A Dutch site claiming to have official specs of the still unannounced PlayStation 4, translated by Google, probably isn’t the most concrete of contributions when trying to decifer a rumour.
But here we are, with news this morning that the PS4 has had some of its internals spilled, even if it’s not entirely obvious whether this is all truth or not.
Let’s have a look.
Firstly, the report discusses the chipset, which contains an APU dubbed Liverpool and a CPU named Steamroller. Codenames, for sure (much like Orbis) but certainly powerful ones.
In terms of RAM, it looks like 2GB, although developers are apparently asking that this be ramped up to 4GB, which sounds a little more plausable.
The rumours mention two main SKUs for the console, a 320GB hard drive, a maximum output of 1080p (thankfully) and the rather obvious inclusion of HDMI 1.4 and Blu-ray playback.
It’s difficult to put too much stock in all this, but those figures seem reasonable. Discussion elsewhere suggests that the GPU isn’t quite as spritely as the site says, rather it’s comparable to a current Pitcairn, not an AMD 7970.
Yesterday Sony confirmed that PS4 games were in development, and offered some explanation why the new console wasn’t shown at E3. At least publicly.
TheSixthAxis understands more PS4 development kits will be going out shortly.
SavageOranges
Those sound fairly plausible. That said, the only “concrete” evidence there is of somewhat unimportant things, compared to how powerful the GPU and CPU will be.
mugsybalone
An APU called Liverpool. Promises big things, but turns out to be ultimately mediocre? Arf.
ray_gillespie
This simply cannot be true. Especially after screwing up the PS3’s RAM, there is no way Sony would be stupid enough to limit the PS4 to 2GB of RAM. In three or four years’ time, 2GB of RAM will be an absolute joke, and you can already get 8GB of RAM for about £35 right now. Again, 320GB is just way too small when you can pick up a 3TB HD for about £120, and by the time the PS4 hits full production the prices will be even lower.
There is always a sweet spot of price vs performance, but 320GB HDD and 2GB of RAM are both way below this point. No way will this happen, unless Sony wants to crash and burn like Sega did.
Zephyre
No comment on the RAM, but you are comparing 2.5″ HDD pricing, right? Pretty sure there’s no way you’re going to get a 3TB drive (if they even exist?) for £120.
Unless Sony do the smart thing and switch to standard size HDDs?
ray_gillespie
They could switch to standard size HDDs, but either way my point is that 320GB is simply WAY too small for a next gen console and misses the price/performance sweet spot by miles; a 320GB 2.5″ HDD is about £40, whereas a 640GB 2.5″ HDD is about £50. Seems insane that anyone would cut the size in half to save £10 on a next gen console.
cc_star
The RAM limitation is a problem with going into production early-mid 2013
4GB just isn’t plausible unless unless GDDR5 512MB modules are in mass production by then, at the moment GDDR5 is 256MB modules.
8 x 512MB modules = 4GB of RAM, 16 x 256MB just won’t be possible with a console’s form factor, so unless that memory is mass produced by then it will have to be 8 x the 256MB which gives you a limit of 2GB
Of course Sony & Microsoft could take a hit & force mass production of 512MB modules, knowing that the price will drop over the console’s life, but will Microsoft & Sony investors have the stomach to take a hit, keeping in mind the public won’t be rushing out en-masse to buy a £400+ console this time around.
Of course, if the required module capacity is ready in time for the production run that’s all a moot point & we can rejoice at having 4GB that it’s obvious we will need in the long run.
btw Microsoft faced a similar problem with their 512MB RAM in the 360, it was almost launched with 256MB, but MS took the hit.
sparkyscrum
Seriously if the PS4 launches with 2GB, it will seem tiny. They’ve already got mobiles with 2GB RAM now, it won’t sound much next gen if a mobile out specs it in launch year.
plutoniumdragon
I’m clearly missing something important about the architecture, but why does all the ram have to be GDDR5?
Can’t we have 2GB of GDDR5 and 8GB of cheap DDR3?
ThoughtPolice
Consoles are about memory SPEED, not QUANTITY.
The PS3 has insanely quick 256MB of 3,2Ghz XDR and bog standard 700Mhz DDR3 (the Xbox by comparison is lumbered with 512MB of bog standard 700Mhz DDR3, but it’s saving grace is the memory is shared between CPU and GPU)
Awayze
320GB is probably more than enough to last people a few years! Besides the new PS4 will have faster reading blu ray drive to load stuff into the the CPU and GPU so no need to install huge game datas to the HDD.
2GB of ram isn’t the bad, look at PS3 games now, if they can do that with 512MB ram, shouldn’t 2GB be enough! It’ll keep costs down. 4GB could be plausible.
bunimomike
On my PC (which is a tasty enough spec) I still don’t have many games hitting 1GB of usage so assuming the VRAM is suitably high, 2GB might be okay. However, I’d like them to plump for 4GB so it’s future-proofed as much as possible.
anyjungleinguy
I’ve yet to come across a PC game that requires more than 4GB and ofc, that’s taking into account the overhead of the OS and background applications.
