Anyone care to explain why Unified GDDR 5 RAM is somehow magic tech now?

God, hermits always crack me up.  For years its "consoles are always held back my limted ram" Now its " Ram isnt that big of a deal"

LMAO!

I don't think the PS4 is magic tech.

I think it's the equivalent of a mid-range PC, just pre-built and more fun to use and better supported.

LazySloth718

Better supported ? :roll: 

I know dozens of multiplats that sucked on PS3, for example, Skyrim. Bad optimization is also true for consoles.

And PS3 was getting worst multi-plats this gen. 

God, hermits always crack me up.  For years its "consoles are always held back my limted ram" Now its " Ram isnt that big of a deal"

LMAO!

AM-Gamer

I don't think the PS4 is magic tech.

I think it's the equivalent of a mid-range PC, just pre-built and more fun to use and better supported.

LazySloth718

Better supported ? :roll: 

I know dozens of multiplats that sucked on PS3, for example, Skyrim. Bad optimization is also true for consoles.

And PS3 was getting worst multi-plats this gen. 

And by the end of the year it´s not gonna be even a mid-range PC but rather low-range. This is an incovenient truth Sony doesn´t want to recognize.

Doesn't current rumours have it that nextbox has 32mb eeprom to help boost ram speeds? If so, it would take th emajority of the bite out of the difference between DRR3 and DDR5

[QUOTE="Silenthps"]anywayz.... I give it about 2-3 years before the average mid-ranged PC will have 16gb DDR4 + 8gb GDDR6 and crytek makes a cryengine4 game that'll make those PC's explode and consoles will yet again be left in the dustglez13

Doubt it. In 2-3 years the average mid-range GPU will probably have 3 max 4Gb GDDR6. In 2-3 years most probably only the $1000 or whatever GPU of turn will have 8Gb.

Regarding the topic. I doubt people really understand how memory affects graphics. While textures aren't a big burden in performance they still have an impact and I doubt that something with a power similar to a 7850 will benefit from VRAM past 3Gb while speculating the other advancements in graphics that will occur with a gen leap and it will have to sustain along side.

[QUOTE="LazySloth718"]

I don't think the PS4 is magic tech.

I think it's the equivalent of a mid-range PC, just pre-built and more fun to use and better supported.

jhonMalcovich

Better supported ? :roll: 

I know dozens of multiplats that sucked on PS3, for example, Skyrim. Bad optimization is also true for consoles.

And PS3 was getting worst multi-plats this gen. 

And by the end of the year it´s not gonna be even a mid-range PC but rather low-range. This is an incovenient truth Sony doesn´t want to recognize.

Yeah they messed up on their third-party support this gen.

As strong or weak as console are next gen, PC development will be pegged to that standard, so you better hope they do a good job.

PC gamers have no ecosystem of their own, they try to act like console bros thinking it will make their system less generic, but in the end there's nothing like the "real thing."

If you want a Playstation experience you need a Playstation.

If you want a PC experience then I question your mental health and send my regards to your loved ones.

God, hermits always crack me up.  For years its "consoles are always held back my limted ram" Now its " Ram isnt that big of a deal"

LMAO!

AM-Gamer

That's because now it will probably be the other way around, the GPU will held back the RAM. It's like when people buy those low end cards that are a little more expensive because they have extra VRAM than the normal ones but they don't realize that they are better off spending that little extra in the next GPU of the tier because the extra VRAM is almost useless with a card that weak.

Better expain me this: how is it possible that a next gen PS4´s AMD GPU is only 1.82 TFLOPS, and my 4-year old ATI 5870 is 2.72 TFLOPS ?

[QUOTE="AM-Gamer"]

God, hermits always crack me up.  For years its "consoles are always held back my limted ram" Now its " Ram isnt that big of a deal"

LMAO!

glez13

That's because now it will probably be the other way around, the GPU will held back the RAM. It's like when people buy those low end cards that are a little more expensive because they have extra VRAM than the normal ones but they don't realize that they are better off spending that little extra in the next GPU of the tier because the extra VRAM is almost useless with a card that weak.

