Nvidia compares PS4 specs to a 'low-end CPU'

TechRadar: "Compared to gaming PCs, the PS4 specs are in the neighborhood of a low-end CPU, and a low- to mid-range GPU side," said Nvidia's Tony Tamasi to TechRadar.

As Nvidia's senior vice president of content and development, he sees the PS4's specs as outdated, even today.

"If the PS4 ships in December as Sony indicated, it will only offer about half the performance of a GTX680 GPU (based on GFLOPS and texture), which launched in March 2012, more than a year and a half ago."

[Lior]

Well it is a low end CPU

[JsonHenry]

It is a low end CPU with a mid-low GPU. But you've seen what devs have done with the pathetic PS3/Xbox hardware over the years. I have no doubt that games will be stunning on the next gen titles for quite some time to come.

@Bicfitness- you are wrong and here is the proof. It is mid at best - http://www.videocardbenchma...

[Hydrolex]

NVidia is just butt hurt !

Thissss ass is on fireeeeeeeeeeeeee by Alicia Keys

[bicfitness]

A 7870, the PS3's approximate GPU (even the mobility version) is hardly mid-low end. Those things still retail for hundreds and are among the top performing single card soultions on the market NOW. It may not be in the same league as Nvidia's $1000 GPU, but really, what is? And who the heck wants to spend that much money on a GPU? I custom ordered a Sager, and even though I use it heavily, I still have second thoughts about the price I paid.

Cost to performance ratio always weighs in favour of consoles. Always. Especially at launch.

[Hydrolex]

Comparing a 400 500 dollar Console to a PC is just freaking stupid... can't believe Nvidia said that.... that GTX 680 itself was 500 dollars...

Of course sony could make a high end console, but that would cost 1 1.5k and they will go bankrupt because not many people would buy that

[ABizzel1]

Low-end CPU, Mid-rang GPU, B@d@$$ RAM ;D

As the others said, NVIDIA is just mad they're not getting any console business this generation.

The only option left is the Nextbox, but all rumors point to them going with AMD as well.

They're the only ones to blame, if you don't want to run a fair business then no one will want to work with you. You can't charge full retail for a product years later, when you've had multiple hardware improvements come out over those years. Hardware depreciates in value annually, and by a significant amount. Heck sometimes it drops significantly within the year. NVIDIA knows that, but they don't want to abide by that.

AMD does and are willing to commit to the terms of the console manufacturers, so NVDIA missed out.

The 3 console business should put AMD's numbers back up, but I'm sure we'll see NVIDIA have a drop especially if the PS3 stops selling as well, and Tegra 4 doesn't take off.

LOL NVIDIA. Grow up. AMD offer affordable prices, and since you want to charge a premium you're stuck with companies that are willing to charge a premium as well, like Apple.

[Hydrolex]

HAHAH believe me, if Sony bought their GPUs from Nvidia, this story would have been totally DIFFERENT

" PS4 is a Strong console, we provided Sony with one of our BEST EXCLUSIVE GPU'S available for consoles." and it still would have been a mid rang GPU

[Dylila]

it is amazing how the supposed low end specs of the ps4 have displayed graphics exceeding all games ive seen on pcs using the best nvidia cards. killzone shadow fall is said to be using 1.5gbs of ram while the system has 8gbs of gddr5 ram available to be shared.

i cant even imagine what uncharted 4 gran turismo 6 and other playstation exclusives will look like. rumoured specs of ps4 and xbox 720 were revealed by leaked documents last year with everything about the ps4 coming true so onecan also believe the 720 specs. knowing all these things about the ps4 and 720, the ps4 will be making a lot of people depressed and angry like the infidels that didnt believe in the ps3 producing anything like killzone 2.

the ps3 with its weak specs are doing things and did things never seen on any platform. the pc is an amazing platform due to its unlimited power of upgrading but that today is a moot point. we're at a point now where graphics are at a plateau so you wont see much improvements unless resolution will get a massive increase and or we go to holograms. crysis 1 to crysis 3 took 7 years but they look very similar with crysis 3 being superior.

big console devs are way more creative which is evident by devs like naughty dog, sony santa monica, guerilla games, media molecule and others but i think its because they had lower specs to work with and mold. there are so many games on the playstation 3 never matched anywhere else and done with a lot of quality. ps4 will dominate this generation based on what sony have done with ps1, ps2 and especially ps3. killzone shadow falls looks better than every game available while utilizing little specs of the ps4.

i cant imagine what amazing games ps4 will have but i know that ps4 exclusive devs will be trend setters like they are now on ps3.

[gaffyh]

It's also worth remembering, that the OS overhead for games consoles is usually very tiny. I think the PS3's OS runs on 64 MB of RAM, and that's it. This is not the case with PCs which have a big overhead with Windows OS, print spoolers, antivirus, component drivers and software etc.

[HammadTheBeast]

Yeah it is low end...

COMPARED TO THE $1000 PARTS WE SELL!!!

