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Microsoft to unlock more GPU power for Xbox One developers

EG:Xbox One reserves 10 per cent of graphics resources for Kinect and apps functionality, Digital Foundry can confirm, with Microsoft planning to open up this additional GPU power for game development in the future. This, and further graphics and performance-based information was revealed during our lengthy discussions with two of the architects behind the Xbox One silicon.

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majiebeast4274d ago

Wouldnt this destroy the balance?

Magicite4274d ago

The less time for xbone launch, the more surprises M$ is announcing.

Lalanana4274d ago

i got no complains with this. the more power the better. Keep it coming MS.

pedrof934274d ago (Edited 4274d ago )

@Lalana

Actually no.

Its the same power, that was reserved to the kinect, and in the future will go to the games, its not more tflops.

georgeenoob4274d ago Show
OC_MurphysLaw4274d ago

As long as the increases that come can't be detrimental to the hardware I don't have any issue with them

Lalanana4274d ago

@pedrof93

so less power is better? Am i missing something..

why no? I do not understand why it would be no :-/

Kayant4274d ago Show
awesomeperson4274d ago

@Lalanana

I believe what pedro is saying, is that this is actually confirmation there is *less* GPU "power" at launch than what was previously announced.

Microsoft are currently withholding 10% of their GPU for apps, to be given back later when this can inevitabley be optimised. We take the previously announced 1.31 TFlops and remove 10%, giving only 1.18 TFlops.

So Microsoft are shipping with a weaker GPU than specs say (1.18TFlops), and in the future devs will be given back some of that power (between 1.18 TFlops and 1.31 TFlops).

@geoergeenoob

Even though you're simply a troll, of course this doesn't reduce any sort of performance gap between the two. It actually works in Sony's favour.

Overall - this article is written by Leadbetter. Take it lightly. It is deliberatley worded to sound as if it is in Microsoft's favour, when it is not.

And for those thinking that if the Xbox One has this performance restriction, than the PS4 does aswell, this is due to the use of the Snap feature and similar apps. PS4 does not have such ability, and its reliance on a single OS (instead of 3) will likely lead to a much, much lower overhead.

SilentNegotiator4274d ago (Edited 4274d ago )

"I love that MS is actively eliminating any advantage competition might bring"

They brought up the clock slightly and want to unlock a sliver reserved for Kinect. They didn't "eliminate" the 50% power advantage; they shrunk it slightly.

Developers can't even use this 10% until Microsoft, you know, ACTUALLY unlocks it as opposed to just making a promise. So enjoy seeing that tiny increase in 2+ years.

P0werVR4274d ago

Microsoft without a doubt has the capabilities and know how to provide necessary resources to all developers.

All is left now is to invest more into first party development, especially for using every bit of their hardware, in contrast to current gen.

JokesOnYou4274d ago (Edited 4274d ago )

hmmm just let micro handle their business, everyone pretends to be experts on hardware they have never touched, while engineers who created the architecture continue to prove them wrong. As I said before alot of folks are going to be surprised when they see just what the customized X1 hardware is capable of, well yeah but they will still downplay the results. I mean look at the launch games already instead of pushing upgraded graphics some are doing some things that really feel next gen, and in game tech for overall better games so early in this gen while still looking amazing.

Blackdeath_6634274d ago (Edited 4274d ago )

@Lalanana
you are not gaining power, you are just loosing less of it to apps,OS,kinect and other function. increased clock speed however is always a good thing you just need to keep in mind overclocking/upclocking any device reliability takes a hit sometime this can be a big and not worth it sometimes its a little hit i don't imagine there will be any issues though i think MS are working on optimising the XBone more than anything i'm guessing they were playing it safe at first but are stepping it up and taking chances to compete with opposition

devwan4274d ago

Is this really a surprise? We always knew there was going to be a performance hit on the xbox one with the way it snaps and multitasks secondary software. The 10% figure was even rumoured/guessed at before.

