How much ram should does each of the big 3 need next gen?

After seeing how a certain "leak" mentioned Sony and all dat ram how much is too much?

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How much Ram is too much? or how much is needed for next gen to be cheap and effective? in Each console

Dat Ram.....

Depending on the cost (as I doubt RAM in general is directly transferrable to the RAM consoles will likely use), likely 2-3gb's.

2GB seems like the sweet spot between performance and affordablity.

2-4gb sounds good.

The other question being, with console price point in mind, will it be reasonable to expect DDR3 memory next gen, or will they use DDR2 to cut costs?

4GB's of RAM, RAM is ridiculously cheap, anybody can get 4GB's of RAM for $20-50. That means the big 3 should be able to get it for almost nothing, if anything they can even make it 8GB's. I doubt that'd be necessary, but it's still feasible.

The other question being, with console price point in mind, will it be reasonable to expect DDR3 memory next gen, or will they use DDR2 to cut costs?

AdobeArtist

RAM is dirt cheap so anything below 4GB is laughable

4GB RAM @1600Mhz on Newegg

10 Jiggabytes!!

despite the fact i made this kind of a joke thread, i still was interested in people that are more tech savvy then me. So how much would 4gb put the console? like launch priceeboyishere

Barely any. I posted a link above with the cost of 4GBs of RAM.

RAM is dirt cheap so anything below 4GB is laughable

4GB RAM @1600Mhz on Newegg

BPoole96

id say 2GB maybe 3 would be really good. Consoles dont need nearly as much as PC's do so 2GB would actually be more than enough i think. They dont even have on GB to work with now and they seem to do pretty well. You really cant compare it to PC ram though because like i said consoles need much less and then they are gonna be shooting for the lowest cost possible.

is say 2GB maybe 3 would be really good. Consoles dont need nearly as much as PC's do so 2GB would actually be more than enough i think. They dont even have on GB to work with now and they seem to do pretty well.

Gen007

id say 2GB maybe 3 would be really good. Consoles dont need nearly as much as PC's do so 2GB would actually be more than enough i think. They dont even have on GB to work with now and they seem to do pretty well. You really cant compare it to PC ram though because like i said consoles need much less and then they are gonna be shooting for the lowest cost possible.

Gen007

Yes, but the difference between price cost of 4GB of RAM and 8GB of RAM would be so tiny for console manufacturers that the extra RAM would help them a great deal. RAM is arguably the biggest problem in current gen consoles, a mere 512mb of RAM (especially with PS3's split memory pool) is nothing compared to 8GB which is not only much faster (thanks to DDR3) but also 16x as much. Still, they should focus on having an adequate amount of VRAM available while having more memory bandwidth since streaming is likely the way we're headed in terms of graphics or gaming in general. I want to be able to have light multi-tasking capabilities on my next console, and that requires a certain amount of RAM being allocated to the OS so that it's capable of doing so. Having 8GB of RAM is more than enough to supply expansive games and multi-tasking capabilities. Still, it's not 100% necessary.

[QUOTE="BPoole96"]

RAM is dirt cheap so anything below 4GB is laughable

4GB RAM @1600Mhz on Newegg

godzillavskong

Well on the one hand, consoles would run their own dedicated OS that would take up less RAM then Windows 7, and wouldn't need to worry about running a bunch of crap in the background.

On the other hand, RAM is so cheap I actually got two sticks of RAM, 4g each in my cereal this morning, and I just gave it to my cousin to play with. That is how cheap RAM is, so I can't see the excuse for them going ANY lower then 2gb next gen, and that's cutting it really low I think.

Probably 2GB. What people forget when they say "look at how cheap RAM is" is that's the cost for *one* console. So even if RAM only runs MS/Nintendo/Sony $1-2 per GB (taking into account wholesale pricing and the fact they're not buying whole DIMMs), multiply that by the 60+ odd million units they expect to move over the course of a generation and you can see why they're not thrilled with the idea of using any more than the bare minimum.

[QUOTE="Gen007"]

id say 2GB maybe 3 would be really good. Consoles dont need nearly as much as PC's do so 2GB would actually be more than enough i think. They dont even have on GB to work with now and they seem to do pretty well. You really cant compare it to PC ram though because like i said consoles need much less and then they are gonna be shooting for the lowest cost possible.

