Pemalite said:
DonFerrari said:
I didn't know about the SW being twiked to change the clockrate (although I knew about the processor not being changed to achieve that). But the sole point I made is that it isn't impossible or even improbable to have changes in the specs a few months (in this case would be 18months) before release. PS4 had the RAM doubled and X1 had the CPU clock increased, both are evidence that they can change thinks either as reaction to competition or as internal improvements due to market availability of parts.
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Clockrates can change even after a console is released via a firmware update... PSP being the prime example of that.
But you are right... That in some instances you can change the specifications just a few months from release... To a point.
You can not just go and add more CU's to a SoC as that is a very time consuming process that requires respins and validation of the chips.
But if say... Higher density DRAM comes along... And uses the same pin-outs, it can basically be a drop in replacement.
DonFerrari said:
On the GPU, thanks for putting the details... and my point on that is that they also could have achieved the same 6Tflops with a different combination of shaders and core clock. So even if keeping the same face value they between reveal and release could have changed the internal configuration (like seeing it would be cheaper to have less shader at higher clock, or that it would be cooler to have more shaders at lower clock).
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Correct!
The GPU could have been twice the size, half the clock and have the exact same performance as it does now.
There is a balance of size vs clock rate to getting the best performance/efficiency combination that you can for any given manufacturing process.
DonFerrari said:
Yes, there isn't much excuse for Sony decision. What we can look at are "justifications". As put, it could increase cost a little, it could compete with their premium 4kBD players, there is few discs being sold, vg market isn't really caring about it, etc... all summed made Sony deciding to not include it so far.
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Ultimately though people will vote with their wallets, for most people... The lack of 4k Blu-Ray isn't a factor in their purchasing decisions if the Playstation 4 and Xbox One S sales rate is anything to judge by.
Doesn't mean it's not a nice feature to have though.
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I can say that I was surprised that Sony to this day didn't made the same upclock on PS4, perhaps they were on the limit of the heat envelope. Still I don't really think it is uncommon for 18 months before release to not have the hardware finished even in design, but sure 12 months or less it would be very hard to have changes besides the both we covered.
And in the case of X1X considering people is saying it is very quite, doesn't consume excessive energy or heat a lot it is possible that they could even push the clockrate a little more?
On the BD, yep they were cheap and customers didn't complain... I would like the drive, but will take some time for there being discs here for me to buy.