What we might not have expected was for Leadbetter to come along and spin the whole thing as a positive to look forward to in future, when it's clearly an admission that, you know, this console that's already quite underpowered vs the ps4, the one they've been desperately trying to play the numbers game with, well, you can forget 10% of the GPU numbers because the game devs don't have them... but one day that might not be as bad as 10%, they might make it less.

The fact is, if they wanted to create a set top box that could do all the extra stuff -and- play games as good as the competition, they needed to be producing hardware that was at least 1.5 times stronger, not fairly substantially weaker... xbox one is clearly not the choice for gamers, it's for couch potatoes who might like to play a game now and again take it or leave it.

n4rc4274d ago

Why do people always look at things in the most negative way possible?

Look at the games now... They look awesome and have sold a ton of preorders based on them.. And they are saying there is 10% more power to be unlocked..

So how is that a negative? We don't play tflops..

darthv724274d ago (Edited 4274d ago )

if all of this power unlocking is done via software then wouldn't it be akin to the performance gains that video cards get with new drivers?

Also, not to take away MS thunder but....wouldnt the PS4 be able to achieve similar things via software as well?

gaffyh4274d ago

It's like with PSP when Sony announced the up clock, but they were smart enough not to mention it before the thing even launched lol. Still at least this shows that MS are thinking of future proofing to an extent.

FlunkinMonkey4274d ago

@georgenoob

If your comment is 'well said' like someone has implied by bubbling you up, then i am Vishnu's granddaughter ..

hazeblaze4274d ago

Lol... Because they're basically trying to say there is the possibility for XBone to only be 30-35% less powerful than the PS4!

princejb1344274d ago

lol MS seems desperate to catch up to ps4 power
didnt they learn from this gen that rushing products out without testing can lead to failure * cough cough red ring cough cough*

MazzingerZ4274d ago (Edited 4274d ago )

They make it sound like increasing over the known specs but actually it rather means getting close to what the machine can deliver...so not sure where the good news are

It's like saying, you are getting 10 GB extra on your HDD, it wouldn't mean the xbox shipping with 510 GB HDD but rather the reserved space in the HDD for the OS has been reduced 10 GB

By the way, the X1 info states that the OS reserved memory space represents a "considerable" part of the HDD space...any specific news about that? PS4 hasn't being specific about this matter either

NewMonday4274d ago

Nice spin going on here

This actually confirms the PS4 Has even more power with a 60% advantage

lawgone4274d ago

@dmitrijs88

I just wanted to take a moment to salute you for being so clever and original. The way you take the abbreviation for Microsoft - MS - but use a dollar sign instead of an S...it's brilliant! M$! It's like you're saying that they are a corporation and care about profits whereas Sony is an honest, gamer-loving entity that does not care about profits. So deep man! :)

Magicite4274d ago

@lawgone
Micro$oft
$ony
$amsung
Better now?

black0o4274d ago

miss leading title .. it should be like ''MS will allow devs to use 100% of the gpu sometime in the future''

UnholyLight4274d ago

Im really not all that surprised by the constant stream of info rolling out. It was always the plan leading up to launch..Even Sony..That you sort of "trickle feed" the masses every couple of weeks until launch to keep people talking about the consoles.

thexmanone4274d ago

@SilentNegotiator

Enjoy your 60% Slower PSN and more powerful PS4.

Live>PC>PSN

Anarki4274d ago

But they have already started mass producing them? can this be simply upgraded via update?

miDnIghtEr20C_SfF4273d ago

Very impressive and show's how this sites fanboys run who gets bubbles and "well saids" and "trolling"

You have 21 more agrees than disagrees and you were able to say "xbone" and "M$" together in your once sentence post.

I wish this sites founder could see this shit.