GPU RAM blah blah

When will you understand? That's not what the fun of console gaming is about.

That's PC-think.

That's the reason why PC gaming is closer to balancing your checkbook than having a gaming experience.

[QUOTE="AM-Gamer"]

God, hermits always crack me up.  For years its "consoles are always held back my limted ram" Now its " Ram isnt that big of a deal"

LMAO!

glez13

That's because now it will probably be the other way around, the GPU will held back the RAM. It's like when people buy those low end cards that are a little more expensive because they have extra VRAM than the normal ones but they don't realize that they are better off spending that little extra in the next GPU of the tier because the extra VRAM is almost useless with a card that weak.

Its no worse then the PS3' GPU was for its time.  The diffrence now is the system has a easier to develope architecture and 16times the ram.  It should be fine considering all it has to do is make games in 1080p from 30 to 60 fps.  Thats what hermits dont realize. Its no going for beyond 1080p and 200fps.

[QUOTE="glez13"]

[QUOTE="AM-Gamer"]

God, hermits always crack me up.  For years its "consoles are always held back my limted ram" Now its " Ram isnt that big of a deal"

LMAO!

LazySloth718

That's because now it will probably be the other way around, the GPU will held back the RAM. It's like when people buy those low end cards that are a little more expensive because they have extra VRAM than the normal ones but they don't realize that they are better off spending that little extra in the next GPU of the tier because the extra VRAM is almost useless with a card that weak.

GPU RAM blah blah

When will you understand? That's not what the fun of console gaming is about.

That's PC-think.

That's the reason why PC gaming is closer to balancing your checkbook than having a gaming experience.

[QUOTE="seanmcloughlin"]

Because not a lot of them know what it actually is and they think because it was speculated as 4GB and now it's suddenly 8GB that it means far better graphics. They think somehow it pulls magical power out of somewhere and I can see it now, when it releases alongside the 720 and the 720 has 4GB then the 8GB of RAM will become then new cell for cows to gloat about. 

They will say it has some untapped power and that it's far greater than the 720 yet multiplats will all look the same again. 

nextgenjoke

Better expain me this: how is it possible that a next gen PS4´s AMD GPU is only 1.82 TFLOPS, and my 4-year old ATI 5870 is 2.72 TFLOPS ?

jhonMalcovich

Hardware ponzi scheme

1. They sell you hot hardware

2. No software bothers to use it efficiently or well

3. Next year they sell you an even stronger card with claims that it will raise your gaming experience

Think about it

Your hardware right now is probably 10x stronger than current gen consoles.

Did you have a 10x better experience?

Nope

Did you have 10x better graphics?

Nope

Did you have 10x better ecosystem?

Nope

What you had in fact was a worse gaming experience on better hardware.

[QUOTE="jhonMalcovich"]

[QUOTE="LazySloth718"]

Better supported ? :roll: 

I know dozens of multiplats that sucked on PS3, for example, Skyrim. Bad optimization is also true for consoles.

And PS3 was getting worst multi-plats this gen. 

And by the end of the year it´s not gonna be even a mid-range PC but rather low-range. This is an incovenient truth Sony doesn´t want to recognize.

LazySloth718

Yeah they messed up on their third-party support this gen.

As strong or weak as console are next gen, PC development will be pegged to that standard, so you better hope they do a good job.

PC gamers have no ecosystem of their own, they try to act like console bros thinking it will make their system less generic, but in the end there's nothing like the "real thing."

If you want a Playstation experience you need a Playstation.

If you want a PC experience then I question your mental health and send my regards to your loved ones.

PC gamers have no ecosystem of their own

So for you Steam, GOG, the biggest mod communities, the biggest online communites, infinite backward compatibility, bigger peripherals range  isn´t an PC ecosystem :roll:

I think PC gaming is fun, ergo you're wrong. clyde46

You're entitled to your opinion but console gamers don't show up at PC sites.

