haxxiy said:
Alby_da_Wolf said:
The Jaguar could easily fit now, some years later. Settling on a custom Zen 2 for PS5 base model, Zen 3 or later will allow the same, hopefully not too late, if the original custom Zen 2 isn't too powerful. But for the GPU things changed on many fronts: current gen consoles, plus slow PC HW market (PC games are thriving because PCs last long and so the install base, already large, is growing anyway, but PC HW market isn't thriving at all) kept minimum specs stable at a very reasonable level for a long time, and now Switch too arrived, so any games able to scale down to undocked NS GPU power, won't have any problem to scale down to a far more powerful undocked hybrid PS5 GPU, while most games that won't be able to scale down to undocked NS, will probably be able to do it to undocked PS5, maybe with some tweaks. A stable minimum reference HW power on both x86 consoles and PC actually changed the game, and even more did it the fact that on the small screen of a portable, time has come when further increases in GPU power give less and less noticeable improvements, compared with current portable GPUs, a next gen portable, or undocked hybrid could need just a little better FX and higher framerate, totally feasible at a nice price and low power consumption if a hybrid will have to wait for portable Zen 3 or later CPU anyway.
Most probably the GPU power difference between docked and undocked will be large enough that either the hybrid will need to switch between two different GPUs or the docked hybrid will have a GPU power quite higher than undocked, but anyway noticeably lower than the home-only version.
Anyhow, we talk about a very wide range of GPU scalability, so a hybrid version must be planned in time if they want it to be viable and not a blood bath.
|
Wait, so now you want a PS5 portable like the Switch, am I understanding this right?
Not happening anytime soon... it's possible couldn't even be physically possible. The (undocked) Switch is a mobile GPU from 2015 running running at 160 MHz, consuming no more than 4 - 5 Watts. The PS5 will likely have a GPU around 120 - 150 Watts. The power consumption improvements from node to node continue to diminish and that's already factoring in the fact these chips have considerably lower transistor densities than the node would theoretically allow (meaning leakage is a significant issue even at standard temperatures, so these chips need better electron flow).
That's a 30x gap in power consumption which can't be solved by any amount of underclocking, lower resolution and upcoming nodes / architectures. Certainly not in the scale of a console generation or two, at least. As you mention, of course, a more advanced portable console than the Switch, with its own SoC could potentially receive dowgraded ports from the next generation as the Switch received ports this generation. But I don't see Sony indulging in such adventure considering its costs. Specially when streaming from either console or server to a portable screen will be a feasible, "good enough" alternative solution.
|
Well, we can try to divide the overall problem in parts and see if they can be attacked and solved separately.
1) PS5 will use Navi based custom GPU. This creates room for performance per watt improvements if PS5 Hybrid will come later and it will use Arcturus tech
2) PS5 will deliver 4k graphics @ high framerate or even 8k at lower framerate, on typically 32" or larger screens, while undocked PS5Hy will use a smaller than 7" screen, that even if watched closer, will need at most 1080p graphics. Maybe native screen res will be higher, the console will be able to use it either for less demanding than gaming uses, like multimedia, or to implement memory consuming, but computing lightweight AA methods. Polygon count needed on undocked PS5Hy will be far lower too. This will probably deliver the largest share of the watt savings thanks just to lower graphics performances needed, and this saving will be multiplied by the performance per watt improvement
3) Savings by game design: if the hybrid is an afterthought, little is possible on this front and the hybrid should count only on scaling down graphics as much as possible (point 2) and performance per watt improvements (point 1), with possible patches allowing some more in the best case, and simply enabling saving 2 in the worst, but if the hybrid is planned since the start (although its launch is planned later), and dev kits take it into account, there is some margin to allow devs to offer more savings in undocked mode and larger performance boost in docked hybrid, and, more important for that audience, home-only version
4) The more Switch and Switch 2 will be successful, the more life will be easy for Sony too if it plans a hybrid, as Ninty philosophy will force devs to keep muliplat games minimum requirements very reasonable, almost frugal. This could apply even to some 3rd party exclusives, if they start developing them before chosing a single console maker to strike an exclusive deal with.
5) VR games with local multiplayer with multiple VR sets linked to a single home PS5 will have to offer gamers lower res than in single player anyway, on this issue gamers taking their own PS5Hy and using its GPU for their VR set could allow other gamers to have less scaled down graphics, or to more gamers to play, or both things.
All the aforementioned points work in favour of a PS5 Hybrid, the only users that could be moderately disappointed are the graphics whores, but the most die-hard ones would find acceptable high-end PC graphics only anyway.