Kryptix4273d ago (Edited 4273d ago )

According to the article, 10% of the Xbox One's GPU power goes exclusively to the Kinect, OS features, and apps. Problem is that how will developers fully access that whole 10% without hindering Kinect function? I'm guessing the coding can become more simplified and sped up to use less space which leaves more room for in-game graphics processing. What they fail to mention is that not all that 10% will be accessible because the Kinect will still need some of that power for it to function. We might only see a %5 improvement in graphics and 5% still reserved for Kinect, OS features and apps. After the overclock and now this, you can't deny Microsoft is only playing catch up to the PS4's power. Even the article makes it clear that the PS4 still more powerful than the Xbox One.

"PlayStation 4's 32 ROPs are generally acknowledged as overkill for a 1080p resolution (the underlying architecture from AMD was never designed exclusively just for full HD but for other resolutions such as 2560x1400/2560x1600 too), while Xbox One's 16 ROPs could theoretically be overwhelmed by developers."

@georgenoob

"They are constantly listening to complaints on the Internet and quickly acting on it."

I see you're still living in your own world up in the clouds. Funny how the whole Xbox community was complaining about always online 2 months prior to the reveal and Microsoft didn't give two shits about them. If your bubble hasn't popped yet and your mind brought back to logical understanding then you really are completely blind and therefore an Xbot.

Hellsvacancy4273d ago

"hmmm just let micro handle their business, everyone pretends to be experts on hardware"

Read your own words buddy and take note!

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OlgerO4274d ago

The Spin on this is Glorious!! this means that 10 percent of the existing GPU is used for OS and kinect making the power difference even bigger in playstations favour. they simply stated that they will try to reduce the amount of GPU needed for kinect and OS over time.

RenegadeRocks4274d ago

Bingo ! Another PR move by MS ready to get messy ! This console launch is so enjoyable !

lfPetrini4274d ago

Of course this favours PS4 even more, everybody knows while Xone will use part of its hardware for the OS, PS4 is gonna use 100% of its for the games, the OS is probrably gonna work under alien technology.

cellfluid4274d ago Show
pyramidshead4274d ago

Pretty much, not to mention a weaker GPU at that. Judging by the comments the koolaid is in full flow.

The Ps4 will obviously use some but for only one OS whereas the Xb1 has three.

nypifisel4274d ago

It really is lol. "Unlocking more power" when what the article really told us was that the advantage of the PS4 GPU was even greater than we though. X1 GPU just went from 1.31Tflop to 1.18 Tflop meaning the PS4 GPU is 56% more powerful.. Oh boy, that Kinect just gets worse by the day!

xKugo4274d ago

I'm curious, though. How are they going to do this without sacrificing resources for the "Snap Mode". Does this mean good-bye snap because you can't free up GPU usage without taking it from a previously used source. I my opinion, this is just confirmation that the system was not built with games in mind because if it was, it wouldn't have 10% of it's most important component taken up by some crap add on camera.

n4rc4274d ago

By your logic... Then how do you explain the minuscule gap in games when its actually 10% bigger difference?

What are we up to now with you.. 60% weaker?

Funny... Games look pretty damn equal to me

Lykon4274d ago

I'd rather have a bmw than a tarted up nisan micra

deadfrag4274d ago (Edited 4274d ago )

what this seems to mean is that future wise kinect will most likely not come bundle with the X1.If they are taking the 10% of gpu power that kinect uses and give it back to the machine than whats the use of kinect?

"Xbox One reserves 10 per cent of graphics resources for Kinect and apps functionality,"

So what will happen to kinect and the apps without the 10%..........Simple shovelware will die and M$ can finally give me an X1 without shovelware kinect at a better price.Or this is actually BS talk from Microsoft again!

Ju4274d ago

"Funny... Games look pretty damn equal to me"

In Youtube videos. In reality it's somewhere 1080@60fps vs. 900p@30 (oh, right. This was a design choice).

thekhurg4274d ago

My favorite part of the article is how they actually try to defend 720p and 900p as being as awesome as 1080p.