PC has nothing to offer them.

But PC gamers show up at console sites and try to act like console bros.

Why?

So for you Steam, GOG, the biggest mod communities, the biggest online communites, infinite backward compatibility, bigger peripherals range  isn´t an PC ecosystem :roll:

jhonMalcovich

Along with infinite upgrades, infinite logins, infinite Steam popups, infinite "damn what was my Origin password, I forgot", infinite google searches, infinite Tom's Hardware readings, infinite self-doubt, infinite putting gaming crap on your work PC, etc etc.

Console gamers can just sit down and enjoy themselves.

You can't.

Twelve year old $ony fan trolls having no clue how computers work. It's teh cell all over again.

[QUOTE="jhonMalcovich"]

Better expain me this: how is it possible that a next gen PS4´s AMD GPU is only 1.82 TFLOPS, and my 4-year old ATI 5870 is 2.72 TFLOPS ?

LazySloth718

Hardware ponzi scheme

1. They sell you hot hardware

2. No software bothers to use it efficiently or well

3. Next year they sell you an even stronger card with claims that it will raise your gaming experience

Think about it

Your hardware right now is probably 10x stronger than current gen consoles.

Did you have a 10x better experience?

Nope

Yes

Did you have 10x better graphics?

Nope

Yes

Did you have 10x better ecosystem?

Nope

Totally yes

What you had in fact was a worse gaming experience on better hardware.

Nop

My answers are in red.

[QUOTE="jhonMalcovich"]

So for you Steam, GOG, the biggest mod communities, the biggest online communites, infinite backward compatibility, bigger peripherals range  isn´t an PC ecosystem :roll:

LazySloth718

Along with infinite upgrades, infinite logins, infinite Steam popups, infinite "damn what was my Origin password, I forgot", infinite google searches, infinite Tom's Hardware readings, infinite self-doubt, infinite putting gaming crap on your work PC, etc etc.

Console gamers can just sit down and enjoy themselves.

You can't.

Well, if you are a mentally challenged person then you will have this kind of problems.

[QUOTE="jhonMalcovich"]

Better expain me this: how is it possible that a next gen PS4´s AMD GPU is only 1.82 TFLOPS, and my 4-year old ATI 5870 is 2.72 TFLOPS ?

LazySloth718

Hardware ponzi scheme

1. They sell you hot hardware

2. No software bothers to use it efficiently or well

3. Next year they sell you an even stronger card with claims that it will raise your gaming experience

Think about it

Your hardware right now is probably 10x stronger than current gen consoles.

Did you have a 10x better experience?

Nope

Did you have 10x better graphics?

Nope

Did you have 10x better ecosystem?

Nope

What you had in fact was a worse gaming experience on better hardware.

My gaming experiance on my PC is far better than on my consoles.

What a lot of console owners dont understand is the exponential difference in power it recquires to run even  average looking games like COD at 1080p AND 60FPS with console visuals, and COD is hideous!

Imagine the power needed to run GOOD looking titles like Far Cry 3, then add in the enhanced graphical assets and AA etc.

The API overhead surely isnt THAT bad.

[QUOTE="nextgenjoke"][QUOTE="seanmcloughlin"]

Because not a lot of them know what it actually is and they think because it was speculated as 4GB and now it's suddenly 8GB that it means far better graphics. They think somehow it pulls magical power out of somewhere and I can see it now, when it releases alongside the 720 and the 720 has 4GB then the 8GB of RAM will become then new cell for cows to gloat about. 

They will say it has some untapped power and that it's far greater than the 720 yet multiplats will all look the same again. 

Shielder7

[QUOTE="glez13"]

[QUOTE="AM-Gamer"]

God, hermits always crack me up.  For years its "consoles are always held back my limted ram" Now its " Ram isnt that big of a deal"

LMAO!

AM-Gamer

That's because now it will probably be the other way around, the GPU will held back the RAM. It's like when people buy those low end cards that are a little more expensive because they have extra VRAM than the normal ones but they don't realize that they are better off spending that little extra in the next GPU of the tier because the extra VRAM is almost useless with a card that weak.