XVision84

Yes, but the difference between price cost of 4GB of RAM and 8GB of RAM would be so tiny for console manufacturers that the extra RAM would help them a great deal. RAM is arguably the biggest problem in current gen consoles, a mere 512mb of RAM (especially with PS3's split memory pool) is nothing compared to 8GB which is not only much faster (thanks to DDR3) but also 16x as much. Still, they should focus on having an adequate amount of VRAM available while having more memory bandwidth since streaming is likely the way we're headed in terms of graphics or gaming in general. I want to be able to have light multi-tasking capabilities on my next console, and that requires a certain amount of RAM being allocated to the OS so that it's capable of doing so. Having 8GB of RAM is more than enough to supply expansive games and multi-tasking capabilities. Still, it's not 100% necessary.

We are def not getting 8GB of ram in next gen consoles and I don't even think we will get 4GB really. I think your taking a very PC minded look at the situation when consoles are completely different beast. No matter how small the difference is between 4GB and 8GB is and its not that small actually yu can get 4 GB for much cheaper than you can get 8GB. That $20 or $30 difference is huge when it comes to production costs. They will end up choosing the cheaper option. Also 4GB would be a ton of ram for next gen consoles maybe even more than they need. They aren't PC's you wont be running windows or computer software on them. Apps at the most which wont need 8GB of ram.

[QUOTE="godzillavskong"][QUOTE="BPoole96"]

RAM is dirt cheap so anything below 4GB is laughable

4GB RAM @1600Mhz on Newegg

mitu123

[QUOTE="mitu123"][QUOTE="godzillavskong"] True. I picked up 8gb of 1600mhz DDR3 for under $60.godzillavskong

Yeah 44-47 is the going rate for 8Gb 1600 ddr3

And anyway, for the sake of performance 4GB is the only acceptable answer. Anything less is silly.

[QUOTE="XVision84"]

[QUOTE="Gen007"]

id say 2GB maybe 3 would be really good. Consoles dont need nearly as much as PC's do so 2GB would actually be more than enough i think. They dont even have on GB to work with now and they seem to do pretty well. You really cant compare it to PC ram though because like i said consoles need much less and then they are gonna be shooting for the lowest cost possible.

Gen007

Yes, but the difference between price cost of 4GB of RAM and 8GB of RAM would be so tiny for console manufacturers that the extra RAM would help them a great deal. RAM is arguably the biggest problem in current gen consoles, a mere 512mb of RAM (especially with PS3's split memory pool) is nothing compared to 8GB which is not only much faster (thanks to DDR3) but also 16x as much. Still, they should focus on having an adequate amount of VRAM available while having more memory bandwidth since streaming is likely the way we're headed in terms of graphics or gaming in general. I want to be able to have light multi-tasking capabilities on my next console, and that requires a certain amount of RAM being allocated to the OS so that it's capable of doing so. Having 8GB of RAM is more than enough to supply expansive games and multi-tasking capabilities. Still, it's not 100% necessary.

We are def not getting 8GB of ram in next gen consoles and I don't even think we will get 4GB really. I think your taking a very PC minded look at the situation when consoles are completely different beast. No matter how small the difference is between 4GB and 8GB is and its not that small actually yu can get 4 GB for much cheaper than you can get 8GB. That $20 or $30 difference is huge when it comes to production costs. They will end up choosing the cheaper option. Also 4GB would be a ton of ram for next gen consoles maybe even more than they need. They aren't PC's you wont be running windows or computer software on them. Apps at the most which wont need 8GB of ram.

Yes, this is why I said 8GB's of RAM isn't 100% necessary, I'm just saying it's possible. 4GB is about right.

A few things.

Even if Ram is dirt cheap, that's only in its current form.

Consoles can have much more ram if they use older cheaper forms, but traditionally consoles forgoe that in favor of less, but cutting edge ram.

Second, any of the big 3 can just shove 4 gb's into their consoles, but if the Processors bottleneck all that Ram there's no point, thus it's just wasting money. You can't use all of that Ram if the processors can't process the data in the first place.

The Wii U will have anywhere from 768 mb's to 2 gb's (Closer to 2 gb's provided the massive OS rumors are true, but doubtful) and 1-4 gb's for the other one's. You can be assured neither the Ps4 or 720 will have over 4 gb's, and 4 gb's isn't all that likely either.

