8GB RAM Sufficient To Last For An Entire Generation, Developing On Xbox One Is Easier Than Xbox 360

Styx Master of Shadows is a current gen exclusive title which means it will most likely take full advantage of the processing power that the new consoles offer. Continuing our coverage of the game, GamingBolt asked Cyanide Studios about their thoughts on the 8GB of RAM in the new consoles and whether they think it will be sufficient to last an entire generation.

[Hellsvacancy]

Like we didn't know that already, how much RAM did consoles have last gen? 1gb or less I think, consoles still managed to output some amazing looking games

I'm sure by the end of this gen games will look spectacular

[HaydenJameSmith]

Xbox 360 had 512Mb of GDDR3 Ram...

[Hellsvacancy]

Really? wow, talk about telling me something I honestly didn't know

So even with only 512Mb RAM the 360 managed a game like GTAV, impressive

I'm no tech head but just from looking at the numbers in front of me 8GB will be fine for years to come, I kinda knew that anyway, I knew last gen systems used very little RAM but I didn't actually know how little they used. What's Naughty Dog going to do with 8GB RAM?

Off topic (kinda) but how much RAM does the average PC game use?

[Onehandband1t]

@Hellsvacancy - Most modern PC games use around 4GB of ram. Some games at higher settings can use near on 6GB or ram

[skulz7]

Exactly. Games will look spectacular, even in 3 years time.

[2pacalypsenow]

PS3 had 256 MB ram , and most PC games don't use more than 1.5 Gb of ram Crysis uses like 2 I think

[DarkHeroZX]

No PS3 had 512mb of ram too, it was just split not unified.

[2pacalypsenow]

I see 256 system and 256 video

[Gamble20]

The PS3 did technically have 512mb of RAM. But for usage in graphics and actual games, only 256mb was accessible. This actually lead to several disadvantages compared to the 360's relatively unified structure and is a huge reason why Sony used not only top of line RAM (GDDR5) on PS4, but also a unified structure.

[andrewer]

But PS3 was a monster at the time, even had it's processor used in clusters, and compared to the PS4 and the technology we have now, PS4 is just...normal, not a monster hehe. So I'm still uneasy about them surviving for 5-6 years...

[mark3214uk]

PS3 had 512mb and produced the last of us, imagine the last of us 2 using upto 8gb ram

[Paprika]

Ps3 with 512 mb ram... The last of us or GTA v... beyond two souls.

Ps4 with 8gb ram... I think we will be fine for this gen.

Disagree all you like guys, this is just stupid to call ps4 normal, stop comparing to your, actually quite uncommon, PCs that output 2k or 4k.

In console land, us mortals get a huge boost from last gen, that is all that matters. PCs "can" destroy consoles, everybody knows that. I'm certain most dedicated graphic cards alone output more than a ps4... lol, how many games truly use more than 6gb anyway? Ps4 still fits within that range.

I could buy a 1000bhp car, still driving 60 on the freeway like the Nissan Micra lol. Btw, I love PC gaming, its epic. I love consoles too :)

[WildArmed]

But if games like Destiny have anything to say, I think we'll be enjoying this gen regardless. Games look amazing, and I think I could stay at this level of graphics for another half decade or so.

My PC upgrades are spaced out every 5-6 years as well, so that's pretty fair to me.

[s8anicslayer]

I think gaming bolt needs to stop with these posts or go the way of hip hop gamer. Seriously these stories do nothing but provoke flame wars and does nothing but give us rehashed opinions that we already knew for a while.

[Azzanation]

360 used 512Mb of GDDR3 ram plus 10Mg of eDRAM which is sharable across the GPU and CPU. The PS3 used 256Mb for the GPU and 256Mb for the CPU which weren't shareable.

However both PS4 and XB1 systems have 8 gigs of DDR3 and GDDR5 Ram, they don't use 8 gigs of ram. They use 4.5 - 5 gigs for games while the rest of it is used for there OS. PC gamers don't tend to worry about Ram as most modern Gaming PCs are standard with 16 gigs of DDR3 so Operating systems tend to make little difference for PC games. Also that 16 gigs is not including the 2 to 4 gigs of GDDR5 ram built into the modern GPUs.

[Rhythmattic]

From memory (pun intended), the 256Meg of Ram that served the GPU/SPU's on the PS3 was XDR.. (Ram Bus)

Fast as F...

Fast even buy todays standards.

[skydragoonity]

8gb is more than enough

[Gravity_DoGG]

I thought xbox RAM was DDR3 not GDDR3?

Edit. I didn't meant to reply to you skydragoonity :-(

[IrishSt0ner]

Xbox 360 had 512MB GDDR3 RAM and 10MB eDRAM.

