Geomerics Founder On Xbox One eSRAM: I’d Be Wary of Rushing to Snap Judgments About The New Hardware

Unless you are living under the rock, the Xbox One's eSRAM has been subject to much debate and controversy regarding it's inability to render 1080p resolution.

[MCTJim]

in other words..I dont know.

[Dudebro90]

If you got that from that statement, you are either illiterate or a jerk.

[LordMaim]

To be fair, Doran didn't give any information, opting for marketing buzzwords instead.

To sum up what he said, "we'll have to wait and see."

[dantesparda]

So you didnt read the article you just read the headline. He literally says nothing other than PR speak.

[gman_moose]

To me it sounded like his comment was from before the launch of these consoles. Either that, or he's a moron.

He says:
"You cannot really say anything until the first games are out and consumers have got their hands on both devices"

Ummm... gamers DO have the first games, and have got their hands on both devices. What the hell is the guy smoking?

[ABizzel1]

I personally don't understand what MS was thinking of with the XBO. I get unified RAM being convenient for development, but this is one case where they should have went with separate pools of memory.

4GB DDR3 (console RAM) + 4GB GDDR5 (Game RAM) would have been the wiser choice, because Day 1 they would have had a easy to understand set-up, and performance would be nearly as much of an issue. They could have still used the eSRAM if they wanted to, but honestly it would have been better to add more shading units to the APU, to push the console closer to the PS4 in performance.

They went with a theoretical solution that won't show it's best results until late in the generation when the winner has already been decided, when they could have had a near comparable console Day 1, and possibly have price advantage on their side by $50, which was needed all last gen to keep the 360 neck and neck with the PS3 (as well as winning NA).

[redwin]

Interesting you say that. The PS4 was not gonna have the GDDR5 until the last day, the Xbox was twice as powerful as the ps4 was gonna be. Sony reluctantly changed it the last minute. That article was placed here in N4G about 3 months ago. When I read that, lol, the first thing in my head was, corporate espionage . Lol, but of course that's just me playing around. But I know that Sony would like to get to MS for what they did to blue ray.

[ABizzel1]

@redwin

Could you please link me this article, because based on facts and not rumors, we know the PS4 was always going to have GDDR5 it only changed to from 4GB up to 8GB the last day. Also the XBO would have had twice the amount of RAM, but not twice as powerful as the PS4 had they gone with 4GB of GDDR5.

Prior to their launch there were tons of rumors claiming the PS4 and XBO were going to be using APUs (which turned out to be true), but the rumors were based on APUs available at that time which were Trinity / Richland (which the XBO is currently just over 2x more powerful than).

The twice as powerful rumor came from the rumor of the XBO being powered by a GTX Titan, but it that was easily shot down by anyone with hardware knowledge considering the Titan was a $1,000 GPU, and was more than 2x more powerful than the PS4.

Regardless MS should have known better than simply going with DDR3, because an APUs performance is greatly affected by the speed of the memory, and looking at any GPU available at the time it was clear that 2GB of GDDR5 was a minimum requirement for the graphics and performance they were trying to achieve.

It was flatout smarter and easier to just drop in 4GB of DDR3 + 4GB of GDDR5, and call it a day. The only downside to this, is that they couldn't dynamically add or reduce memory usage if they ever needed to, which is the benefit of a shared memory pool, but when gaming is suppose to be your main function the graphics memory was the more important of the two, and seeing how Sony had access to a confirmed 4GB, MS should have at least be able to do the same.

[TFJWM]

@redwin Ummm no. Sony had been planning on going with GDDR5 for awhile but it was only going to be 4mb. The last day Mark Cerny went into the meeting and said we really need 8 and they went for it.

[mochachino]

"I’d be wary of rushing to snap judgments about the new hardware. You cannot really say anything until the first games are out and consumers have got their hands on both devices,”

Many games are already out.

Why do I feel that the close EA-MS relationship is somehow behind this. All games mentioned using guys middleware are EA games.

[Volkama]

OK, here's what we've got: EA and Microsoft, in conjunction with the saucer people, under the supervision of the reverse vampires, are forcing middleware developers to provide neutral quotes about the consoles.

Is that about right?

[joeorc]

yes because no companies use Astroturfing techniques on the internet..LMAO

A:
http://www.pcworld.com/arti...

B:
http://arstechnica.com/gami...

C:
http://techrights.org/2009/...

D:
http://nintendoeverything.c...

Yes; because No one does it, sure thing is all a conspiracy.