4GB would be nice, but even lowering it to 2GB wouldn’t cause the same kind of RAM problems now.
As for video memory, on a PC, anything above 1.5-2GB is mostly pointless with a resolution limit 1920×1080. I’ve never seen it come in handy for anything but multi monitor setups.
ThoughtPolice
Why did they “screw up the PS3′s RAM”???
Have you actually PLAYED a PS3 exclusive? You do know that the PS3 doesn’t use the same RAM that you have in your PC? What the PS3 uses is called XDR, it’s insanely quick, and insanely expensive. The rules that you think you know that apply to your PC, don’t apply to a console.. It’s a different game. The game here is moving textures as quickly as possible, and it’s the SPEED that’s important, not the quantity.
For the cost of the PS3’s 256MB of Rambus XDR (it also has 256MB of DDR3), you can buy several GB of DDR PC memory….
Your PC will be lucky to achive 3GB/s, the XDR in the PS3 can do 26GB/s.
freezebug2
Surprising that they mention 320GB HDD in the specs, surely that must the lower end machine spec with continuous growing support for digital. People are starting to struggle now with the space on current highest spec 320GB’s…..sure it’s simple to upgrade for most of , but there’ll always be a few that won’t/can’t. I’d have thought 500GB minimum and a TB top end!
De-do-dat-doh-don’t-de-doh……*cough couldn’t resist* :-‘)
Bilbo_bobbins
2GB RAM ????? for christ sake Sony sort it out. I’m sure most PS4 customers would prefer at least 4GB possibly 8GB
Aitor
Yeah, you don’t need 8GB of RAM for anything. That would be useless, especially for a console. 4GB seems fine, even 2GB. It’s not a PC after all, doesn’t the PS3 have 250MBs of RAM?
Ram =/= Power
anyjungleinguy
This. 8GB would be beyond pointless.
The Lone Steven
Sounds like it should be easier to code for then the PS3 was at the begining of it’s life and i’m liking the sound of the big harddrive although i am hoping the PS4 will just be a more powerful PS3 and not be digital only. Also, it’s powered by scousers!? Remind me to never insult it. :p
parryman
A 320gb hdd either hints that Sony don’t have that much faith in their digital markets, or streaming will feature heavily.
MadJunkBoy
but even if u buy retail u will still need a big HDD to install the games u buy…
mrfodder
I think the hard disk size will depend on hdd prices next summer. Unless they are back down to pre-thailand floods or lower then size won’t increase.
Mr_writer
Think people are reading too much into the size of the HDD. Don’t forget if they allow you to swap again then problem solved. What if they spend millions on bigger HDD then people still go retail? The price will go up and it’s us who will get hit in the pocket. Digital games on console isn’t ready yet. Prices are high because a huge % of gamers buy retail and they wouldn’t stand being under cut by digital prices.
bunimomike
Agreed. The 40GB in my first PS3 was never going to be enough but a swap-out enables me to choose precisely what I want to do and when to do it (as well as choose when I incur that cost).
RudeAwakening
I’ve had my PS3 since launch day with the 60GB hdd and i still have 15GB left but that’s purely because im not big into buying digital games, but do make an exception from time to time, and always delete them from the hard drive once im finished with them. I also delete all files from a hard copy of a game once im finished with it.
So 320GB would be plenty for me i reckon.
SavageOranges
IMO I think we’re going to start seeing a huge split in PC and console gamers over the next 18 months. If the PS4 launches with 2GB or even 4GB of RAM it will be a joke. Keeping in mind that it could well be priced similarly to the PS3 and we could see a lot of console gamers buying gaming PCs for the same price.
plutoniumdragon
Would depend entirely on the price point the PS4 launches at.
Even with its limitations, it’s difficult to price match a complete PC to the PS3 at it’s current price point.
Awayze
No. It just won’t happen. PC’s don’t cost £450. Especially not a gaming PC.
plutoniumdragon
There are plenty of reasons why people buy a console over a PC, but in terms of price alone, £470 buys a complete PC (less OS) with Intel i5, nVidia GT430, 1TB Hdd and 4GB ram.
No BD drive, but then do PCs really need one?
bunimomike
If the PS4 has 4GB of RAM it most certainly won’t be a joke. Have you seen how few PC games take up more than a gig of RAM? It’ll be fine! Especially if the architecture grants full access to it all (as oppose to the current situation with the PS3).
anyjungleinguy
Why?
4GB is fine for the majotity of gaming PCs. People getting. 8GB maybe, depending on the price, but it isn’t a requirement. Buying more than is silly unless they deal with video/music editing and/or run multiple virtual machines.
If you’re wanting improvements, hope they ship with decent GPU.