There’s been a bit of a back and forth regarding which of the next generation consoles is superior. Technically, it seems that Sony’s machine is the bigger beast – but by just how much? According to a report by Edge, quite a bit – as much as that 50% gulf earlier reports suggested.
According to Edge’s sources, the differences in performance are “significant” and “obvious.” apparently the PlayStation 4’s GDDR5 allows for memory reads that are 40-50% faster than the Xbox one, and its number-cruncher is around 50% faster too.
They suggest that “a platform-agnostic development build can run at around 30FPS in 1920×1080 on PS4, but it’ll run at “20-something” FPS in 1600×900 on Xbox One.|
“Xbox One is weaker and it’s a pain to use its ESRAM,” says one developer. The ESRAM is there to make memory transfers a little faster, but as with all custom solutions to problems that needn’t exist, it seems to be a bit of a technical hurdle. It’s apparently not the only hurdle though.
According to the same damning report, the Xbox One’s graphic drivers are “horrible,” though the same can apparently be said for the PlayStation 4’s. “The poor [graphics] drivers have made it difficult to push either of them, and the developers aren’t familiar with the hardware yet,“ says one developer.
And worst of all, is that despite the PS4’s alleged superiority, it won’t end up making much difference in multi-platform games. Developers say it might be better to “castrate” PS4 versions of games so as to not damage perceptions of the Xbox One and sour relations with Microsoft.
Another developer says that while they could probably quite easily make the PS4 versions of their games shinier than their Xbox One counterparts, it just wouldn’t make much sense. “It would be totally fine for us to make one version prettier without any political difficulties but it usually doesn’t make financial sense,” they said, “unless it’s a very simple tweak.”
If this is true, the Xbox One could actually be holding the next gen back – but I don’t think Microsoft is quite stupid enough to let that happen. I’m sure their drivers will improve, and hardware tweaks made so that whatever gulf exists between the two platforms is minimal in the end.
I hope.
Last Updated: September 16, 2013
oVg
September 16, 2013 at 09:19
FOURx better. Expect all multi platform games to be ported over from the PS4.
justerthought
September 16, 2013 at 16:51
Not is MS start waving bribes about. We may get gimped to XB1 level.
Skyblue
September 16, 2013 at 09:21
The same actually happened in the current gen with the PS3’s supposedly vastly superior hardware capabilities over the X360 and look how that turned out.
Anyway, won’t be touching either console until a few decent exclusives are ready.
veggiesaurus ZA
September 16, 2013 at 09:39
The difference being that last time, the more powerful console was also a lot more difficult to optimise for. This time, the xb1 is both weaker and more complex (although the esram situation is basically the same as xb360). One cannot underestimate how much easier then ps4 is to program for than the cell (ps3)…what a nightmare.
e1ace
September 16, 2013 at 09:39
Except for the fact that the PS3 had the graphically superior games when it came to first party titles. It was only the fact that the X360 was significantly easier to develop for that made multi-plat’s superior.
Tarisma
September 16, 2013 at 09:40
Your right the PS4’s “vastly superior” architecture wont come to much in the end. The PS4 will just be hamstrung by the Xbone and 95% of gamers will be none the wiser.
More importantly were at the point where graphics are starting to matter less and less, and its story-line and gameplay that ,make a game.
justerthought
September 16, 2013 at 17:12
Ahhh stories. That’s where Sony come in. Uncharted and The Last Of Us have great stories. Characters you truly relate to and care about. Thank God they won’t be gimped to keep MS happy.
justerthought
September 16, 2013 at 16:56
AC4 looks decent enough for me. I’ll get it on PS4 because open world games require lots of GDDR5 RAM. XB1 has zero. The launch exclusives on both sides are what you expect from launch titles. Uninspired.
Hammersteyn
September 16, 2013 at 09:24
So a weaker console sells for $100 more? Thanks Kinect!
oVg
September 16, 2013 at 09:25
Maths… the demise of the Bone.
CrasH
September 16, 2013 at 09:36
Didn’t you know by now… Less always = more.
Especially when it comes to womans armour and bikini’s and langerie…
Doeas that make the Xbox a woman?
and no… you may not post X Box jokes in responce
Unavengedavo (aka. Frik)
September 16, 2013 at 09:41
Lol, your comment made me think of this video… I would perfer the Wii 😛
oVg
September 16, 2013 at 09:44
I will have to settle for a wet dreamcast 🙁
Admiral Chief of Rivia
September 16, 2013 at 09:45
LULZ @ “wet dreamcast”
Unavengedavo (aka. Frik)
September 16, 2013 at 09:46
Bwahahaha
Kromas
September 16, 2013 at 11:06
Am I the only one who would prefer a wet SNES? Then again I do love Japan!