Its no worse then the PS3' GPU was for its time.  The diffrence now is the system has a easier to develope architecture and 16times the ram.  It should be fine considering all it has to do is make games in 1080p from 30 to 60 fps.  Thats what hermits dont realize. Its no going for beyond 1080p and 200fps.

The problem is that the equivalent of that GPU on PC is already having trouble with a current gen game like Crysis 3 to reach 1080p 30fps and that is with the best CPU there is right now. When the real next gen games come out with the new engines we will probably start to see fps revolving in the 20's and custom resolutions below 1080p.

Pretty much all current gaming PCs have DDR3 for system ram and GDDR5 for VRAM (except some low-mid range GPUs that have even VRAM DDR3), there is little option. I have no idea what would happen with gaming performance if I put DDR2 RAM into my PC though, gotta try it eventually :D

Regarding the impact of RAM on level design - it could actually be pretty huge. If you have a lot of RAM, you can load bigger levels into it. PS360 were both bottlenecked by RAM so most developers were trying to get around this limited amount of RAM. For example Uncharted 2 streams a lot of stuff from very slow blue ray to PS3 harddrive and then accesses the harddrive data when needed and loads them to RAM just before the CPU and GPU needs to work with it. Thats only possible when you design levels like corridors so devs can predict what data your GPU and CPU gonna need in next few seconds or minutes.

The PS4 seems to be designed the other way around - the amount and badwith of its RAM looks like total overkill when compared to the CPU/GPU. But that will allow totally different approach for devs, they can now load tons of stuff to the RAM i.e. - bigger and more complex levels with no loading, higher res and more varied textures, etc. etc.

Just wondering, I have never seen anybody building gaming machines have an orgasm over RAM before... and this whole "zomg unfied GDDR5 is soooo much faster than DDR3 RAM". I don't know a single person who has ever really cared when they went from DDR 2 to DDR3 ect.

Its like the most minamal and cheap upgrade to a system you can find.

Damage control? no, I don't care, I'm leaning towards a PS4 infact.

But cows, or System Warriors in general.... what do you actually know of this pretty standard tech to make out that this will make games amazing over the next xbox which will likely have gddr3 8gb?

you realize the version differents are small right....

MBirdy88

1. consoles usally have very low ram, xbox 360 had 512MB only and PS4 has 8GB, that is 16x more ram !!!!!!

2. it is unified, making PC look like a bad joke with the separate pools and texture swaping, that alone brings PS4 4-5 years ahead of PC

3. it is SUPER fast, it is like your main PC ram was Vram AND you never had to swap textures, the gain would be like 1000%

4. PCs today barely use 6GB ram and that is with the 2GB OS, so PS4 essentially is years ahead of PC in ram size and architecture

[QUOTE="clyde46"]I think PC gaming is fun, ergo you're wrong. LazySloth718

You're entitled to your opinion but console gamers don't show up at PC sites.

PC has nothing to offer them.

But PC gamers show up at console sites and try to act like console bros.

Why?

This isn't a console site.

Come at me bro.

[QUOTE="MBirdy88"]

Just wondering, I have never seen anybody building gaming machines have an orgasm over RAM before... and this whole "zomg unfied GDDR5 is soooo much faster than DDR3 RAM". I don't know a single person who has ever really cared when they went from DDR 2 to DDR3 ect.

Its like the most minamal and cheap upgrade to a system you can find.

Damage control? no, I don't care, I'm leaning towards a PS4 infact.

But cows, or System Warriors in general.... what do you actually know of this pretty standard tech to make out that this will make games amazing over the next xbox which will likely have gddr3 8gb?

you realize the version differents are small right....

loosingENDS

1. consoles usally have very low ram, xbox 360 had 512MB only and PS4 has 8GB, that is 16x more ram !!!!!!

