Eurogamer: PS4 developers can only access a guaranteed 4.5GB of RAM, rest reserved for the OS.

[Deleted_171835]

*Update* Ron mentioned that Sony have released official word on the matter. As they describe it the issue was a misinterpretation of the actual setup which appears to be a mix of traditional memory and a kind of virtual memory which is also available for access by the game. Further quotes on Eurogamer and the post itself.

The most lauded part of the PS4 specs is the 8GB of GDDR5 RAM. While most people were expecting game developers to have access to 7GB of that RAM, it seems that the amount of memory reserved to devs is less than the Xbox One which offers 5GB to devs versus 4.5 on the PS4.

PlayStation 4 reserves 3.5GB of its 8GB GDDR5 memory for the operating system, leaving 4.5GB of space for game code, according to current PlayStation 4 documentation shown to Digital Foundry by a well-placed development source.

However, other sources close to Sony indicate that developers can request up to an additional gigabyte of "flexible memory", and use it to boost elements of the game - but only if the background OS can spare it. We're told that incorporating this isn't trivial, and it may well be that to begin with only first-party developers target its usage.

In addition, two Jaguar CPU cores are allocated to the operating system just like the Xbox One.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-ps3-system-software-memory

 

[marksteele]

rather ridiculous really. If they actually focused their consoles on GAMES, this wouldn't happen.

 

[FireEmblemGuy]

I can understand 1GB, maybe even two, but 3.5 seems rather excessive.

 

[Sterling]

Up to 5GB of RAM (with caveats) is still quite a bit compared to current generation consoles. I think OSes shouldn't be so big on game consoles though. Kind of stupid if you ask me.

 

[EzekielRage]

To be expected, really. It is silly that an OS needs so much RAM but its nothing new...

 

[Gahars]

Well, the PS4 is supposed to be able to record and upload a whole lot of gameplay footage on the fly, so I'm guessing that's where the demand for RAM comes from.

As far as RAM usage goes, 4.5-5.5 gb should be more than plenty for game developers. I mean, we've been dealing with 256-512 mb as a console standard for quite some time now, so no matter what, it's still a huge leap forward. There's no real need to complain about this RAM job.

 

[ilman]

Why would a console OS need so much RAM?
The PS3 OS did a fine job and it fit with a game in 256MB of RAM. (correct me if I'm wrong)

 

[GameWinner]

Why would a console OS need so much RAM?
The PS3 OS did a fine job and it fit with a game in 256MB of RAM. (correct me if I'm wrong)

Probably to avoid the same problem with the PS3. IIRC the PS3 couldn't get features like cross game chat due to the ram (something they fixed with the Vita).

 

[K3Nv2]

Isn't this the same with PC games?

 

[trumpet-205]

Key highlights in PS4 are gameplay streaming and background downloading, so additional RAM are probably for these tasks.

 

[marksteele]

Isn't this the same with PC games?

Not really. For one thing, windows 7 requires only 2GB (minimum ofc), and for another, you can actually upgrade your ram on a PC, can't on a console.

 

[K3Nv2]

Not really. For one thing, windows 7 requires only 2GB (minimum ofc), and for another, you can actually upgrade ur ram on a PC, can't on a console.

All you need is a 8gbs of ram for gaming pcs, how many games out there take 3gbs of ram to run?

 

[emigre]

Why would a console OS need so much RAM?
The PS3 OS did a fine job and it fit with a game in 256MB of RAM. (correct me if I'm wrong)

With XMB, you also have to wait for icons to load which to be honest is pretty fucking irritating.

 

[Deleted member 194275]

I thought that PS4 had 16gb... Anyway, X360 has 512mb GDDR3 I think and can do mult task so I doubt that PS4 would need 3.5gb GDDR5 for the system. Even that the news do not look like just a gossip, I think I dont believe it.

 

[Mantis41]

Not sure why I feel let down by this. When I heard the console had 8GB I thought, wow 7GB for games which seemed to open up all sorts of possibilities for the future. Perhaps 4.5 is enough but is does lower my expectations somewhat.

 

[FireEmblemGuy]

Not really. For one thing, windows 7 requires only 2GB (minimum ofc), and for another, you can actually upgrade your ram on a PC, can't on a console.

Technically, Windows 7 and 8 only require 1GB of RAM - although they state 2GB minimum for the 64-bit version, I have Windows 8 64-bit running at around 900MB of RAM at startup with Rainmeter, Core Temp and AutoHotKey running in the background. You need 1.5-2GB to actually do much of anything, sure, but you can run them on a gig or so.

And that's what confuses me most about this news. The PS4 likely isn't aiming to run as complex an operating system as Windows; it'll likely be a more RAM-friendly, cut down Linux-based OS. The basics of it, even with the eye candy for menus and backgrounds, should not total out to even one gig of RAM. The premium features, such as background downloads and cross-chat and video recording, shouldn't take up a whole lot more than another GB, unless they're letting us record for a near-limitless amount of time, or record our voice chats as well, or something equally ridiculous. Reserving anything more than 2GB just seems wasteful to me.

 

[Snailface]

Haha Sony fanboys, the honeymoon is OVER!
No RamBytes = no Graphicks: PS4 Doomed!


What is with these new consoles reserving 1/2 their RAM for the OS?
Just to swap in and out between game and OS is not a good enough reason imo.

 

[marksteele]

Technically, Windows 7 and 8 only require 1GB of RAM - although they state 2GB minimum for the 64-bit version, I have Windows 8 64-bit running at around 900MB of RAM at startup with Rainmeter, Core Temp and AutoHotKey running in the background. You need 1.5-2GB to actually do much of anything, sure, but you can run them on a gig or so.

And that's what confuses me most about this news. The PS4 likely isn't aiming to run as complex an operating system as Windows; it'll likely be a more RAM-friendly, cut down Linux-based OS. The basics of it, even with the eye candy for menus and backgrounds, should not total out to even one gig of RAM. The premium features, such as background downloads and cross-chat and video recording, shouldn't take up a whole lot more than another GB, unless they're letting us record for a near-limitless amount of time, or record our voice chats as well, or something equally ridiculous. Reserving anything more than 2GB just seems wasteful to me.

mmm my assumption was that consoles run 64 bit architecture.

 

[Osha]

Wow, big deal... It's not like games require that much ram to begin with, seriously.

 

[Snailface]

Wow, big deal... It's not like games require that much ram to begin with, seriously.

Streaming open worlds would like to have a word with you.

 

[grossaffe]

The more consoles try to do outside of gaming, the more they lose their advantage of getting the most out of their hardware for games versus PC.

 

[Qtis]

I'm a bit surprised, but then again, quite a few games on the PC side can run on a lot less RAM than 4.5 GB. The OS and other stuff such as anti-virus software take up RAM quite fast when running alongside the games. The video recording does seem to take a lot, but we'll see how this ends up in the future. It's not like they couldn't release more RAM after the OS optimizes a bit more.