LMAO

Or maybe just maybe you can count on a company to do what a company does in its best own interests!

example:

“Just keep rubbing it in, via the press, analysts, newsgroups, whatever. Make the complete failure of the competition’s technology part of the mythology of the computer industry.” -

–Microsoft, internal document

http://boycottnovell.com/wp...

[TankCrossing]

@joeorc you think MS and EA are teaming up to offer incentives or strongarm middleware developers into giving neutral answers like "From what we are seeing both PS4 and Xbox One are well thought out pieces of kit"

You're in deep, but I am glad you can laugh about it LMAO

[Bathyj]

We're through the looking glass here people.

[rdgneoz3]

Yep, a lot of games are out, and the differences have been shown. Games will only get better looking as the gen goes on, but the opposition won't be sitting on their hands. Last gen MS had the console that was easier to make games for off the bat and multiplats looked better on it for a while (the cell was a bit complex to work with). This gen, both systems are similar architecture (x86) and similar CPU, with differences being mainly in ram and GPU. And judging by the games currently available, the shoes on the other foot this gen.

And seeing as MS has called the esram an evolution of the 360's edram, it's not too hard to get a grasp on like it was for developers with the PS3's cell.

http://gearnuke.com/microso...

[kingvendrick]

Its just more damage control. The PS4 sales figures beg to differ.

[Sonital]

Damage control by Geometrics?

[Cryptcuzz]

They are a middleware company and so they would be smart to stay neutral as much as possible. All they want is to promote their middleware to as many developers on all sides as possible.

[Gh05t]

So much stupid spin in this article it makes me dizzy.

He really has no opinion yet? He is lying and trying not to make either Sony or Microsoft mad at him by claiming a better console. I am an Xbox One owner but c'mon its okay to say PS4 is easier to make games or middleware for or vice versa... Have an opinion or dont answer the question but to speak this drivel to not alienate one console or another is cowardly.

[Why o why]

Spoken like a champ.

These judgements aren't snap ones

[Whirlwind_Fanfare_08]

Very well said man. Bubs up!

[mcarsehat]

Haha, this site...

[SliceOfTruth888]

both consoles are success and both consoles need each other to be strong. If either Sony or Xbox went away it would be the worst thing that could happen and gamers should be enjoying all platforms not choosing sides its embarrassing. As an owner of all 3 current gen i can tell you i have no idea why anyone would be buying a PS4 over the Xbone because if i had to choose 1 it would be xbox hands down. So far i have been enjoying or finished

1)Killer Instinct
2)Max
3)Powerstar Golf
4)Crimson Dragon
5)Titanfall
6)Forza
7)Dead Rising 3
8)Ryse

Everyone of these games have been enjoyable and some are fantastic and Halo Collection and Sunset Overdrive are just months away? Meanwhile my PS4 i have played

1)Killzone
2)Knack
3)Second Son
4)Last Of Us

Killzone and Knack are garbage iam sorry but i got NO enjoyment out of these 2 and i forced myself to finish these titles. Second Son i actually didnt like for some reason i found it boring, BUT! before the fanboys attack i understand why it got its praise for some reason it just didnt click for me and it deserves the praise it gets. And Last of US well....its the best game ive ever played....again. Thats not really a knock on the game because its amazing but i have yet to be impressed by anything ps4 yet. I do look forward to the order, but thats next year and besides driveclub is there anything even coming for PS4 thats exclusive before 2015? I mean how anyone can say xbox isnt about the games.....is just confusing to me heck my untouched for a full year wii U is getting major gametime with Mario Kart compared to my PS4. I dont understand the gaming public

[Ron_Danger]

Just wondering what your opinion of these games are:

Resogun, Contrast, Outlast, Don't Starve, Mercenary Kings, Pixke Junk Shooter Ultimate, Stick It to the Man, Dead Nation, Trine 2, Road Not Taken, Doki Doki Universe, Stider, Towerfall Ascension, Fez, Warframe, War Thunder, and Blacklight Retribution

Since all these games are either Free to Play or Free with PS+ they could've also been added to the list of games you've played on PS4.

I just think it's fun calling out people with one bubble who claim to have all 3 systems but then describe the games they don't like by using cliche Internet forum terms instead of actual first hand opinion.

[DJustinUNCHAIND]

Here's my opinion on those games.

All skippable.

[Ron_Danger]

@dj

Of course you'd say that and of course you'd give no reason why. I guess it's just easier to give a short thoughtless answer to appease your target group than to give actual reasons. I guess some people come here for actual discussions and others come here to prove why they have one bubble.

[GryestOfBluSkies]

@djustin

then you are missing out on a ton of fun games. ive literally played well over 100 hours on just a few of those games

[GodGinrai]

@Ron_Danger

Maybe DJ simply does not care for those games. the reason really can be that simple...just saying...