2. it is unified, making PC look like a bad joke with the separate pools and texture swaping, that alone brings PS4 4-5 years ahead of PC

3. it is SUPER fast, it is like your main PC ram was Vram AND you never had to swap textures, the gain would be like 1000%

4. PCs today barely use 6GB ram and that is with the 2GB OS, so PS4 essentially is years ahead of PC in ram size and architecture

AAAANNNNDDD, he's back folks.

I found this relevant.

http://www.castle-vidcons.com/2013/02/25/comic-98-gddr5-ram/#comments

[QUOTE="loosingENDS"]

[QUOTE="MBirdy88"]

Just wondering, I have never seen anybody building gaming machines have an orgasm over RAM before... and this whole "zomg unfied GDDR5 is soooo much faster than DDR3 RAM". I don't know a single person who has ever really cared when they went from DDR 2 to DDR3 ect.

Its like the most minamal and cheap upgrade to a system you can find.

Damage control? no, I don't care, I'm leaning towards a PS4 infact.

But cows, or System Warriors in general.... what do you actually know of this pretty standard tech to make out that this will make games amazing over the next xbox which will likely have gddr3 8gb?

you realize the version differents are small right....

Kinthalis

1. consoles usally have very low ram, xbox 360 had 512MB only and PS4 has 8GB, that is 16x more ram !!!!!!

2. it is unified, making PC look like a bad joke with the separate pools and texture swaping, that alone brings PS4 4-5 years ahead of PC

3. it is SUPER fast, it is like your main PC ram was Vram AND you never had to swap textures, the gain would be like 1000%

4. PCs today barely use 6GB ram and that is with the 2GB OS, so PS4 essentially is years ahead of PC in ram size and architecture

AAAANNNNDDD, he's back folks.

Damn. I preferred the 2D rocks-3D sucks version of loosingends from recent past months, he stayed out of most topics I frequent. I guess he's back into technology. -_-

because a bunch of neogafs guys said this was good and so it's really good

also devs said this is awesome for our games (please buy our games) so I'm gonna do it

_____

It is quite a nice boost though.

I'm surprised I've not seen anyone mention that PC's have DDR3 Ram and GDDR5. My system has 8GB DDR3, which of course can be upgraded for both more and faster DDR3, for all the stuff that the CPU needs to do and 4BG GDDR5 dedicated to my 2 GPU's (4GB is pretty common on high end single cards now as well).

The PS4 may be getting 8GB GDDR5 but it's getting used by the CPU and GPU, at the end of the day there will probably be around 4 to 5 GB of RAM dedicated to the GPU and the rest will be used by the system. It's a good thing that it is getting a large chunk of fast RAM and probably helps add some longevity to the system but it's nothing miraculous. At the moment there is no way of telling what the effects of this RAM will be to the PS4, without really knowing what the CPU/GPU are capable of.

I'm on no way downplaying the importance of RAM, it's as important as any other part of a computer and definitely not something to cheap out on.

Nov 30 20011  Sony HQ    PS4 development meeting

Sony CEO: We need to come up with something amazing. I want Bill Gates to be in shock for weeks.....WEEKS  DAMMIT!

Sony engineer: How about a new CELL proce...

Sony CEO: NOOOOOOOOO just no. :x $2 billion wasted on development when we could have just used a Core2Duo........I still have nightmares :cry:

Sony engineer: A new faster bluray drive? :?

Sony CEO: .........:evil: Everyone has a bluray nowadays... that sh!t just won't cut it...

Sony engineer: how about RAM...lots of it... like 8GB :roll:

Sony CEO: That's not enough.....in a year the hermits will be laughing in our face....damn them and their glorious master race :evil:

Sony engineer: But it's GDDR 5 RAM :)

Sony CEO: GDDR 5 RAM???? Is that cheap?