What I would like is; 4GB of Main Memory and 2.5 - 3.0 GBs of Video Memory.ShadowDeathX

Probably 2GB. What people forget when they say "look at how cheap RAM is" is that's the cost for *one* console. So even if RAM only runs MS/Nintendo/Sony $1-2 per GB (taking into account wholesale pricing and the fact they're not buying whole DIMMs), multiply that by the 60+ odd million units they expect to move over the course of a generation and you can see why they're not thrilled with the idea of using any more than the bare minimum.

Slow_Show

This as well.

When MS doubled the Ram in the 360 on Epic's account, MS told Epic they just costed them a billion dollars.

3GB of DDR3 just for the system for mulitasking purposes as I doubt any game would use up that much. For Vran I guess 2GB of GDDR5.

BF 3 maxed on pc at 1080p uses about 3.5gb.

BF 3 maxed on pc at 1080p uses about 3.5gb.

Cranler

I think BF3 just likes to use up all the vram your system has, but I've seen the game run on much less then that all at 60 fps.

How much do they have right now?

and what does RAM do in consoles? what its benefits? ......yes i dont know deal with it >_>

and what does RAM do in consoles?finalstar2007

How much do they have right now?

and what does RAM do in consoles? what its benefits? ......yes i dont know deal with it >_>

finalstar2007

[QUOTE="finalstar2007"]

How much do they have right now?

and what does RAM do in consoles? what its benefits? ......yes i dont know deal with it >_>

yoshi_64

2-4GB. From what it sounds like now, Wii U has 2GB, NextBox has 4GB, and Sony has either 2-4 (it remains to be seen if they changed their initial specs like Microsoft did to 4GB or if they will stay at 2).

[QUOTE="finalstar2007"]

How much do they have right now?

and what does RAM do in consoles? what its benefits? ......yes i dont know deal with it >_>

yoshi_64

I see, very interesting thanks for the information but storing pictures, music and videos isnt that the function of the external HDD each console has? sounds like RAM is actually the one responsible for the "Picture" icon or the "Video" icon, am i correct? :o

BF 3 uses almost 2gb of system ram and 1.5gb vram for max settings. it will run with less gpu memory but there will be hitching.

[QUOTE="yoshi_64"][QUOTE="finalstar2007"]

How much do they have right now?

and what does RAM do in consoles? what its benefits? ......yes i dont know deal with it >_>

finalstar2007

I see, very interesting thanks for the information but storing pictures, music and videos isnt that the function of the external HDD each console has? sounds like RAM is actually the one responsible for the "Picture" icon or the "Video" icon, am i correct? :o

HDD is for storage but too slow to read from it. A loading screen is nothing else but content been moved from HDD to RAM. Edit* is not just that but it happens there.

More RAM means larger textures, more assets on game like unique objects and NPCs, bigger worlds.

[QUOTE="yoshi_64"][QUOTE="finalstar2007"]

How much do they have right now?

and what does RAM do in consoles? what its benefits? ......yes i dont know deal with it >_>

finalstar2007

I see, very interesting thanks for the information but storing pictures, music and videos isnt that the function of the external HDD each console has? sounds like RAM is actually the one responsible for the "Picture" icon or the "Video" icon, am i correct? :o

I'm not really sure what you're getting at here. From my limited knowledge in my computer architecture class, RAM stores data for the program/game from the HDD (or disk?). In a game setting, whatever you're currently accessing and using in the game must be stored in RAM to continually access it. RAM has a MUCH faster access time than a HDD. It's why it takes so long to first load up a program or something on your computer as it has to load it up from your hard drive first. However, RAM is limited and you can't just store the whole game code in RAM. Thus, you have to continually evict and replace data in your RAM from the HDD. From my understanding, this is what causes "pop-in" in games. The textures you are now just accessing have not loaded into memory yet, and thus there is a penalty/delay in loading to the RAM from the HDD/Disk, which causes the "pop-in". Therefore, more RAM is typically a good thing as you can store more data in a much faster environment. It would allow better quality assests, more things on screen, etc, like yoshi_64 said.

However, the cost-to-benefit ratio above 4GB for console makers right now makes a large amount of RAM not worth it.

How about VRAM? That's important too!

How can people know, they don't get how consoles use ram, since they can do a lot more with a lot less.

Depending on the cost (as I doubt RAM in general is directly transferrable to the RAM consoles will likely use), likely 2-3gb's.

lundy86_4

4gb at least. Its cheap now, it will be cheapper in 2013/14

2-4 gb

How about VRAM? That's important too!

mitu123

Not for consoles (most use unified RAM).