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Generic Gaming thread (formerly known as the PS4 Thread)


Iakona

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Sony has quietly rolled out an update to its PlayStation 4 software development kit that will give game creators access to more of the processor's power, should it be required. It opens the door to more graphically intense games next year.

The important change was discovered this week. NeoGAF users noticed an interesting entry in the changelog for the latest version of Sony's PS4 SDK, released earlier this month. One of the revisions listed "allows access to the newly unlocked 7th core [of the processor]."

Game developers now have seven cores to work with when building for the PlayStation 4, compared with the six that have been unlocked up until now. This gives them more freedom to create demanding experiences that wouldn't run stably when only given six cores to utilise.

The PlayStation 4's custom-design AMD processor has eight cores but two have always been reserved for use by the console's operating system, ensuring features like messaging and screenshots always work reliably while playing a game. Developers now have access to one of those reserved cores though, implying some of the PS4's features may be limited to facilitate this performance boost. It isn't clear what the trade-off is when a game chooses to utilise the seventh core.

Sony is not the first console manufacturer to do this. The core unlock seems to have been made specifically so it can continue to command a performance lead over Microsoft's Xbox One.

The Xbox One also uses a custom-design, AMD-built eight-core processor but decisions made by Microsoft in its design process mean the PS4 has always been able to outperform it. In a bid to close the gap, Microsoftannounced it was unlocking the seventh core of the Xbox One almost a year ago.

Games that use the seventh core exhibit performance much closer to that of the PS4 as they have more of the processor to work with. This means the OS loses some of its power though so Kinect voice commands and camera functionality are disabled while playing a game that runs on seven cores.

Sony has likely unlocked the seventh core of the PS4 so it can leap-frog the performance of the Xbox One again. As the console was comfortably more powerful than the Xbox One when they both ran on six cores, it's logical to assume the gap in performance will increase once again now they both have seven cores available to game developers.

Current PlayStation 4 owners won't be seeing any immediate effects of this change. The difference will be noticed in the future when game developers choose to offload portions of their game's computing work to the seventh core, using more of the processor to facilitate even more powerful gaming experiences.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/a-and-e/gaming/ps4-processor-changes-let-future-games-get-a-performance-boost/article/450756

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What's the process for installing, it easy enough? Nearly filled my 500GB one.

Piece of piss. Couple of screws.. Doesn't interfere with your warranty or anything as Sony designed the console with upgrades in mind. The PS4 just uses a standard 2.5" SATA Drive that you'd find in a laptop... you can get a 2tb for 54.99 in Maplin.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/seagate-2tb-usb-30-expansion-portable-hard-drive-a85nl?gclid=CjwKEAiAhPCyBRCtwMDS5tzT03gSJADZ8VjRcyVQlTY4rnEmuOwOkMfdVdT7ziP-sd3v0f1IBcJLaxoCFK3w_wcB

Although it should be noted it's an external HDD.. so you'll need to break open the enclosure to get the actual HDD out. However if you're careful you can put your original PS4 HDD into the enclosure.. thus giving you a 500gb external HDD as a wee bonus!

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Report: PS4's PS2 emulation won't support discs or PS3 digital purchases

As revealed by apparent Dark Cloud leak.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-12-04-report-ps4s-ps2-emulation-wont-support-discs-or-ps3-digital-purchases

Sony can fuck right off if this is the case.

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Ok, have to buy a console for Christmas present.

So Xbox One or PS4 and why?????

If it's for a child find out what console their friends have/are getting.. they'll most likely want to play online with them.

If they have no friends find out what games they like.. certain series are exclusive to the PS4 or Xbox One. There is no definitive best here.. it's just comes down to preference.

If they had a 360.. an Xbox One may be of interest since it now has backwards compatibility. (limited to certain games at the minute, but the list will grow)

If neither of those apply.. then PS4 since most 3rd party games tend to (marginally) look or run better on that system.

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If it's for a child find out what console their friends have/are getting.. they'll most likely want to play online with them.

If they have no friends find out what games they like.. certain series are exclusive to the PS4 or Xbox One. There is no definitive best here.. it's just comes down to preference.

If they had a 360.. an Xbox One may be of interest since it now has backwards compatibility. (limited to certain games at the minute, but the list will grow)

If neither of those apply.. then PS4 since most 3rd party games tend to (marginally) look or run better on that system.

Thank you, yes its for a teen and his mates are into xbox1. Appreciate your insight (tu)

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