Tooly4273d ago

exactly reduce those Tflops

n4rc4273d ago

Wtf are you talking about ju?

I can point to x1 games running 1080-60 and ps4 games that can't reach it...

Whats the point? selective reasoning is a bitch.. Lol

Ju4273d ago

I can point to a PS3 game which runs [email protected] Raaaccerrr...

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RenegadeRocks4274d ago

This will be to balance the balance that might get disbalanced when PS4 versions of games start performing better :P !

torchic4274d ago (Edited 4274d ago )

do you have to wear wear New Balance sneakers while working at Microsoft? what about a balanced breakfast? do Microsoft engineers drive cars with adjustable brake balance? how many times do they check their bank balance?

I love balance.

BlueShirt77494274d ago (Edited 4274d ago )

Maybe joining here was a mistake with stupid posts like this one.

Nah I'm just really going to enjoy bubbling down people!!

guerojose4274d ago

So, the system is perfectly balanced, with 300% more power from the cloud, and is not under powered in any way? And they're increasing clock speed, and decreasing system overhead, all to provide even MORE power?

Sorry, it's getting hard to keep up with all the spin.

Beastforlifenoob4273d ago

Guys if you are hating on specs lets all hate the WII U because it has the WORRRRRRRSTTTTT specs and features of any game console beign sold today.

Lets let that piece of junk burn (the wiiu)

bednet4273d ago

I see it like a drag race between a corvette (PS4) a mustang (XBOne) and a civic (WiiU).

Everyone knows the corvette will smoke the mustang, but it's still a nice race...while everyone ignores the civic.

Then on the sidelines, you've got the Ferrari (gaming PC), rolling its eyes.

sonarus4274d ago

lol @ destroying the balance. I love how microsoft will say one thing yet do another. Still kudos to them for realizing they are lagging behind in the graphics department and taking the necessary steps to try to upgrade that

devwan4273d ago

The necessary steps seem to amount to promises of vague possibilities down the line... that's not taking necessary steps, that's leaving people with baseless hope and setting them up for disappointment.

In fact there's so much coming to xbox one in the years after this year's launch that maybe they should have taken another year to get things in order first? Might have avoided at least a few of the weekly PR disasters.

Animal Mutha 764274d ago

Based on the text it's more balanced because it's freeing up unused cycles not used by apps when possible.

So no it wouldn't.

cell9894274d ago

this will in fact disrupt dat balance

Beastforlifenoob4273d ago

Id tap dat balance
subskrib 2 mi utube

Beastforlifenoob4273d ago

Id tap dat balance
subskrib 2 mi utube

GribbleGrunger4274d ago (Edited 4274d ago )

So basically this article confirms that the X1 holds 10% of the GPU power in reserve for Kinect and snap mode ... and it 'might' improve in the future. All this confirms is that the gap between the consoles is MORE than 50%. Keep quiet MS, you're making it worse.

wsoutlaw874273d ago

ya they never should have said a thing because when people were talking numbers they were counting 100% but now its more like 90

pyramidshead4273d ago

lol exactly. Anyone thinking this is good news is kinda washing over the facts a little.
Looks like I got marked for trolling for telling the truth apparently :x.

DJMarty4274d ago (Edited 4274d ago )

MS Console failures expected to rise to 70%+ as usual..........LOL

Evilsnuggle4274d ago (Edited 4274d ago )

Wow all the xbone one 80 rumors seem to be true. This was a old rumor that xbone OS used 6% of its GPU. This is more than the old rumor this 10% .this is not good news for xbone it means xbone os is a resources hog.

donman14274d ago (Edited 4274d ago )

And the XboxOne will also cook you dinner. Microsoft seriously... give it a rest and send your PR guys on vacation.

KiLLeRCLaM4274d ago (Edited 4274d ago )

Xbox is Windows and Windows is PC but I wouldn't pick a xbox if I already have a PC.. PS4 is where it's at..