Sony engineer: Yeah like 40 bucks. :D

Sony CEO: 8GB RAM it is then..........:cool:  ........this and MGS 5 a PS4 exclusive :twisted:.......fuk you Bill Gates..........FUK YOUUUUUUUU! :lol:

[QUOTE="jhonMalcovich"]

So for you Steam, GOG, the biggest mod communities, the biggest online communites, infinite backward compatibility, bigger peripherals range  isn´t an PC ecosystem :roll:

LazySloth718

Along with infinite upgrades, infinite logins, infinite Steam popups, infinite "damn what was my Origin password, I forgot", infinite google searches, infinite Tom's Hardware readings, infinite self-doubt, infinite putting gaming crap on your work PC, etc etc.

Console gamers can just sit down and enjoy themselves.

You can't.

Do you like to talk out of your @$$? Because I also enjoy playing my PC games with a gamepad and on the couch

PS4's architecture is supposed to be PC-like, but it's also strange. GDDR5 for the rest of the system? Seriously? I'm pretty sure that there must be DDR3 somewhere for the system to access, and it's where video graphics won't have anything to do with.

GDDR5 is dedicated for the GPU. My question is how can the CPU access it? I seriously don't know how that works. Looks like it's the new "Cell!" for next-gen.

[QUOTE="Kinthalis"]

[QUOTE="loosingENDS"]

1. consoles usally have very low ram, xbox 360 had 512MB only and PS4 has 8GB, that is 16x more ram !!!!!!

2. it is unified, making PC look like a bad joke with the separate pools and texture swaping, that alone brings PS4 4-5 years ahead of PC

3. it is SUPER fast, it is like your main PC ram was Vram AND you never had to swap textures, the gain would be like 1000%

4. PCs today barely use 6GB ram and that is with the 2GB OS, so PS4 essentially is years ahead of PC in ram size and architecture

glez13

AAAANNNNDDD, he's back folks.

Damn. I preferred the 2D rocks-3D sucks version of loosingends from recent past months, he stayed out of most topics I frequent. I guess he's back into technology. -_-

Well, 3D worlds are starting to have the detail of 2D art for the first time this generation, so why not ?

PS4's architecture is supposed to be PC-like, but it's also strange. GDDR5 for the rest of the system? Seriously? I'm pretty sure that there must be DDR3 somewhere for the system to access, and it's where video graphics won't have anything to do with.

GDDR5 is dedicated for the GPU. My question is how can the CPU access it? I seriously don't know how that works. Looks like it's the new "Cell!" for next-gen.

GeForce-

Just because you are can't understand it doesn't make it complex.

PS4's architecture is supposed to be PC-like, but it's also strange. GDDR5 for the rest of the system? Seriously? I'm pretty sure that there must be DDR3 somewhere for the system to access, and it's where video graphics won't have anything to do with.

GDDR5 is dedicated for the GPU. My question is how can the CPU access it? I seriously don't know how that works. Looks like it's the new "Cell!" for next-gen.

GeForce-

It is confirmed unified ram, both CPU and GPU can access it and there is zero need for texture swapping

It is like 360 ram, that made all the difference to PS3 that was stalled by the two separate pools

Generally PS4 is a technical marvel and has most PC bottlenecks removed too

[QUOTE="GeForce-"]

PS4's architecture is supposed to be PC-like, but it's also strange. GDDR5 for the rest of the system? Seriously? I'm pretty sure that there must be DDR3 somewhere for the system to access, and it's where video graphics won't have anything to do with.

GDDR5 is dedicated for the GPU. My question is how can the CPU access it? I seriously don't know how that works. Looks like it's the new "Cell!" for next-gen.

StrongBlackVine

Just because you are can't understand it doesn't make it complex.

You are can't?

Try again please, and make sure it's in English.

Wrong. GPU 1.84TF on consoles = GPU 1.84TF on PC if PC compensates this with its usually higher CPU clocks and CPU cache.jhonMalcovich

PS4's architecture is supposed to be PC-like, but it's also strange. GDDR5 for the rest of the system? Seriously? I'm pretty sure that there must be DDR3 somewhere for the system to access, and it's where video graphics won't have anything to do with.

