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Feature:E3 2008 - Day 3 Wrap-up
News:Mainstream Media Hits - Matt on ABCs PM program
Feature:E3 2008 - Day 2 Wrap-up
Review:Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
News:Too beautiful to ignore..
Review:Monster Jam
News:Big trouble in little China
Feature:E3 2008 - Day 1 Wrap-up
News:E3 2008 ... it begins
News:Final Fantasy XIII announced for the Xbox 360
Update:A History Of Refusal
Interview:Firemint talk about their iPod game The Sims DJ
News:BtVS Sacrificing itself for that pesky hellmouth
News:Rock Band 2 Trailer and sneak peak at Rock Band 2 Drums
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feature :: xbox 360 vs ps3: hardware comparison
Xbox 360 vs PS3: Hardware Comparison
Introduction : Hardware Comparison : Marketing : Storage : Connectivity
Harddrives : Communications : Controller : Styling : The Games : Conclusion
The Hardware Comparison
There are two major parts that really affect the performance of any console: the Central Processing Unit, or CPU and the Graphics Processor, the GPU.
Each generation of both components adds substantially to the capacities and capabilities of both units, but it's pretty safe to generalize that the CPU makes things work while the GPU makes it look pretty.
Most readers should know by now the importance of both functions in the success of the console, as well as the experience for gamers.
Comparing the systems specifications is impossible to do with any degree of accuracy or relevance. The specs we know have gone through twelve levels of PR filtering, so their actual relevance to real-world gaming is impossible to calculate.
Additionally, because this is all sorts of exciting new tech, no one really knows all that much about it. So we don't really know what questions to ask or how to compare it with other things.
It seems (and this is just my personal opinion) that the PS3 has the edge in raw power. The CPU is a much more customized and highly engineered chip, and the architecture in general is more... well... futury.
This is in large part because the PS3 is not scheduled for release until some 6-12 months after the Xbox 360. This gives Sony an opportunity to build their technology based on projected future technologies, manufacturing improvements, market shifts, etc. That's a luxury Microsoft doesn't have. They have to 'Live in the Now'. Or at the very least, live in the November.
Time will tell if this higher level of design and research translates to a more expensive chip for the PS3, which could be a problem if it ships substantially more expensive than the long released and well supported Xbox 360. Especially if consumers can't tell any marked difference between the two consoles in terms of performance.
CPU
The PlayStation 3 will have a 3.2GHz 'Cell' processor that consists of a PowerPC-based core with seven 'synergistic processing units'. These units are probably the most interesting things, as they are basically stand-alone systems for handling an isolated type of code. For example, one unit dedicated to and optimized for in-game physics. Another for AI. This Is quite a clever way of doing things. It combines a kickass brute force processor with some more finely tuned ones. The big question is whether developers can use these littler units effectively, or whether they'll find they're having to rely on the general purpose unit more.
The Xbox 360 CPU, called the Xenon, in comparison, has a multicore PowerPC processor that has three dual-threaded cores. (The PS3 uses the same basic chip, but actually disables two of the cores). Xbox's CPU can can handle six threads simultaneously. Which it's going to need. Basically, the Xbox 360 approach is all about brute force. There's nothing real fancy about the approach, and nothing much to say about it. With three cores it basically has three CPUs, general, all-purpose, powerful CPUs. As long as the code is written properly it can run on any of the CPUs equally.
All in all I think the technical advantage goes to Sony on this one, in terms of pure on-paper power. But it seems to me that the Xbox 360s power might well be much easier to tap into.
GPU
Built by nVidia, who actually partnered with Microsoft for the Xbox GPUs, the GPU for the PS3 is called the RSX . RSX = "Reality Synthesizer", in marketing initialism. This enables it to 'carry out its calculations for pixels with 128 precision bits and with a resolution of 1080 lines (that is, the precise norm for "true" high resolution)'.
So apparently that means it's awesome. Anyway, according to Nvidia the system is more powerful than two GeForce 6800 Ultra cards. That's a pretty powerful unit, no matter how you look at it, and it should be capable of some extraordinary graphics.
It's worth pointing out that this unit is actually able to output TWO streams of video, both at 1080p. I can't be bothered explaining what 1080p actually means, but it's better than... well... any TV can actually support at this time.
The Xbox 360 also sports a fancy new video architecture. This one by nVidia's chief rival, ATI. There are lots of fancy specs on it, and they've concentrated heavily on 'shader' technologies, which are basically what makes all the little fine details. Shaders are a huge part of modern graphics rendering, and ATI claim their implementation 'kicks the shizit outta the nvidia beyotches'. Their words. (Not really.)
