Sony console has ‘significant’ performance advantage over Microsoft hardware. Both manufacturers working on final specifications.
The PS4 is said to be 50% faster than the Xbox One, claims on anonymous developer, per an Edge report, today. This leg up mainly applies to memory reads and ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit) handling, the CPU component responsible for the final processing performed by a processor.
According to Edge’s developer “contacts,” one example of this difference suggests a “platform-agnostic development build” on PS4, running at 30FPS in 1920x1080 with the same build running at “20-something,” FPS in 1600x900 on Xbox One. It’s important to note that this representation is minus console optimization for either system. In short, “Xbox One is weaker and it’s a pain to use its ESRAM,” said one developer.
On the other hand, ”say you are using procedural generation or raytracing via parametric surfaces - that is, using a lot of memory writes and not much texturing or ALU - Xbox One will likely be faster,” said another developer. That said and technical jargon aside, PS4 doesn’t hold all the cards.
In addition, according to Edge’s source, both systems’ “poor [graphics] drivers have made it difficult to push either of them, and the developers aren’t familiar with the hardware yet,” naturally. And if to make matters worse, Microsoft “has been late on their drivers and that’s been hurting them,” said another source.
Overall, Sony’s PS4 seems to have the one up on most fronts, which won’t reflect until year two and three. Even then, these differences, which will complement features such as textures, lighting, shadows and model detail, won't be leaps and bounds ahead of the competition. Truth be told, PC still leads all platforms in aesthetic appeal and raw performance, but that's to be expected.
That said, do the differences between the systems sway your wallet one way or another? Games matter more? Do you care about the contrast in power, period? Sound off in the comments.
For all of Game On’s latest exclusives, previews, reviews and features, follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