Xbox One uses 8GB DDR3 RAM and 32MB eSRAM.

[CloudRap]

DX12 wont improve visuals much, but will make it the easiest to develop for this gen especially with PC ports.

[OpieWinston]

First of all...Where did that come from?

Second of all, you do realize the whole point of DX12 is for Multi-core CPU hyperthreading right?

It's about tying in Tile Streaming/Texturing with DX12.
Which won't help Multiplat devs a lot, due to time constraints and not taking full advantage of it.

But First/Second party games will be taking full advantage of it and YES it will improve visuals.

The notion of "Won't improve visuals much" is silly because it actually will help a lot. But it takes a bit of extra work to get the outcome.

Tile Streaming is more to help stream the eSRAM and get more of that compressed memory out of it, thus eliminating the bottle neck. But it's not easy to use for devs. Which is a problem MS is trying to address with SDK updates and working on making DX12 easily accessible.

[larrysdirtydrawss]

Tile Streaming/Texturing,,,overrate d,and is not gonna be as good in real world gaming compared to a controlled demo(wich looked ok at best)

[HiddenMission]

@OpieWinston

Well I guess you know more than the folks over at MS considering they already said that DX12 won't do much for the XB1...just saying knowing the facts before commenting helps...

"It will help developers on XBOX One. It’s not going to be a massive change but will unlock more capability for devs."

http://www.dualshockers.com...

[OpieWinston]

@larry
You do realize that was the Graphine demo right?
The whole point of those demos is to showcase the detailing and elimination of pop up textures.

Tile streaming is used for Polygon texture detail.

@HiddenMission
Are you dense dude?
I'm not claiming to more than anyone...But Phil Spencer isn't a programmer. And he was talking about DX 12 by itself.
Like I originally stated...by itself it's mainly used to maintain a stable framerate and smooth experience. But when used with other procedures such as Tile Streaming it can make a pretty big difference.

You people need to open your eyes.

[mixolydian_id]

Agreed
Tiled resources will work very nicely with the XB1

I personally think we're about to hit a games development renaissance. Computing technology has been plateau-ing for a long time. Power to price is way better then it used to be and the requirements of video games to produce great results affordably is well within pricing standards..

Having an APU in the newer consoles is a strength. Huge development has been invested in bringing desktop computer power to portable devices over the years. The advantage the new consoles has is that they roll all of that new tech into an un-portable unit.

Space saving, bandwidth increasing, power saving at the expense of portability. Hence why the tech guys are banging on so much about 1.3TF - 1.8TF not being accurate.

The capabilities of this tech will take some learning... but when games development itself, follows suit. We'll all be amazed

[Azzanation]

@HiddenMission

*Well I guess you know more than the folks over at MS considering they already said that DX12 won't do much for the XB1...just saying knowing the facts before commenting helps...*

Not having a massive difference and having a difference still counts for the case. Phil is right, don't expect Xbox games to look like a 9th generation game but DX12 will be there and you will notice it. You should understand comments before gloating. Expect Xbox games to improve with DX12, but by how much we wont know until its out.

[Sm00thNinja]

Xbox One will have some amazing looking games can't wait to see GEARS!

[WildArmed]

Let's hope they don't pick the least fav character for the protagonist this time! XD

Loved Gear 1-3, but Judgement....

Can't wait for a Xbox One sequel-prequel

[corroios]

No it isnt and everyone as read more than enough about that matter.

The Xbox 360 was much better. First it was a game console and not a tv box that plays games. Then it had a much better setup in the ram department and the GPU was very strong for the time.

[Sm00thNinja]

Corroios>>>>>Ac tual Developer. This guy knows guys this guy knows

[Software_Lover]

..... Much better Ram setup?

They have the same ram setup now, just more.

[jcole97]

Says corroios, a guy on n4g... I think i'll listen to the actual developer. Secondly the xbox one is a games console first, that has alot of features, one being the fact it has an hdmi in/out port that allows you to watch tv...

[corroios]

Dude, the xbox one was built around the Kinect 2.0.

Everyone has talked about the problem of the DDR3 and the little esram (32).

Its not me, but major studios. It just harder to work with the Xbox One then the 360 that was a much better GAME MACHINE.

It was better then the PS3 in terms of unified memory and GPU, the PS3 had a monster processor (CELL), but only sony studios were able to take advantage of it.

This generation the Xbox One is more dificult to work and doesnt have any advantage spec wise over the PS4 (CPU, memory and GPU).

[MrPerfect813]

Developing on Xbox One is easier. Optimization on Xbox One, not so much. I would be happy with 900p at 60fps. Just waiting for that media player update and I will be good.

[Mithan]

1. This generation wont last as long as last generations.
2. More Memory will be freed up with time.
3. 8gb is enough for now.