"I guess it's just easier to give a short thoughtless answer to appease your target group than to give actual reasons"

I think you are putting a little too much thought into his response..but whatever...

@GryestOfBluSkies

"ive literally played well over 100 hours on just a few of those games"

wow...where do you find the time?

[GryestOfBluSkies]

@GG

i mean combined, not each. but to answer the question, most of my gaming happens between 10pm and 1am. some days more, some days less.

[Benjammin25]

Hmm...you're missing quite a few PS4 exclusives there. Trying to make the competition look stronger ey? Naughty naughty! By the way, three of those Xbox games are either on, or are coming to, PC. And Crimson Dragon is a POS.

[nitus10]

Well you are entitled to your opinion although I am quite sure many will disagree with you.

Personally the reason why I have not purchased a PS4 is the fact I have a PS3 and quite a few games to catch up on. If the PS4 had backwards compatibility I would of purchased it pretty much day one, like I did with the PS2 and PS3 (FAT one).

Currently none of the games for the PS4 are compelling enough for me to purchase one, although that will most likely change next year providing I have gotten through most or all of my PS3 games.

I should mention I love RPG's (Elder Scrolls on-line does not count IMHO) and I have quite a few that I have not finished. Anyone who is a fan of RPG's will know how long games like Skyrim can take especially when I have the three DLC's associated with it. In fact I had to stop myself from repeating the game "Oblivion" since I found I originally did not play the game properly.

[ceedubya9]

Gamingbolt stays on this esram/resolution stuff, huh?

[GUTZnPAPERCUTZ]

eSRAM has already gotten better since launch. The current SDK with DX11.2 has already compressed Frame Buffers. DX11.2 can support a 16bit 4xMSAA 1080p frame buffer in the 32mb space offered, DX12 is rumored to run the same frame buffer at half that and only use 16mb of eSRAM for it. I guess the future will tell, people just need to remember, Hardware is nothing without good software to run it.

[AnteCash]

Now it only needs a decent GPU to use it...

[imt558]

I see that eSRAM can push Xbone :

http://wccftech.com/playsta...

But, what developer say :

http://www.neogaf.com/forum...

[mmj]

8GB of 176GB/s GDDR5 will always be better than 68GB/s of DDR3 connected to 32MB of 204GB/s ESRAM.

That said the GPU is Xbox One's main achilles heel.

[Smootherkuzz]

The end result is software! Game content! Some of the games looked like crap compared to today's games but the game play was second to none. Every gamer would love to see their favorite game from days past to be played on both PS and Xbone. As it has been pointed out so many times the both have their weak points as its aways been between consoles. It all depends on what you what games you play? It not about kicking butt with sells.

[cruzngta]

The only absolute judgement is PS4 is superior in hardware. Games are great on both. PS4 is going to only get better as well so the gap is going to either widen or remain the same. End of story.

[FayZ_]

xbone 'it's inability to render 1080p'

destiny
forza 5
forza horizon 2
Halo Master Collection
Alien: Isolation
BF Hardline
Dying Light
Fifa 14
NFS
Minecraft
Project Cars
Sniper Elite
The Crew
Witcher 3
Tomb Raider
Wolfenstein

armchair devs will always struggle to hit 1080p on xbone, ps4's advantage is that its easier & it's additional performance only adds a few more fps than xbone, eg, tomb raider & sniper elite for ps4 is only about 10fps more than xbone, just because it can do 40-45fps on ps4 doesn't mean it's 60fps.

parity has already happened.

and besides res ain't everything, ryse won best graphics at 900p and i think 900p+ is fine.

[Cryptcuzz]

Look at it from a consumer point of view.
Majority of games that are released each year is by third party developers. So naturally, a lot of people would rather buy the console that plays their games the best. Which has been the PS4. Couple that with the fact that Sony is going to produce just as many (if not more) exclusives and new IP's on the PS4 than it did on the PS3, now that it is selling so well.

I agree that resolution and FPS is not everything, but if I had a choice and I am sure many others feel the same way, the PS4 is just the safest bet in playing the best looking and feeling game from third party developers.

[wynams]

Well the "lab" that is the real world says there is probably something to this bottleneck stuff. #4ThePlayers!!!

[Tedakin]

I think you have to admit the Xbox is improving and devs are getting their heads around it. There are still people calling the system Xbox 720 and throwing out "LOL 720p" when only a few launch ones were that and most since then and now are 1080 or at the least 900. Clearly devs are figuring it out. 7 months ago I never would have dreamed Destiny would be 1080 on Xbone. If Witcher 3 gets there hopefully the debate will start dying.