JustBeingReal said:
lmaobox said:
Yes, I understand both the CPUs and GPUs on the Xbone and PS4 are just vanilla AMD parts with very slight customizations and downclocks/upclocks, but the SoCs are entirely custom-designed.
The PS4 architecture is based on a simple large and fast memory pool to cut down on wasted cycles by transferring data to different parts of SoC. In short, the both the CPU and GPU read off the main GDDR5 RAM. This creates a more efficient architecture with saved space, giving SONY more leeway to add more compute units.
The Xbone architecture is based on a large amount of slow memory and a small amount of fast memory to act as a giant cache. The architecture is designed to cut down on the latency issues and wasted cycles caused by swapping data between the 2 memory pools. This wastes silicon space and MS had to settle for a weaker GPU. Despite how many parts MS added to the Xbone SoC (Move Engines and the like), it's still inferior to having just 1 large and fast memory pool where no data has to be moved around.
AMD did not design the SoC. They provided the APU, which is just 1 part of the SoC. The type of APU used and the performance will depend heavily on how well a company designs its SoC.
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You know SoC doesn't stand for System on Console right? It's just an abbreviated term for Systen on Chip, something that is a blanket term for all chips that house all core processing technology to make a "system" work.
An APU and an SoC are one and the same thing. AMD provided the System on Chip for PS4 and for XBox One.
AMD designed the SoC's for both consoles, based on the requirements discussed by both companies with AMD.
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An APU is just a CPU and GPU on a single die to create a cost-efficient processor. An SoC can contain an APU.
If AMD designed the SoC, then the PS4 and Xbone would have the same exact specs, or at least similar architectures.
By having 2 vastly different architectures, you're implying AMD did R&D 2 times for both SONY and MS, which is nonsense. AMD would have only done R&D once and used the results for that R&D for both SONY and MS.
SONY and MS both designed their own SoC. AMD only supplied the APU based on what SONY and MS wanted. Nothing more.