Hammersteyn
September 16, 2013 at 10:02
Kinects the pimp.
Hammersteyn
September 16, 2013 at 10:04
Fiat Uno > Golf Gti? Less always = more. In this case more fuel economy but less poon.
CrasH
September 16, 2013 at 10:07
Fait Uno… Pacer, Fire? 😛
Hammersteyn
September 16, 2013 at 10:12
If the fiats where transformers and they could some how do the fusion dance from DBZ. Their power level would still be less than Krillins.
Admiral Chief of Rivia
September 16, 2013 at 10:07
“less poon”
LULZ
justerthought
September 16, 2013 at 17:00
Yes but it runs on pure magic, fairy dust and the unlimited power of the cloud. That’s priceless.
oVg
September 16, 2013 at 09:24
1 MORE DAY!!!… if one abides by Rockstars embargo.
Skyblue
September 16, 2013 at 09:26
Just one sleep! (or an afternoon nap if you’re going in at midnight – coz we’re old)
oVg
September 16, 2013 at 09:29
Going to bed early because I will be like that young schoolchild that I once was that played all night and went to school the next morning without undressing from the day before.
Midnight launch… Nothing worse than cracking open the second most expensive form of entertainment ever made while tired from a long day at work.
COUGH COUGH… I feel a cold coming on 😛
Brady miaau
September 16, 2013 at 09:38
What is the 1st in the list of expensive entertainment? drink?
oVg
September 16, 2013 at 09:39
Bloody Pirates of the Caribbean. They sure went to town on that one.
TiMsTeR1033
September 16, 2013 at 10:35
Which Pirates? if its the third one, that movie was kak!
Brady miaau
September 16, 2013 at 11:01
My wife took a bunch of school kids to see it, last day of term. She could not even walk out. She did not tell me that.
So when it came on M-net, she said I should watch it, but she has to finish her sewing, in the sewing room. With the door closed. Man, that was mean. About half way through I realised it was not getting any better.
The Noble TiMsTeR
September 16, 2013 at 11:33
Yeah they messed that movie up soooo bad! On stranger Tides was alot better though.
Brady miaau
September 16, 2013 at 10:36
Oh, you meant in terms of cost to make.
I thought you meant 2nd most expensive form of entertainment YOU have. Oops.
Hmm, I suppose games and restaurants are by far the biggest expenses we have, in that vein.
TiMsTeR1033
September 16, 2013 at 10:38
For others there are more expensive forms of entertainment, ones that you can only find on street corners.
Brady miaau
September 16, 2013 at 11:02
Cigarette vendors? Flower sellers? UNASKED for window smearers (or washers or whatever)? Plowing your car into traffic lights?
So much to do, so little time…..
Sageville
September 16, 2013 at 09:37
V minus 14 hours and counting….
CrasH
September 16, 2013 at 09:29
I don’t really care about consoles, but this is the exact same type of argument as the Nvidia and Ati…
And its going to leed to the same result. One is in the lead but no real figures are given or real examples. Then it swaps and the next is in the lead also with all “hear say”
Both drivers are junk, and the develepers are not fimiliar how to use the technogoloy.
That does not = 50% faster or slower, that = ignorant people.
This fight between them is all PR lead and people are so despirate for any news, they just swallow hook line and sinker
oVg
September 16, 2013 at 09:31
Its all lies. Both console are owned by a secret umbrella corp. That’s why each gen is always on PAR. 1984
Brady miaau
September 16, 2013 at 09:37
Return of the Jedi. 8 bit.
Jonah Cash
September 16, 2013 at 10:46
Umbrella corp????? Does that mean I can release the new Z-Virus??????
RincemySniperKittEH0-O
September 16, 2013 at 09:29
Mmm, love all this back and forth stuff. Makes little difference I think. A good game doesn’t have to shine like a nova…
Brady miaau
September 16, 2013 at 09:40
No, no, I heard the Xbox One does not need all that ram and processor speed because it is, um, superior. In every way.
to an Xbox 360.
oVg
September 16, 2013 at 09:42
THE CLOUUUUUUUUUUUUD.
Admiral Chief of Rivia
September 16, 2013 at 09:44
HAHAHA
Umar Silent Hill Save Lisa :(
September 16, 2013 at 09:41
Actually I’m tired of this inaccurate reporting….the wiiU is actually much more powerful than PS4 … we just haven’t seen it’s final form yet
Tarisma
September 16, 2013 at 09:41
when it merges with its tablet we’re all fucked
Martin du preez
September 16, 2013 at 09:45
Bwahaha! We gon’ be d0o0o0o0omed!
