The PlayStation 4 Pro is out today in South Africa. In some ways, it’s a little like 2 PS4’s duct-taped together. A more powerful GPU, an increased CPU clock and some of the best upscaling technology available deliver a console that’s capable of pushing out 4K, and close-to-4K visuals. It’s a sort of mid-generation upgrade, a premium console for those who demand a little more.
Next year, Microsoft will be doing their own upgrade to the Xbox One, in the form of its Scorpio. We don’t know too much about it, other than that it’ll be around 50% more powerful than the PS4 Pro, if Microsoft’s target specs are anything to go by.
Microsoft asserts that its 6 Teraflop Scorpio, presumably powered by AMD’s Polaris GPU tech, will run games at 4K natively. That sort of computational power comes at a price – and many assume that the Scorpio will end up being a ludicrously expensive machine.
That may not be the case.
Speaking to Ausgamers, Xbox Head Phil Spencer says that the design ethos behind the machine isn’t to compete with the highest end PC’s. Instead, it’s all about balance, and as such, should come in in at “console pricing.”
“When you talk to me about Scorpio, the term I use about the architecture isn’t the six teraflops which is obviously what we’ve announced, it’s balance. Really what it is, is you want a platform that is balanced between memory bandwidth, GPU power, you know, your ability to move memory and [an] amount of memory around in many ways is more inhibiting to the performance of your game than absolute teraflops on any one of the individual pieces, and when we designed Scorpio we really thought about this balanced rig that could come together at a price-point.
Like, I want Scorpio to be at a console price-point, I’m not trying to go and compete with a high-end rig. And because we’re building one spec, we’re able to look at the balance between all the components and make sure that it’s something we really hit that matters to consumers and gamers.”
We don’t know the nitty-gritty, but we’re really hoping it ditches the Jaguar and even Polaris, for Zen and Vega – but that’s probably just wishful thinking.
Last Updated: December 7, 2016
Admiral Chief Argonian
December 7, 2016 at 09:47
@hammerstein, when is your PS4Pro coming?
Magoo
December 7, 2016 at 11:35
Who’s that?
Pieter Kruger
December 7, 2016 at 11:55
What’s that?
Andre Fourie
December 7, 2016 at 10:02
Time to switch boys. Go green.
Ottokie
December 7, 2016 at 10:05
Now your talking!
NVIDIA POWER!
Andre Fourie
December 7, 2016 at 10:17
Gaan Bollie Otto
HvR
December 7, 2016 at 16:15
LOL
Captain JJ
December 7, 2016 at 11:58
RED POWER
Pieter Kruger
December 7, 2016 at 10:06
Must start saving…..the moment this launch I’m importing it and getting a 4K tv!
Viper_ZA
December 7, 2016 at 10:17
My Edgars Account will be put to good use.
Captain JJ
December 7, 2016 at 11:11
I don’t think people expect consoles to compete with high-end rigs anymore. If they do, then they have the wrong idea about what they’re buying.
40 Insane Frogs
December 7, 2016 at 13:27
lol, console gamers don’t care (to be honest), but the only ones who seem to get triggered are PC gamers.
Captain JJ
December 7, 2016 at 14:26
That’s what I’m thinking. Why should it be “OH BUT IT’S NOT AS POWERFUL AS A PC” ? Of course not. They’re not comparable. And not because the one is better than the other, because they appeal to different kinds of people. That’s like arguing taste in music.
And not all pc gamers get triggered. 😛 A console is outside my line of interest, so why should it bother me?
40 Insane Frogs
December 7, 2016 at 13:26
Hahahah red rings of death will rain from the skies!
Carleton Legrant
December 7, 2016 at 13:55
When is MS going to learn the Video Games Business is not about all Tflops and power It is about games something MS is lacking. The Pro is going to blow the doors off of the Scorpio just for the fact They will have games. I look at upcoming games for MS. nothing jumps off the page Like Sony has. You can have all the power but if you don’t know how to use that power what good is it.
HvR
December 7, 2016 at 16:17
* Looks at Sony list
* Looks at M$ list
But they are the same!!!!
Hans Olo
December 7, 2016 at 17:48
Voter Fraud….All Democrat husbands Being Cuckolds…..I used to wonder about that myself. Thought it was a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. Voter Fraud by democrats, Pizzagate, Democratic husbands being whiny lil B&CHES and Cuckolds good and evil, the dark side and the light. Crazy thing is… it’s true. The Force. The Jedi… Democrat husbands being Cuckolds…..All of it… It’s all true……..