(Condensed Version):
You Can't Build A PS4: Why Sony's Next Console Is Truly Next-Gen And Your PC Isn't
The PS4 uses hardware that you simply cantget for your custom gaming PC.
RAM-BO
In the PC set-up, we have 8 gigs of common DDR3 RAM, but Sony has somehow crammed the same amount of GDDR5 RAM into its PS4.
GDDR5 is primarily used in graphics chips. Its not something you see used as system RAM at all.
For instance, the nVidia Titan GPU, which costs $1000 by itself, has just 6GB of GDDR5 RAM, and thats still all reserved for the GPU. Youll be hard-pressed to findany PC with GDDR5 plugged directly into the motherboard rather than sitting on the graphics card. This just isnt how PCs work at the moment, though that will likely change.
GDDR5, while suffering from slightly higher latency, offers a substantial bandwidth boost over DDR3, and given the make-up of the integrated CPU/GPU chip in the PS4 this will translate to a substantial performance boost.
One Chip to rule them all
Next up we have the CPU/GPU configuration.
Again, what Sony has done with the PS4 is something that PC builders simply cannot do yet. PCs come with two separate chips connected over a PCI-E chipset.
The PS4, on the other hand, houses an integrated CPU/GPU custom AMD chipthe Jaguar CPU is not available for purchase yet and the GPU side of the equation is said to be similar to AMD cards running in the $200 price-range. The secret weapon here isnt either the 8-core CPU or the GPU, but rather how the two are paired.
Both the processor and the graphics card are built into the same chip and both tap into that 8GB of DDR5 memory at onceits a unified memory setup as opposed to the system your PC uses, with the CPU utilizing your DDR3 system memory and your GPU harnessing the more robust GDDR5.
What does this mean? Basically it means that the two chips will be able to communicate with one another much faster and more efficiently than in a traditional PC set-up. Combine this with the high-bandwidth GDDR5 memory and the fact that much of the traditional CPU tasks will be offloaded to the GPU, and you have a machine that you simply cannot compare to a modern PC.
The fact is, no matter how you slice or dice it, you cant build a PC with the same specs or performance as the PS4. You could almost certainly build something faster and more powerful, but it will cost you more than the PS4 is likely going to cost.
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