The Big Bad Console Thread - Sway your Station with an Xboner !

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Noodleface

Noodleface

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I understand that we're all trying to sound smart here but how many engineers we got on here that understand terms like "visual fidelity", "ESRAM", "Framebuffer Size" and so forth? I mean, we're using a lot of buzz words here to try to quantify the difference between the two consoles but honestly we're still only going by what devs have been telling us. Do I truly believe the PS4 will be the top machine and stomp the Xbox One? Yes, but I don't put much credence to these buzz words and their attempt at measuring performance.

I think what's important here is buying the system that's right for you. A lot of people love the Kinect and want that experience. A lot of people have been with Sony for years now and trust them with their lives. Let the people buy the system they want, and if they make the wrong choice ten so be it. I don't think either would fail miserably in this market, but I do believe one will come out ahead. I guess we'll see.

I'm buying a PS4 and I'm happy with that choice and will never look back.
 
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Sean_sl

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Xalara_sl said:
Sean is confusing RAM, VRAM, and ESRAM (cache). The VRAM, which is what determines the maximum size of the buffers for the GPU, is much larger than 32 MB. Like, 32 MB is what my TNT II had back in 99.
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The Xbone and PS4 do not have separate RAM/VRAM. They both have Unified Memory Pools. The PS4 uses fast GDDR5 and the Xbone uses some really slow DDR3 + 32MB of ESRAM as a bandaid for higher bandwidth required stuff.
 
Xalara

Xalara

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I do
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Though these days I mostly work on high performance web servers, but I do dabble in PC graphics programming from time to time. There are at least a few game devs that know more than melurking around though.

The biggest difference you will probably see between the PS4 and Xbone is resolution and that is because the PS4's GPU is much faster than the Xbone's and the setup of the RAM is much easier to work with. Beyond that, for multiplatform games you likely won't see too many differences.
 
Xalara

Xalara

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Yeah yeah they have a single pool of RAM but some portion of it will be designated the VRAM. Much like what often happens with low end motherboard graphics for the PC.
 
Noodleface

Noodleface

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Is that article saying they don't allocate memory specifically to be used as VRAM?

I mean this as not argumentative, just trying to grasp the CPU/Memory architecture here - as a BIOS/POST developer it intrigues me.
 
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Sean_sl

shitlord
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Noodleface_sl said:
Is that article saying they don't allocate memory specifically to be used as VRAM?

I mean this as not argumentative, just trying to grasp the CPU/Memory architecture here - as a BIOS/POST developer it intrigues me.
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Yes, it's a completely unified memory architecture on the PS4, basically hUMA. They use some extra custom memory busses to make it work. This diagram is crude, but basically accurate:PlayStation 4 includes hUMA technology - VGLeaks

Cerny, the PS4's architect, is a boss and it's some pretty cool stuff. You should really read all of the stuff he's posted.

The Xbone is a bit different:A deep dive into Microsofts architecture | SemiAccurate

Oh, and there's this:Digital Foundry: the complete Xbox One architects interview Eurogamer.net

Digital Foundry: Obviously though, you are limited to just 32MB of ESRAM. Potentially you could be looking at say, four 1080p render targets, 32 bits per pixel, 32 bits of depth - that's 48MB straight away.
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Sean_sl

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Noodleface_sl said:
Oh that's why I didn't really know about it, it's a hUMA prototype basically.
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Right, Cerny worked together with AMD to create it specifically so it could do that stuff with the memory and make GPGPU compute more viable and easier to do and to "future-proof" the PS4. He's why the PS4 has such a huge amount of compute commands compared to previous stuff. There's some custom stuff that AMD has now because of him and Sony. The Volatile Bit is all Cerny.

Note that the Xbone does not have this stuff. The PS4 is basically a prototype and the Xbone is older generation architecture with few Microsoft customizations.
 
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Sean_sl

shitlord
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And here we go:Digital Foundry: Battlefield 4 PS4 vs XB1 comparison video (900p PS4, 720p XB1) - NeoGAF

900p Vs. 720p on BF4 confirmed. PS4 also has a more stable framerate. Pretty much as expected. The PS4 also uses Ambient Occulusion, the Xbone does not.

Note that if you just watch the videos they talk in the article about how they had some weird issues with color and black levels on their feed captures that they couldn't figure out, like something was screwy with limited/full range settings.

Face-Off Preview: Battlefield 4 next-gen vs. PC Eurogamer.net
 
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Sean_sl

shitlord
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Yeah, those pictures don't show shit. Watch the actual videos of stuff, way different in motion. The Xbone version has tons of aliasing.
 
Tuco

Tuco

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yeah the black is fucked up. Good job fucking this up guys, only the whole gaming world is watching.
 
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Sean_sl

shitlord
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Tuco_sl said:
yeah the black is fucked up. Good job fucking this up guys, only the whole gaming world is watching.
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The crushed blacks look like what happens when you set your source to Full Range and set your TV to Limited Range. They totally ruined the colors on the Xbone feed, amatures.

It also looks like some Sharpening settings are really fucked up.
 
Tuco

Tuco

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Yeah gonna need a second opinion on this one.

Also BF4 looks like every other modern warfare game ever released, lol.
 
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Cor_sl

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Tuco_sl said:
Ok so PS4 is a blurry mess, and xbox is an aliased mess.
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Not to mention the frame rates.

'On 64-player Conquest mode variants of maps such as Lancang Dam or Flood Zone, we get between 40-60fps while in the thick of the action.'

So they couldn't even manage 60 frames locked, despite running at 900p? I wonder how bad the Xbox One performance is.

I don't think either console comes out of the comparison looking good.
 
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