CrasH
September 16, 2013 at 09:50
But then the PS and Xbox box will merge into its final form to counter.
the “4-play box” and every nerd will not be able to resist it…
Umar Silent Hill Save Lisa :(
September 16, 2013 at 10:20
LOL Then end of us all!! WiiZilla!!
M-m-m-monster John
September 16, 2013 at 10:22
I’m with you Umar, I think that the WiiU has been plotting all this time.
Umar Silent Hill Save Lisa :(
September 16, 2013 at 10:34
Exactly, there is a bigger picture here that no one seems to be picking up on….The wiiU has something dangerous planned
TiMsTeR1033
September 16, 2013 at 10:37
Is it gonna have an ultimate evolution like the pokemon?
ElimiNathan
September 16, 2013 at 09:43
Haha ouch. Poor Xbone fans
Martin du preez
September 16, 2013 at 09:44
Xbone holding back gaming..Now I understand how PC gamers feel about consoles 🙁
Admiral Chief of Rivia
September 16, 2013 at 09:45
HA
Uberutang
September 16, 2013 at 09:52
Finally a Peasant sees the light!
Admiral Chief of Rivia
September 16, 2013 at 09:57
Shhh, don’t scare him off!
Major FoxHoundR - what the fox
September 16, 2013 at 11:25
i don vunderstand why would this make you feel how pc gamers feel about consoles. xbox one is the bestter console.
A 2 Brute?
September 16, 2013 at 09:46
“The poor [graphics] drivers have made it difficult to push either of them, and the developers aren’t familiar with the hardware yet.” How can you not be familiar with it? It’s basically a PC….. Trololo
Alien Emperor Trevor
September 16, 2013 at 09:55
The only thing it affects is platform exclusives. Cross platform will look the same. Unless they go the route they do with PC & release higher res texture packs for the PS4.
Mabenito
September 16, 2013 at 12:46
Only exclusive titles will show how powerful these consoles are. And that also depends on developers creativity and skill.
Jakster
September 16, 2013 at 10:16
None of these consoles will do BF4 at 1080p and 60FPS. The next-gen shall be a short one.
Convinced
September 16, 2013 at 10:17
The driver issue is an AMD issue. Now where have we seen this before?
PC!
SaintsRowLee
September 16, 2013 at 10:19
Meh. I’ll still stick to my rule: Wait a year or so, then check and see which console is the best bet. In the meantime, building quite a nice backlog of games to keep me busy for a good long while…
Nerdulator
September 16, 2013 at 10:19
More will be moving over to ESRAM and EDRAM technology as Intel pushes into the APU arena. There’s more to this that meets the eye. These hobo dev’s could be Indie Devs making fart apps for all I care. I heard a dev say the Wii U is on par with the PS4 but he was working on a chess game.
Alex [SS] PsyChoPanthis
September 16, 2013 at 10:57
Wheres Fox’s trolling comments about the xbox being better now?
WAHA!!!!
“If this is true, the Xbox One could actually be holding the next gen back”
Best part of the article 😛
TiMsTeR1033
September 16, 2013 at 11:10
I think perhaps, he has seen the light.
Brady miaau
September 16, 2013 at 11:23
Because I still do not think the Xbox one will be as bad as all that, as slow as that.
I think perhaps people are comparing apples and oranges, with this RAM faster, GPU faster, all that stuff. It is, for now, just jazz and out there.
What is the speed comparison when the entire system is used as it should be? You cannot compare parts of a system and claim as the whole.
Alex [SS] PsyChoPanthis
September 16, 2013 at 11:31
perhaps not.
Major FoxHoundR - what the fox
September 16, 2013 at 11:32
xbox one is all i need
Major FoxHoundR - what the fox
September 16, 2013 at 11:28
there is no prove of ps4 being bester than xbox one. show me spces and than we talk.
Alex [SS] PsyChoPanthis
September 16, 2013 at 11:35
the proof is in the pudding bud. Microsoft tried to justify the 180 on paper saying that the PS4 isnt as fast as people are saying it is. LG did an article on it as well a few days ago, and while in theory some of it made sense, it still didnt make the 180 faster.
now we have devs saying the PS4 is not just faster, but almost 50% faster. sure microsoft can patch the graphics drivers and such to make improvement, but whats to say Sony wont do the same and make the PS4 even better than it is off the bat.
sorry bud but i dont think you will win this one 🙂
Major FoxHoundR - what the fox
September 16, 2013 at 13:03
suny hasnt relased specs so how do we no the xbox one isn’t really 80% faster than the lamestation 4?