[morganfell]

You cannot compare a console GPU in a vacuum without considering the CPU and RAM to which it is mated. The components may be similar to those found in a PC but everything, from the OS to the manner in which they are co-located on die to the system by which they utilize memory, is wholly different from a PC.

Nvidia isn't going to win any maturity contests. Had they not been so greedy and realized Sony and MS needed to reduce console costs then they might be in a different position. Personally this kind of attitude makes me look at Radeon cards for my PC.

EDIT: He is stating the obvious? No. People with a simple view and that lack understanding agree.

And how about we discuss the importance of PC games to publishers?

People need to quit kidding themselves that the next gen will actually help PC gaming. It's a pipe dream. People have no idea what is involved in PC development and they actually believe the devs will flip a switch and get a magical PC version. It doesn't work like that. Also people fail to understand the budget that is set aside for support - pubs aren't just going to cough that up for low return PC versions.

The versions that do go to PC, well, just remember they were built for console first. We have Blizzard and everyone else formerly PC exclusive is next. How does that feel for a little truth.

[WrAiTh Sp3cTr3]

So just because the guy is stating the obvious, people are mad? You fanboys are plentiful, so why does everyone else need to stroke your delusional egos?

[starchild]

I'm a PC gamer, but even I think this trend of comparing consoles to PC gaming hardware straight accross is silly and pointless.

There are lots of reasons I could go into why you can get a lot more out of a console than a similarly spec'ed PC, but we can all see for ourselves that consoles always acquit themselves quite well given the static hardware they ship with.

Sure, PCs can always pretty up the visuals a bit and that is one of the benefits I enjoy about the PC, but the consoles really are the nucleus that the industry revolves around and they seem to dictate the baseline visuals that we will be experiencing. PS4 and next Xbox games will look great and will be a profound leap over current gen console games.

[TheTwelve]

Wow NVIDIA is ANGRY

[aceitman]

ps3 is basically 1/2 gig (512)and amazing looking games came out from 1st party devs imagine 8 they will blow us away period e3 will show and tell all , killzone is in beta form .

[scott182]

Who cares about specs? When sony game devs are so talented making those mind blowing games both graphically and gameplay wise... Who needs any more than what they are putting into it? Any more would be overkill.

[Tsar4ever01]

Sony is not trying to compete with the pc, it annonced it wanting to be more like a pc for the sake of dev parity. So I don,t understand all this
Partisan reteric from nvidia and pc community. As
Far as harware is conserned, ps4 and pc are like
Family now. Maybe all this hate or envy is really
About the ps4's GDDR5 memory, and it,s unpresedent
Valumn. Not even nvidia's super pc titan card have as much gddr ram.

[MikeMyers]

Did Nvidia say the same thing prior to the PS3 coming out? Nope.

http://www.edge-online.com/...

Look at how supportive they were with Sony and the PS3 back then but blasted Microsoft. Which of course was expected since Microsoft went with ATI instead (on the Xbox 360) after being partnered with Nvidia for the original Xbox.

[AsimLeonheart]

Nvidia is just bitter that hey did not get the contract from Sony for the GPU/CPU for PS4. That is why they have been spouting this hate towards PS4 and Sony. If Sony had hired them to make the GPU/CPU then Sony and PS4 would have the best in the world even with the same specs that have been announced. Greedy and butthurt businessmen!

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

" But you've seen what devs have done with the pathetic PS3/Xbox hardware over the years"

Soo seeing that it's x86 and devs say "F**k it let just push pc cuz we can and it's easy!!"

How good will ps4 look?

Ps3 and 360 games look good next to pc because they won't make games look way way different onpc. The cards pc gamers have now will be ready for next gen ports but have been available for years.

If BF3 has 48 extra players and bigger maps on pc then it make me wonder if they will push pc higher than ps4?

Or make it 1:1 with ps4 version?

x86 make the industry interesting now.

Will a game bigger than planetside 2 come that will push pc? When then about ps4?

Ps4 is great for the exclusives like pc is. But What will make ps4 look relevant is if the hold back a gtx760 to make games look the same as ps4 games.

Understand what I am sayin? I am not trying to come at you bro.

Also ddr4 and gddr6 comes out next year.
http://vr-zone.com/articles...

lol If only ps4 was coming out hoilday 2014 it would have gddr6.

I would be stupid to not still get ps4 though.

As long as devs hold back pc then ps4 games will look good or at least decent next to it.

[knowyourstuff]

The reason Killzone looks so amazing with "low end PC specs" is because there is no complex operating system like Windows running in the background. The OS is by comparison much simpler, there are no programs running in the background like a PC, plus games are made specifically catered to the architecture of that console.

PC's are different, where sometimes your specific architecture isn't as compatible as it should be, where some brands of video cards just work better on some games than others and vice versa, some sound cards don't work on certain games, it's a bit more hit and miss. However with a PC, when you do hit, you have the potential to knock it out of the park with higher resolution, better anti aliasing etc.

However you will be expected to pay more per year upgrading your rig if you want the absolute best there is to offer, so it's all about tradeoffs.

[SilentNegotiator]

Makes you wonder if they're doing stuff for the next Xbox, them carrying on like this.