[tee_bag242]

The problem isn't the RAM this gen. The problem is those low frequency AMD CPU's and outdated laptop GPU's.
Isn't it pretty obvious this gen will be short if they are already struggling to do 1080p 60fps. Not an attack on either consoles. It is what it is. Last gen's 360 and PS3 where practically supercomputers.

[Mithan]

Of course that is a problem, but its not memory so much as the overall processing power of the GPU's.

[ScorpiusX]

Cool sentiment but the question is will the console model now be around at the end of this generation or will we see a better one midway through the gen.

[Spotie]

No way in hell do they pull a New 3DS and release a separate model that will fragment the userbase.

...then again..

[ScorpiusX]

With the never ending crap they are getting , I would no be surprised if the selling point of this new and better spec console is Disc less with a great internal Hard drive. Crazy but not behind the realm of possibilities.

[Paprika]

If Microsoft tried to release an upgraded Xbox one.... it'd either work if they took a loss for a year or two and allowed original models to be exchanged and then offered a reduced cist, say $100 plays console. Or.... it'd literally destroy them and Sony will be all that's left console wise.

If....

It won't happen.

[SwiftArsonist]

Time people, give devs time to get use to the consoles. xbox one will produce some amazing stuff.

[superchiller]

So, where does Wii U fit into this, with only 2GB of RAM (1GB usable by games)? Shame Nintendo didn't put more effort into the design, they really limited the lifespan (and popularity) of the system.

[hiawa23]

The Wiiu clearly don't fit into anything but Nintendo games made by Nintendo. Most devs have all but abandoned it, the Wiiu section in most stores is small, the writing is on the wall and clear as day for this console.

[Gezmoyassine]

3gb is reserved for the OS so it's 5gb not 8gb.

[mkis007]

It will decrease over the years. Just as the ps3's and 360's did...by a lot.

[greenlantern2814]

Well it kinda has to be. We the console owners who already have PS4, or XB1 or both cannot upgrade the amount of ram in the systems. And neither sony or ms will release an updated version of their systems with a ram increase until the next console cycle. Which I believe will be 5-6 years from now.
And then they will only increase the amount of ram if necessary and costs efficient

[Harmonizer]

I wouldn't be surprised if they somehow maxed out the RAM usage in the end of this generation despite what they are saying now.

Moore's Law?

[Agent_hitman]

IF developers have managed to make awesome games for the past 7-8 years using the limited 512mb of ram on last gen of consoles, imagine what are the best possibilities can be achieve with 8GB ram inside the newer systems..

[Wickerman1972]

These systems have plenty of memory (Although a ridiculous amount of it is being reserved for the OSs) but they are lacking in processing power, especially X1.

[hollabox]

MS dropped the ball on the XB1 GPU. Both systems CPU only seem marginal compared to when the X360 and PS3 launched. But from what I've read its faster than last gen because of Out of Order design and modern multimedia and performance extensions. Both systems at launch were outdated by a year or so, only using mid to low end GPUs from the previous generation of PC GPUs. I do like the ram, I'm glad both companies decided to go with 8GBs, at one point both systems were slated to only have 2GBs of ram in 2011 with Nintendo actually launching with 2GBs.

[strangeaeon]

I remember the r600 series of GPU from ATI wasn't even out for PCs when the 360 launhed, so last gen was indeed a much bigger leap. To tell the truth I am a bit let down as far as specs on paper go for all consoles.

[Illusive_Man]

Quantum Break disagrees.

[Smootherkuzz]

Last gen PlayStation was a better console then the 360 on paper also? Which proves you can have all the power in the world but if don't us it, then don' t mean anything. Maybe we see this so called mega power down the road or maybe not. There is a lot of hidden fractures behind video game making that we the consumer don't see. One big thing is how money and time to spend on make a game that uses the full power and can bring a return on that investment. This had always been problem.

[BobBelcher]

The way I see it, Xbox One has the opportunity to produce some of this generations greatest games. The pressure put upon them by their insufficient hardware simply means that in order to keep in the competition, they'll simply have to listen attentively to their community and focus heavily on their promising franchises as well as pushing for new franchises. Timed exclusive deals are fine for now, as well as upcoming re-mastered games, if that simply means they're buying time for their own original IPs.

[strangeaeon]

I agree, MS will have to come HARD with true exclusives, and I believe they will. I hope next generation MS learns from these HUGE mistakes and not only corrects these mistakes, but changes the way they approach the entire business. Having the most powerful console is great but if the online community hates you, it's over before it began.

[hiawa23]

Correct me if I am wrong, but the XO or PS4 don't have access to all 8 gbs. Isn't like 4-4.5 of that 8 for games?