Both companies claim some vast technical superiority, but the actual truth is much harder to call. Both the RSX and the Xenon are the latest and greatest technology, and will both be quite frankly mind blowingly awesome. It's most likely that Sony's system will, like the CPU, have a slight edge in terms of overall performance. But it's probably not going to be enough that you'd notice it, and it's most likely not going to be any sort of deciding factor in the upcoming war between these two power players.
There are two major parts that really affect the performance of any console: the Central Processing Unit, or CPU and the Graphics Processor, the GPU.
Each generation of both components adds substantially to the capacities and capabilities of both units, but it's pretty safe to generalize that the CPU makes things work while the GPU makes it look pretty.
Most readers should know by now the importance of both functions in the success of the console, as well as the experience for gamers.
Comparing the systems specifications is impossible to do with any degree of accuracy or relevance. The specs we know have gone through twelve levels of PR filtering, so their actual relevance to real-world gaming is impossible to calculate.
Additionally, because this is all sorts of exciting new tech, no one really knows all that much about it. So we don't really know what questions to ask or how to compare it with other things.
It seems (and this is just my personal opinion) that the PS3 has the edge in raw power. The CPU is a much more customized and highly engineered chip, and the architecture in general is more... well... futury.
This is in large part because the PS3 is not scheduled for release until some 6-12 months after the Xbox 360. This gives Sony an opportunity to build their technology based on projected future technologies, manufacturing improvements, market shifts, etc. That's a luxury Microsoft doesn't have. They have to 'Live in the Now'. Or at the very least, live in the November.
Time will tell if this higher level of design and research translates to a more expensive chip for the PS3, which could be a problem if it ships substantially more expensive than the long released and well supported Xbox 360. Especially if consumers can't tell any marked difference between the two consoles in terms of performance.
CPU
The PlayStation 3 will have a 3.2GHz 'Cell' processor that consists of a PowerPC-based core with seven 'synergistic processing units'. These units are probably the most interesting things, as they are basically stand-alone systems for handling an isolated type of code. For example, one unit dedicated to and optimized for in-game physics. Another for AI. This Is quite a clever way of doing things. It combines a kickass brute force processor with some more finely tuned ones. The big question is whether developers can use these littler units effectively, or whether they'll find they're having to rely on the general purpose unit more.
The Xbox 360 CPU, called the Xenon, in comparison, has a multicore PowerPC processor that has three dual-threaded cores. (The PS3 uses the same basic chip, but actually disables two of the cores). Xbox's CPU can can handle six threads simultaneously. Which it's going to need. Basically, the Xbox 360 approach is all about brute force. There's nothing real fancy about the approach, and nothing much to say about it. With three cores it basically has three CPUs, general, all-purpose, powerful CPUs. As long as the code is written properly it can run on any of the CPUs equally.
All in all I think the technical advantage goes to Sony on this one, in terms of pure on-paper power. But it seems to me that the Xbox 360s power might well be much easier to tap into.
GPU
Built by nVidia, who actually partnered with Microsoft for the Xbox GPUs, the GPU for the PS3 is called the RSX . RSX = "Reality Synthesizer", in marketing initialism. This enables it to 'carry out its calculations for pixels with 128 precision bits and with a resolution of 1080 lines (that is, the precise norm for "true" high resolution)'.
So apparently that means it's awesome. Anyway, according to Nvidia the system is more powerful than two GeForce 6800 Ultra cards. That's a pretty powerful unit, no matter how you look at it, and it should be capable of some extraordinary graphics.
It's worth pointing out that this unit is actually able to output TWO streams of video, both at 1080p. I can't be bothered explaining what 1080p actually means, but it's better than... well... any TV can actually support at this time.
The Xbox 360 also sports a fancy new video architecture. This one by nVidia's chief rival, ATI. There are lots of fancy specs on it, and they've concentrated heavily on 'shader' technologies, which are basically what makes all the little fine details. Shaders are a huge part of modern graphics rendering, and ATI claim their implementation 'kicks the shizit outta the nvidia beyotches'. Their words. (Not really.)
Both companies claim some vast technical superiority, but the actual truth is much harder to call. Both the RSX and the Xenon are the latest and greatest technology, and will both be quite frankly mind blowingly awesome. It's most likely that Sony's system will, like the CPU, have a slight edge in terms of overall performance. But it's probably not going to be enough that you'd notice it, and it's most likely not going to be any sort of deciding factor in the upcoming war between these two power players.