BoriboyShoGUN4274d ago

What happen to the "all mighty cloud" thought it was going to give it all the extra power it needed?????
This XBOX news just gets funnier by the second.

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grassyknoll4274d ago

I love the way Microsoft are so desperate to be seen as the most powerful console. They could have been $150 cheaper if they didn't include Kinect. What a mess they've created for themselves.

XB1_PS44274d ago

Or even cheaper, there was an article a while back saying the Kinect is almost the same cost to manufacture as the Xb1 itself.

GrandTheftZamboni4274d ago

And it still needs GPU resources from the main box...

grassyknoll4274d ago

It wouldn't surprise me. A think a Kinectless SKU will be out within a year & a half max.

Blachek4274d ago

I thought most the computational requirements needed for the Kinect were housed within the unit itself.

I imagine the 10% they have partitioned is a conservative value that just determines how the kinect inputs directly to the console, not how it runs.

devwan4273d ago (Edited 4273d ago )

@Blachek No...

""Xbox One has a conservative 10 per cent time-sliced reservation on the GPU for system processing. This is used both for the GPGPU processing for Kinect and for the rendering of concurrent system content such as snap mode," Microsoft technical fellow Andrew Goossen told us."

The Kinect doesn't process the signal, it packages up the data and gives it to the xbox one to work on. It's using the GPU for GPGPU processing and it's doing this using all cores for 10% of the frame along with snap functionality, not a constant 10% of 8 cores all the time.

They do it that way because it's far simpler for them and devs to manage, it's always there and always locked off. Going the other way, where they aim to gain back a portion of this 10% of GPU power, can be achieved in a few ways, the simplest of which would be to have more efficient code... but that's not going to add up to much unless the existing routines are massively wasteful.

Another way would be to allow devs to completely lock out snap and Kinect processing, by user request, in order to allow the game to have much more of that 10% back... but then that would make a mockery of the system's ethos.

A third way would be to cleverly interleave the GPGPU into the frame where there are GPU idle times (there are a surprising amount of these during the frame). The problem here is that it's not possible to do this wholesale, it'd have to be done by hand for each and every game on a game-by-game basis . The real problem here is, the xbox one is already a more difficult machine for developers to work with due to the esram... this kind of additional work is only really practical for first party studios that are working closely with microsoft's engineers and who have budgets that aren't as tight as typical 3rd parties.

This is why ever seeing a 10% hike in GPU performance down the line is highly unlikely (and this 10% is obviously 10% of the actual figures microsoft have bee throwing around recently, not an additional 10% on top). It'll only be a percentage of that 10% and, in the real world, probably won't even register as a blip compared to other improvements in efficiency gained a few years down the line when devs better understand how to deal with the esram headaches.

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LackTrue4K4274d ago

I hate rumors but,
There saying there getting 3% more battery life off there controllers too!!!
With a 2% in cooling, added with a 50% more bull 5hit.

Drekken4274d ago

How does this make them stronger? All of the number discussed about the performance of the Xbox has been the base performance of the card without figuring the 10% withheld for kinect apps. This news just confirms the xbox is weaker than its strength on paper.

This is not good news.

BlueShirt77494274d ago

I have to say the more I hear about the XB1 GPU the more excited I am for the Xbox One. I won't be upgrading immediately because I love my 360.. but the One is looking better each day!!

Drekken4274d ago

XB1 GPU has just been confirmed to be 10% weaker than it was known to be yesterday... today they issued a statement that might release the 10% down the road.

I don't understand your excitement. They can't just add 10% on top of the power we already knew. If you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you.

LogicStomper4274d ago

@Drekken

He has a right to his excitement. Have you ever stopped to think that maybe, just maybe, people have their own personal preference?

