| Intrinsic said: No. PS4pro is using an underclocked polaris (36 compute units) GPU. And those only come in 14nm. The CPU could be built on a 16/14nm process but its definately not still 28nm. And yes, the CPU is still jag but the smaller fab process allows them overclock it while still mainting whatever heat margins they have. One of the downsides with the Jag CPU is that its never really been higher clocks friendly. Which is why they probably couldn't get it much higher than where its at now. While Ryzen is supposed to be a 14nm chip, Vega 20/Navi is designed to be 7nm. What you see in the PS4pro box, is the best they could do using the currently available 14nm tech applied to both the jaguar CPU and the polaris GPU. Yes, they could definately clock all that higher, but that would require an even bigger case and bigger cooling solution. And of course cost more. And it makes no sense shooting for 10TF.... reason being that polaris and vega will peak at 5-8TF on a 14nm process. So unless they go the extreme route of using a dedicated GPU and CPu (which is really expensive) there is no way they can hit 10TF in an APU chip form factor. Lastly, that 2-3yrs after pro you are talking about? Thats right around 2020. Ryzen+/Vega20/Navi which are all 7nm chipsets should be on the market around 2019. Cerny himself said it, a new console isn't defined by just a jump in GPU power but by the addition of a new CPU and signiicntly more RAM. All of which will be available around 2020 and that can be made to fit into a $400 box. Sony ending up with a 14-16TF GPU console and a significantly beefier CPU with next gen memroy and storage solutions would end up having nothing to do with what they want or not want. Its just gonna be down to where the market is at. Look at it this way, If sony and MS were to make a 10-12 TF console in 2020, it would be the equivalent of them going out of their way to make underpowered hardware. Or unless of course they wanted to come in at a $250 price point. |
I remember reading these articles about the Pro details with Cerny.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-4k-gaming-on-ps4-pro-tech-analysis
"First, we doubled the GPU size by essentially placing it next to a mirrored version of itself, sort of like the wings of a butterfly. That gives us an extremely clean way to support the existing 700 titles," Cerny explains, detailing how the Pro switches into its 'base' compatibility mode. "We just turn off half the GPU and run it at something quite close to the original GPU."
It goes on to talk about Polaris energy efficiency improvments added to the GPU, but they stay away from saying its Pitcairn or Polaris because I guess truthfully its just a hybrid between them. Semi-custom.
"When we design hardware, we start with the goals we want to achieve," says Cerny. "Power in and of itself is not a goal. The question is, what that power makes possible."
This is why I don't see PS5 being that much of a leap over Pro. When they say things like "whats possible" it sounds like they are more worried about gameplay and VR. Not like power doesn't help, because it does, but such a leap for PS5 isn't exactly necessary, Just like how Pro's leap over PS4 wasn't all that large in comparison to previous gens. Mid gen console seems to imply mid power between PS4 and PS5.
With Cerny's point about CPU and RAM being most important for a new console gen, and also more GPU power, I dont see why a 14nm Ryzen + Vega/Navi wouldn't be possible. Yes the GPU's are designed for 7nm, but many archs are shrunk, so why couldn't they enlarge them to 14nm for APU's? This is of course based on what if 7nm is delayed like all nodes are and PS really needs to get PS5 out to gamers.
There's a lot of rumours out there talking about 12Tflop Vega, so why couldn't PS5 hit 8-10 Tflops with a more advanced Vega/ Navi on 14nm? Add a Ryzen CPU to that and you would have a worthwhile upgrade over Pro. In a bigger box sure, but PS4 was unbelievably tiny when it launched and truthfully should have been larger so the fan didn't have to run full tilt and be so loud. Something they learned and applied to Pro as well.
