Final-Fan said:
OK, but how much of the 360's memory (over 256) can really be counted on? (Honest question -- I'm curious and don't know.) It's not like the CPU doesn't take any. Definitely there is advantage to the 360 there, but it's not like the 360's memory is impressive compared to PC memory either. |
Fair Question....without a perfectly clear answer.
It ultimately depends what you are using the CPU for.....Complex recursive algorithms found in most games you may not be able to borrow too much.
However it provides flexability.
For instance people have often been amazed that the textures on the Xbox are so good given the restrictions of DVD size.
Say hello to clever use of the 360 memory to decompress textures on the fly before a level is loaded and the CPU requires much memory.
Need more texture memory fine just make the AI multi task in the available memory left. It may be a little slow but the 360 CPU whilist not the Cell can more than cover up momentary stalls.
The Key thing to realise is that the 360 memory can be constantly reallocated which makes for one heck of a powerful solution for Developers to toy with.
The memory architecture coupled with a fully specced GPU is the main reason the 360 has been able to slug it out toe to toe with the PS3 so long.
Rest assured however SONY are no fools they will have learnt from their mistakes and I doubt the PS4 will be handicapped in the same way as the PS3.