GDDR5 is dedicated for the GPU. My question is how can the CPU access it? I seriously don't know how that works. Looks like it's the new "Cell!" for next-gen.

GeForce-

[QUOTE="StrongBlackVine"]

[QUOTE="GeForce-"]

PS4's architecture is supposed to be PC-like, but it's also strange. GDDR5 for the rest of the system? Seriously? I'm pretty sure that there must be DDR3 somewhere for the system to access, and it's where video graphics won't have anything to do with.

GDDR5 is dedicated for the GPU. My question is how can the CPU access it? I seriously don't know how that works. Looks like it's the new "Cell!" for next-gen.

GeForce-

Just because you are can't understand it doesn't make it complex.

You are can't?

Try again please, and make sure it's in English.

The fact that you cannot understand does not mean the new architecture is complicated. It has already been praised for being developer friendly. The complete opposite of the Cell. Clear enough for you?

[QUOTE="GeForce-"]

PS4's architecture is supposed to be PC-like, but it's also strange. GDDR5 for the rest of the system? Seriously? I'm pretty sure that there must be DDR3 somewhere for the system to access, and it's where video graphics won't have anything to do with.

GDDR5 is dedicated for the GPU. My question is how can the CPU access it? I seriously don't know how that works. Looks like it's the new "Cell!" for next-gen.

loosingENDS

It is confirmed unified ram, both CPU and GPU can access it and there is zero need for texture swapping

It is like 360 ram, that made all the difference to PS3 that was stalled by the two separate pools

Generally PS4 is a technical marvel and has most PC bottlenecks removed too

So it's basically a big pool of memory for the rest of system to use. That's cool.

Definitely not the same as PC. I'm sure that PS4 is at an advantage for using that kind of memory; no bottleneck.

Because it's better than what most hermits have in their rigs. Sushiglutton

I think you should have said it's the bare minimum that hermits have in their rigs, that would be a lot more accurate.

[QUOTE="jun_aka_pekto"]

[QUOTE="seanmcloughlin"]

It does have that, but the RAM isn't all for gaming. You can't assign all 8 gigs for games and because of all the new background features Sony are bringing in you will lose a lot of that due to other things even the OS. Like I said it's a step in the right direction and opens up the system a whole lot more than before. and 8 gigs was the right choice

seanmcloughlin

Two thing are in the PS4's favor.

1. I think it'll be a few years before we see total RAM usage hit 8Gb. As it is, I barely go past 4Gb on my PC and 1.5Gb of that is usually for Windows 7.

So, the PS4 has some future-proofing built-in.

2. Sony chose some pretty fast RAM to use. At least, I think it's fast for gaming duties. The PS4 RAM can be allocated to both CPU and GPU as required. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I have 8Gb of system RAM with half sitting dormant most of the time while the 1Gb of my GTX 560 Ti is already being overwhelmed by some games.

They made some wise choices alright, future proofing a bit was a good idea but that only shows that they will likely drag out the PS4 gen like they did this one, so I hope it doesn't peak too son. 

And DDR5 is the fastest as far as I'm aware and I don't think it works the same as your PC seen as it's unified

I'd be more concerned with a unified RAM structure if there isn't a lot of RAM like with the 360. But, I think 8Gb is pretty safe for now unless we move to 4k sooner than expected.

The PS2 had RD RAM and PS3 had XDR RAM, so it's no surprise that Sony chose one of the fastest RAM out there, but it was surprising they chose so much of it. With the GPU in the PS4 I don't think they need more than 3GB dedicated for VRAM. But I guess they don't want to be behind MS in multitasking while gaming. But I'm glad they chose one fast type of RAM instead of having the first rumored 8GB DDR3 and 2.2GB VRAM, which was probably just an early dev kit.

If GDDR5 is standard tech why can't I buy it?

Obviously_Right

It's fvcking expensive and is used in GPUs only.  My desktop has 8gigs of DDR3 RAM, and my GPU has it's own 1.5gb of GDDR5.  The consoles are combining the RAM into one pool of shared memory