5
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 7.9
Gaming graphics 4095 MB Total available graphics memory 7.9
Primary hard disk 15GB Free (60GB Total) 7.2

 

[PuckFuppet]

I don't think PC specs need to be tossed around here for it to be abundantly clear what that guy just said is entirely false, based on the numbers that he has presented.

As is pointed out in the more recent posts in this thread, and in particular the most recent few (both quoted and actual), a flat number like "8GB" is ultimately pretty meaningless. Does that necessarily mean that this guy was right? No.

It just means that he had no clue how to properly convey what he was actually talking about/assumed that people wouldn't understand it. Both of which are pretty silly positions for someone who is supposedly well versed in business/technology, being a CTO and all, to take.

 

[Twinmill5000]

Here's the thing. There may be something more to his statement, like the fact that the PS4 shines in alot of ways, and that 8 gigs of ram is a huge step up from our current gen, but he's still wrong, and he will always be wrong, and I will tell you why.

Right now, Sony's working with ATI to create a graphics processing solution to power their newest console. Even if it's the best of the best they can muster, that GPU is going to be on the market, and if it isn't, the technology will be.

So, no, the PS4 will not outpower the top of the line gaming PC. However, it will outpower your average, 400 dollar laptop by a longshot.


Actually, that's what you'll be getting when you buy a PS4. A discounted, ATI powered computer with some in house firmware and some tight restrictions. Dollar for dollar though? Yeah, the PS4's more powerful, especially if, to get just the GPU (not CPU, mobo, psu, cooling solutions) on a PC would probably cost twice as much as the console retails for. Some people aren't willing to pay that much more for the freedom to use their device as openly as they wish, though.


In other news, the Nvidia 700 series cards are supposed to come out soon. Shut up and take my money.