| sc94597 said: Nobody said I was an expert developer. This is common knowledge though. If there weren't any advantages to having both consoles use x86 why would third-parties have pushed Sony and Microsoft in that direction? They want a common architecture that allows them to take advantage of both systems at low costs. This common architecture happens to be the main hardware used in home computers since the 90's. That is why it's a thousand times easier for these developers (hyperbole.) It is an architecture they are familiar with and it is universal for their purposes. |
Its not THAT easier to develop for x86 compared to PPC or ARM when all cores have the same instruction set.
Thats why it was easier to develop for XBox360 (3-Core PPC) and Windows (x86) then for the PS3 (PPC-SPUs).
Of course it needs some time to get used to different optimization techniques but most developers will be fine on C-level with that and let the compiler do the rest.
The main reason why Sony and Microsoft went x86 this gen is the same why Apple switched away from PPC: x86 got very efficient AND is fast. ARM is very efficient but has problems getting fast (compared to x86). PPC is also efficient, but IBM (the only one left besides some embedded chips) didn't invest that much money into making them fast anymore.
Of course you'll get not the latest and greatest x86-tech within PS4 and XOne. Every of those netbook cores isn't that good. Its the number of them which adds up. But even 8 AMD netbook cores are eaten for breakfast by Intels core i5 for sure and depending whats need to be computed by a core i3...
Thats doesn't matter - those AMD APUs are simply cheap. It pays of at the moment. But within the coming years it will hurt a lot as that gen wold hold that long as previous ones...