Alex [SS] PsyChoPanthis
September 16, 2013 at 13:27
Bru you really need to get that spellcheck working 🙂
as for your argument, you can /0 as much as you want bro. guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
Alex [SS] PsyChoPanthis
September 16, 2013 at 11:35
oh and spell check 😉
Nerdulator
September 16, 2013 at 11:34
That’s speculation.
Well played Geoff, well played. You make a lovely Iago in tights #othello
Major FoxHoundR - what the fox
September 16, 2013 at 11:22
dunt believe it, major nelson says we should wait. im going to wait. Also Ps4 will be difficult to make games on and it has memory blockages. Forza looks better than any game on PS4 Ryse too. Ryse looks likethe best game for next gen relases.
XBOX ONE HAS WON
Mark Danger Hopps
September 16, 2013 at 11:22
lol
Willy McBurgle
September 17, 2013 at 18:02
are you one of those gamers that started up ‘Kinect Adventures’ and said ‘We can go ANYWHERE!!!!’
UltimateNinjaPandaDudeGuy
September 16, 2013 at 12:35
Sony knows that the PS4 is make or break for the whole company in the comeback they are trying to pull off… They won’t hold back! I have faith in Sony… That said… I am NOT brand loyal in anyway. I buy the best item at the lowest price. Every time!
jGLZA
September 16, 2013 at 14:06
Apples and Oranges in my opinion. Both companies are taking different approaches to what next gen is. PS4 looks to be going with more powerful hardware and performance while the Xbone clearly seems to be focusing more on innovative features. Which is the better route? Only time will tell.
iPrimal
September 16, 2013 at 15:39
their solution would probably be even more overclocking, and then we’ll re-live the rrod saga.
Pieter Kruger
September 16, 2013 at 16:38
The bottom line is: If you’re after pure gaming with best graphics and top speeds, go with a PC. If you’re after the Kinect and it’s features, TV set top box integration, excellent multiplayer etc. go with the Xbox One. Why do I need a Hostmigration Station 4 again…?
swinny
September 16, 2013 at 16:46
Was anybody around during the PS2 vs Xbox era, or have you all just started gaming this generation?
The Xbox sold like shit, but it was more powerful and easier to develop for so multiplats were superior on it.
Now the PS4 is set to sell like crazy, its more powerful and easier to develop for(sound familiar?) so WHY wouldn’t multiplats be better on PS4? If multi-plats are you’re main concern, PS4 is the way to go this generation, period.
Tbone187
September 16, 2013 at 16:50
Multiplats are always designed to accommodate the lower specced machine.
swinny
September 16, 2013 at 18:26
Yeah, and in the PS2 generation, the PS2 was the lowest spec machine. Yet nearly every multiplat looked and ran superior on the Xbox, and this is despite PS2’s complete dominance over the market. Really though, you’re stupid if you’re going to buy an XB1 expecting multiplats to be the best on there, because they just wont be.
Tbone187
September 16, 2013 at 17:00
Pretty soon everybody will be on PC…Why this hasn’t happened already is a mystery…High powered multi purpose PC connected to your Hi def TV…Why would anyone need a console?? No longer limited to keyboard n mouse as well…games are cheaper and can be played at higher quality at higher frame rates.
justerthought
September 16, 2013 at 17:07
Forget game comparison websites, I guess we’ll all be checking gimpspot.com, gimpsnitch.com and whogimpedmyps4.com to see which PS4 games have been castrated to match the lame console. Thnx MS
Lacerz
September 16, 2013 at 17:13
The PS3 was more powerful, but a pain to develop for. Now the PS4 is being touted as the more powerful console, and the Xbox One’s ESRAM is being described as the pain to develop for. This doesn’t bode well for the Xbox.
Mike E. Delta
September 16, 2013 at 17:16
Whoo…I can’t wait to get on my knees before the almighty Sony mmmm =p
Guest
September 16, 2013 at 17:19
Forget comparison websites, next gen we’ll all be checking gimp spotting websites to see which PS4 games have been castrated to match the lame console so we can boycott them. Thnx MS.
Steve pritchard
September 18, 2013 at 02:47
I think microsoft really stepped into a big pile of shit. I actually had high hopes for xbox1 until it was unvieled. Now it just has me scratching my head and asking alot of questions about a machine microsoft expects me to pay 500 bucks for. I think ill be waitng till next holiday to get an xbox one. I just gotta try it before i shell out that much money . Plus ps4 has more inlteresting launch lineup imo. Dead rising 3 is about all that maters to me with xbox1 lineup. Ryse looks like a broken kinect game that now uses quick time events . Sorry just not that interested in xbox 1 yet