He's allowed to be excited for the Xbox One just like how you're excited for your favored console. So, I think you should keep that bridge of yours and get over it.

kingduqc4273d ago

I see a lot of people getting excited that the new gpu is getting 10% overclock.

The fact stays the same: The xbox one gpu is basically a low tier gpu crammed into a black box. No magic here guys, it'S nothing impressive.

Ps4 is more capable for sure, but it's still a low/mid end card. In 2011 the 7970 released... currently selling for like 250$ with 3 free games of your choice (worth 120$) it's severely destroying both gpus on the new consoles.

I mean, it's fun to get all excited for new consoles and I can't wait to see what new IPs comme out of this gen but don't get excited about hardware please because it's like being happy you got a calculator for Christmas.

The problem I see here happening is that Microsoft did 2 overclock back to back. about 20% more performance, usually an overclocked can achieve with good air cooling on a pc gpu about that range of overclock. Here's the deal... The cooling on a pc case is much vastly superior to what you can do inside a small box like a console. Could we end up having RROD on our hard because Microsoft is trying to close the gap by pushing their tiny box too much?

devwan4273d ago

@GLI2013 Wow... just WOW...

I wonder how excited you'd be if Microsoft decided to lock off 25% of the GPU for the system to use and promise to give it back "one day"... that would be amazing, right?! 25% possible increase in future!! yeah!!!1

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pyramidshead4274d ago ShowReplies(3)
Insomnia_844274d ago Show
Ohlmay4274d ago

How does the Xbox One reserving 10% of it's GPU power bad news?

Computersaysno4274d ago (Edited 4274d ago )

How did you get a 'Well said' in less than 30 minutes with hardly any agrees (or disagrees for that matter) and a sentence that is actually anything but well said? Makes no sense. LOL

But anyway.

Yeah so Xbone's GPU performance is restricted even further by kinect considerations, and it'll be a while before Microsoft unlock the rest it seems. Way to 'squeeze every last drop of power (they say)' out their their 'perfectly balanced (they say)' and 'highly optimised (they say)' architecture by reserving 10 percent for kinect whether a game needs 10 percent or 1 percent.

Fail much??

They are really trying desperately to push this PR about their machine being 'powerful' after so many articles and comments from people pointing out how it is slower than PS4.

Why are they still on about it, when they said they would let their games do the talking.

Seems they just can't do that right now. Far too much spin for my liking, I really hate the way they are trying to go about this before launch.

Spin, spin, spin. I haven't heard Sony banging on like this, and I don't really want to.

Blachek4274d ago

He got a well said because it's a justifiable question.

The hardware for the Kinect is housed in the Kinect. It does not require the CPU or the GPU within the XB1 to gather and process the information from it's sensors or camera.

What has Sony set aside for the PS Eye to work? Any ide?

shadow27974274d ago

"It does not require the CPU or the GPU within the XB1 to gather and process the information from it's sensors or camera."

Apparently it does, or they wouldn't be reserving 10% of the GPU for it and Snap.

Sony doesn't set anything aside for the PS Eye to work. Instead they let the developers decide how resources are distributed. That's what they've always done. Sony also has a separate chip for multitasking and handling background tasks.

I'm struggling to understand how 10% less power than anticipated can be a good thing. The fact that they'll let developers use some of that lessens the blow, but it's still disappointing.

cell9894274d ago

Sony does not have to reserve anything genius. The PSv eye is not mandatory. only games that require the Eye will take resources from the processing power, games that dont, can use 100% power, logic.

Computersaysno4274d ago

Its not a sentence let alone a question. Not in the English language anyway.

Microsoft did indeed say that there was no overhead but in fact there is whether you need it or want it or not. That's a big fail.

boneso824274d ago

It may have been a good question (i don't think it is) but it was certainly not "well said"...

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Drekken4274d ago

It is BAD news because the 50% more powerful PS4 stat is not based on another 10% being reserved. So it is more 56% more powerful until MS releases the extra...

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