But then, AMD more or less beat them to the punch for once, so they could be annoyed even if they dropped out of the console market all together.

[SwiderMan]

@SilentNegotiator Nvidia kind of rips on Xbox 720, too, so I don't know how likely it is that they will design Microsoft's next GPU.

[SilentNegotiator]

@swinderman

Well anyway, even in that case, they would benefit from belittling the new consoles to try and get people to go PC.

As AMD snatches up big contracts, Nvidia must be very intimidated.

[Ju]

Makes me wonder why they even bother selling a Tegra chip, or what was that all about their "useless" Project Shield then? The 680 makes those look like child play.

Must not apply to in house products, then, I suppose?

[chaos-lockheart]

I don't seem to see Nvidia talk a lot when the PS3 had their GPU, now its AMD with Sony and now they are like saying how the PS4 is not a good investment. And they are like comparing so many hardware specs.

[Bigpappy]

The guy is not out there slamming the PS4. He was asked and is giving his professional assessment. The PS4 looks to be a great jump from this gen of consoles. But why does it have to match a high end PC for you guys to be happy. Sounds like a lot of PS fans want Sony to build and expensive console and give it to them, at a big lost, in the name of gaming.

[R6ex]

Hope Nvidia will produce its own console (with high-end parts) someday.

[SkyGamer]

NVidia is right. By the time the ps4 ships, AMD will already have that mobile processor in laptops. The 7970m was already in macs over a year ago today and by December, 2 years old! If MS releases laptop specs, I will definitely skip next gen. Don't buy into the hype and bs! AMD hasn't been the same since the advent of multi-core. Such a shame too because they kicked some serious booty with their Athlon FX series. Talk to anyone who knows a little about computers, you mention AMD and instantly techs know you aren't talking about performance. Sad when a Core i5 2500k will outperform MOST anything AMD has to offer. This is coming from a tech who owns both AMD and Intel and NVidia. Sony wanted to be more development friendly, great! Going in AS a "Computer Entertainment System" with low end PC specs is just really foolish. Xbox has always been a "Video Game Console." MS knew that you distinguish yourself as a PC and you have the lifespan of a PC.

P.S. There is a BIG difference in GDDR5 and DDR3. One is in video cards and is limited and the other can do anything.

[jmc8888]

People are SOOO stupid.

I agree with Henry that we've seen miracles of what the previous consoles can do, and we'll see the same thing from this gen....

But it ISN'T a 7870, it's less than a 7850.

7870m does not equal 7870, it's like saying a car with a v8 is just as fast as the 4 cylinder version is.

On top of this you don't need a "GTX 680 that costs 500" to beat it.

Hey but aren't you losing that entire battle with that?

Because the PS4 should be 500-600 most likely, perhaps $429...if we're lucky.

But again...the 680 isn't the 670. The 670 is ONLY 10 percent less power...which can be overclocked to exceed the 680's power FWIW. But let's forget that. The 670 IS 1/3 more raw power than the PS4.

So the 670 isn't 500, it's 400...except everywhere I look I see it for 339-369...

But wait there's more!

The GTX 700 series will be out BEFORE the PS4 hits shelves.

So expect 40-60, perhaps up to 100 percent increases for the same prices.

So instead of 33, how about 100 percent increase in PC's for $399 when a PS4 costs what it does??

[Irishguy95]

I see there are plenty of ignorant who think the Ram will actually improve the games. Again, Ram is a limiter for the Gpu. The GPu is the one that does all the work. Then comes the CPu. Again 4GB is all the Ps4 needed. The only reason sony want 8gb's was because MS is rumored to have GB's. They're just playing it safe for the sake of covering their *** again console features(such as voice chat on Ps3, if only sony had their ram shared)

Again, stick 8GB's of ram in the ps3 and 360. Do you think they games will improve noticeably? No they won't, the Graphics processing unit is not improving, nor is the Cell. If only it was that easy to upgrade your PC.

Also I thought the Ps4 is supposed to have something equivalent to a 560ti? That is one of the most common gaming GPu's no? mid to high power at great cost.(Albeit, outdated by the 600 models) It's what I would buy if I was upgrading my PC(although again, the 660ti since it's newer)

Edit-- You know why Sony emphasized the 8GB's Ram? Because only a small minority of gamers know that it won't really make a difference from 4Gbs. The rest think Ram is a vital component which provides 50% of the power required for good graphics

[N4g_null]

For the people impressed by the ps4 just know the jump could have been way bigger. Also understand the gt690 will go on sale very soon after the ps4 release, making it affordable.

The big talk in computer graphics is every one using direct x 11 gear now even good ol maya. The price problem will pop up again. The only thing that will save the ps4 is game play.

[SephirothX21]

@MorganFell
Blizzard are bringing Diablo 3 to PS4. A game that's out on PC over a year already. You think that means they will concentrate less on PC? Some games are meant for a keyboard and mouse. Your comment about console ports to PC is not true. Yes multiplatform games will be tailored for PS4 and 720 hardware specifically but because PS4 hardware is a lot more similar to what is in your average gaming PC when compared with t