Orbis Unmasked: What to expect from next-gen

[TheLegendOfMart]

Orbis

- CPU: 8-core Jaguar @ 1.6GHz

- GPU: ~ Radeon 7970M in power, 18 compute units @ 800MHz

- Memory: 4GB GDDR5 @ 192GB/s bandwidth - 512MB reserved for OS -> 3.5GB for games

- Extra: "Compute module"

Durango

- CPU: 8-core Jaguar @ 1.6GHz

- GPU: ~ ? in power (DF says potentially weaker than Orbis), 12 compute units

- Memory: 8GB DDR3 @ 68GB/s bandwidth - 3GB reserved for OS (rumoured it may be down to 1-1.5GB though) -> 5-7GB for games

- Extra: "ESRAM" (small amount of faster RAM, 102GB/s bandwidth), other custom chips

Eurogamer

I was going to get PS4 anyway but this has just sealed the deal.

[TurboShrimp]

I don't look at specs when buying a video game console all I care about is does it have online so I can play with my friends and does it have fun games.

I even pay gamestop like a year before the WiiU release for the system not knowing anything more then it had a touch screen controller.

all these specs do not really matter , sure more hardware better games but people try to hard to compare them to pc specs.

the WiiU does not have super computer specs and it looks amazing and has some really fun games .

just my 2cents

[TheLegendOfMart]

There isn't much else to talk about at the minute until games get announced and that wont be till E3.

I think the specs do matter as it looks like both consoles are going to be more closely matched than they were this generation. They both have their little strengths and weaknesses but I don't think we'll be seeing any more downrezzed games with choppy framerates like on the PS3.

[REM2000]

i just console makers wouldn't skimp on the RAM and add more, yes i know the architecture is different and that effectively the console is streaming the data from disc/hdd however having larger amount of ram would allow more objects to be on screen an any one time, and usually half way into a consoles life a RAM upgrade would be a godsend.

What i mean by objects is say like GTA IV, there was paper fluttering down the street, i wonder how much more could be added if the machines had more RAM.

I would have loved the machines to have at least 8GB available to games with up to 16GB as the environments they could create with that amount would be insane. (i also know about keeping costs down).

I suppose they are my blue skies.

Although my judgement will be on the games they have as to which ill get, ill probably go with the Xbox has i have quite a few 360 games and i like the controller and achievements.

[HawkMan]

How does that info make you seal the deal on a PS4. so far the xbox seems a better deal to me. more memory makes it a better option alone.

either way we'll see a repeat of last generation, both consoles will be about the same performance, and look the same. well except less texture and object pop on the xbox, but in general. So I'll go with xbox, the company that knows software and has solid online, Sony spent a generation trying to catch up to live as it was at launch, now we're also getting XBL, next generation.

[TheLegendOfMart]

Last gen had 256-512Mb RAM, this is a huge jump. Just piling more RAM into the console doesn't automatically make it better, all it does is bumps the price up.

Considering the powerful specs these consoles are going to be expensive as it is.

How does that info make you seal the deal on a PS4. so far the xbox seems a better deal to me. more memory makes it a better option alone.

either way we'll see a repeat of last generation, both consoles will be about the same performance, and look the same. well except less texture and object pop on the xbox, but in general. So I'll go with xbox, the company that knows software and has solid online, Sony spent a generation trying to catch up to live as it was at launch, now we're also getting XBL, next generation.

Better GPU, Faster RAM, 'Compute' Unit.

I don't care for being plastered with ads or paying to play online, I mostly play online on my PC, I do play PS3 online every now and again and can't justify ?40 a year for the odd time I fire it up. Next Gen Uncharted is worth the asking price alone for me.

[HawkMan]

Maybe better GPU, not gonna effect anything in reality. We all know this.

I think we'll have to wait and see about the memory, but in this case, the speed in both is more than fast enough. more is more important here. Far less texture popping.

a comput unit that could mean ANYTHING, and probably mean nothing. just like the "other custom chips".

xbox still comes out better.

[spaceelf]

Last gen had 256-512Mb RAM, this is a huge jump. Just piling more RAM into the console doesn't automatically make it better, all it does is bumps the price up.

You can buy 6GB of RAM for about $30.

...

I don't think 8 qualifies for bumping the price up.

[HawkMan]

personally I don't care about the specs, I care about good software. some thign MS has shown they know, and Sony... eh not so much, though they're still somewhat better than nintendo and their slow ass software updates on the WiiU, not to mention the slow loading of... everything.

[_neutrino Veteran]

specs on a console are really not all that important as i the specs on the current gen systems were not all that great and we still have some very impressive looking games that came out later on. I think its just early adopters of new consoles do not know how much they can tax the machine.

[TheLegendOfMart]

You can buy 6GB of RAM for about $30.

...

I don't think 8 qualifies for bumping the price up.

Doesn't work like that, they have to find extra space on the pcb which means rejigging all the components around to make it fit, its too late now to bump the ram up.

personally I don't care about the specs, I care about good software. some thign MS has shown they know, and Sony... eh not so much, though they're still somewhat better than nintendo and their slow ass software updates on the WiiU, not to mention the slow loading of... everything.

Yeah I suppose, specs are all we know of the consoles so far, I haven't seen much chat next gen wise just wanted to start a thread to get people talking about next gen.

[spaceelf]

Doesn't work like that, they have to find extra space on the pcb which means rejigging all the components around to make it fit, its too late now to bump the ram up.

You seen a laptops innards lately? The insides are so sparse you could fit twice as much in there and still have breathing room. I don't think they'll have any problems whatsoever fitting a RAM chip in.

[TheLegendOfMart]

Components on both sides of the board and traces running through the layers of the PCB, just because there is nothing on the surface doesn't mean there's nothing underneath.

I think the most important thing to take away from this is that 512Mb for the OS on Orbis and 3Gb on the Durango means that the PS4 is geared to be a pure games machine, the Nextbox is more the entertainment hub.

[spaceelf]

I was talking about the size of the motherboard, not the components. It might take up to 3/5 of the actual laptop. The screen is the only thing that needs the space.

[George P Global Moderator]

I think developers want as much ram as they can get though and as far as GPU goes we don't even get any info on it for the Xbox so I can't say. Either way I'll be getting a Xbox yet again to start, I might get a ps4 as well when the price is right.

[HawkMan]

Components on both sides of the board and traces running through the layers of the PCB, just because there is nothing on the surface doesn't mean there's nothing underneath.

I think the most important thing to take away from this is that 512Mb for the OS on Orbis and 3Gb on the Durango means that the PS4 is geared to be a pure games machine, the Nextbox is more the entertainment hub.

I suspect the OS size will hit between 500-1000 on the nextbox by release.

and it'll be able to play custom music during gameplay :p

I would suspect they'll in fact learn from and use app design from WP and 8, and you'll be able to run apps at the same time as games, in other words. Spotify and similar streaming while gaming.

[TheLegendOfMart]

The rumours are that it'll run on Windows 8 Kernel, I know Microsoft is keen to have consistency between devices. I wouldn't be surprised if it had the ability or functionality of a Windows RT OS geared more for Gaming.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

Memory is very important in console gaming and so far, it looks like the next-gen Xbox is slightly better (despite having a weaker GPU).

[Emn1ty]

I suspect the OS size will hit between 500-1000 on the nextbox by release.

and it'll be able to play custom music during gameplay :p

I would suspect they'll in fact learn from and use app design from WP and 8, and you'll be able to run apps at the same time as games, in other words. Spotify and similar streaming while gaming.

Also, reservine more for the OS means less likelyhood of the OS dipping into the game's RAM. Just becuase its "reserved" doesn't mean its "exclusive". If they ever decide to up their game with the PS4 OS they may run out of RAM.

[McKay]

So what's going to produce a better result? Less faster RAM, or more slower RAM?

[TheLegendOfMart]

Sony is going for a lean OS with just gaming functions, Microsoft reserved more because they want it to be the central media hub.

The Sony XMB OS ran on 50Mb of RAM, with 512Mb I think they have a bit of breathing space.

[threetonesun]

Most of these specs seem pretty irrelevant right now, the bigger issue is to support large textures you're looking at 30+ Gbs for a game already, and you need a pile of VRAM to load that. That's today, on a PC, not 7 years from now when these consoles finally get replaced.

[Crisp]

If these specs are true, I would imagine a fairly good price depending on the cost of the new Jaguar CPU.

[HawkMan]

Sony is going for a lean OS with just gaming functions, Microsoft reserved more because they want it to be the central media hub.

The Sony XMB OS ran on 50Mb of RAM, with 512Mb I think they have a bit of breathing space.

yeah, and with that low memory they had huge issues getting in game functions of the xmb to work smoothly, and some never got implemented.

Also, all indications are that Sony definitely will be aiming for a media hub, that's been their marketing strategy for every device they're doing lately from TV's (and beating the mythical non existent apple tv to the market with the same function) to BD players to phones.

[TheLegendOfMart]

Rumours are $400/?329, obviously this is just a guess on the rumoured specs.

yeah, and with that low memory they had huge issues getting in game functions of the xmb to work smoothly, and some never got implemented.

Yeah, hopefully 512Mb will be enough if they are going the lean, pure gaming OS route.