Sony to release a more powerful version of the PS4

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Sony to release a more powerful version of the PS4

Post by Sigma »

Here's the leaked info: -

The upgraded PS4 is codenamed "NEO". The CPU will be clocked at 2.1 GHz, compared to 1.6 with the current PS4. The GPU is also a considerable upgrade with a faster clock speed and double the amount of compute units. The system will still have 8 GB of DDR5 RAM, but clocked at a higher speed (218 GB/s Vs. 176), and half a gig of RAM extra will be available to devs on the NEO.

No price has been confirmed, but it's rumoured to have an RRP of $399.99 in the US.

Sony are going to handle game development like this: -

Devs will be required to have their games run in 2 different states - "Base mode" and "NEO mode". Whether you're playing the game on a regular PS4 or a NEO, you'll be able to connect with all other PS4/NEO players to play games, use party chat, use the PSN Store etc.

Peripherals will work across both platforms too.

The NEO will support 4K output, although with those specs you won't be playing the latest games natively at 4K, but presumably it'll have the required hardware to support 4K Netflix streaming and the like.

It seems like a really good idea to me, given that they're not fracturing the userbase. Some existing PS4 owners might be a bit pissed off, but you can always trade up to the new model.

Hush
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Re: Sony to release a more powerful version of the PS4

Post by Hush »

This is the weirdest thing ever, but makes sense considering that a lot of people are buying 4K TVs and looking for ways to take advantage of the tech.

So will NEO mode games look better even if you're still playing on a 1080p television? Kind of makes we wish I'd waited to buy a PS4 (since I've barely played anything on mine).

I wonder if Microsoft will follow suit with a similar Xbox One upgrade. Would be really interesting if an upgraded Xbox One surpassed the specs of the upgraded PS4 giving the graphical edge to Xbox.

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Re: Sony to release a more powerful version of the PS4

Post by Sigma »

The NEO mode games should still look and perform better at 1080p than regular PS4 games. Things like frame rate, lighting, shadows, anti-aliasing and what not can all be boosted due to the extra grunt.

At Microsoft's BUILD conference, Phil Spencer was asked about the "PS4.5" rumours (before this NEO info leaked) and he said that he's not interested in incremental upgrades. He said that when a new Xbox is released, he wants it to be a considerable upgrade.

The only solid evidence of a new Xbox One is a new wireless card that MS submitted to the FCC for certification recently. That card is going to be in a revision of the Xbox One. If I was to guess, I'd say that they'll release an "Xbox One Slim" later this year, with HDCP 2.2 support for streaming Netflix and stuff in 4K, but I wouldn't bet on them going down the same route as Sony and releasing a more powerful console. They did originally plan to release a version of the Xbox One without a Blu-Ray drive, so it would be a cheaper, download-only machine, but that plan was scrapped. I suppose there's a chance that they'll revive that now they have data on how many people are buying games digitally compared to on disc.

Sony have more incentive to do it because of their VR headset too, as with VR you have to basically drive 2 screens, one for each eye, and the current PS4 is a bit lacking for that. The NEO should lead to a noticeably better VR experience for those that buy the headset.

It should be a pretty interesting E3 this year anyway, at least on the Sony side, based on what we know now.

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Re: Sony to release a more powerful version of the PS4

Post by Hush »

I wonder how much of a graphical bump NEO mode games will have. The PS4 already has the edge this generation, and this will make that gap even wider. I was rolling with Xbox One as my primary console this gen, despite the slight difference in graphics. I'll wait and see how this plays out, but I could see myself switching to PS4(K) for all but Xbox exclusives.

Also, what about existing PS4 games? Do you think they could patch them to take advantage of the upgraded hardware?

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Re: Sony to release a more powerful version of the PS4

Post by Sigma »

Hush wrote:Also, what about existing PS4 games? Do you think they could patch them to take advantage of the upgraded hardware?
Yep, devs will be able to patch "NEO mode" into an existing game. Also, NEO mode will be mandatory for PS4 games starting in October, so I'm guessing the launch will be around then.

One other thing I forgot to mention is that Sony are preventing devs from offering exclusive content in NEO mode, so it sounds like they're doing this just right IMO.

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Re: Sony to release a more powerful version of the PS4

Post by Sigma »

A bunch of info has leaked today related to MS.

At E3 they will supposedly be showing an Xbox One slim that's 40% smaller and has 4K streaming support. They'll also supposedly be showing at least one other hardware device, possibly a cut-down version of the console without an optical drive, or some kind of streaming stick that can be used to stream games from an Xbox One.

Also, MS are working on a new Xbox One codenamed "Scorpio" that will supposedly launch in 2017. The rumours state that they're targeting 6TF of performance, which, if true, would make the console considerably more powerful than Sony's PS4 "Neo", although obviously these are just rumours and specs can change over time.

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Re: Sony to release a more powerful version of the PS4

Post by Hush »

So basically my speculation above was correct (not that this was hard to predict).

This is the strangest console generation ever. It's almost like Apple, releasing new iterations of the iPhone and iPad every year.

I'm a sucker for hardware revisions though so it will be interesting to see how cool this 'slim' Xbox One looks. I may pick one up and sell my fattie (and get rid of the Kinect since that thing has been worthless).

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Re: Sony to release a more powerful version of the PS4

Post by wheels »

Have they said anything about being able to trade your PS4 in for the new one?

I'm inclined to just hang onto mine so I can have another TV set up for Netflix and gaming and all that, but I know a bunch of my buddies aren't really that excited about having to shell out another $400 on a console they already own, especially after forking over god knows what for their 4K tv. You would think that they'd be excited about getting a console that supports 4K, but no. Their priorities are all out of whack

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Re: Sony to release a more powerful version of the PS4

Post by Hush »

A lot of people are ignorant when it comes to properly utilizing the technology at their disposal. I know at least two guys who spent good money on HDTVs, but were rocking the composite cables that came with their PS3s and not HDMI and didn't know any better.

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Re: Sony to release a more powerful version of the PS4

Post by Sigma »

Image

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Re: Sony to release a more powerful version of the PS4

Post by Dwight Strawberry »

So if you don't give a shit about VR or have any interest in buying a 4k TV, these console updates are kind of moot...correct?

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Re: Sony to release a more powerful version of the PS4

Post by Sigma »

Dwight Strawberry wrote:So if you don't give a shit about VR or have any interest in buying a 4k TV, these console updates are kind of moot...correct?
The Xbox One S is, but the PS4 Neo and Xbox Scorpio aren't. Those consoles should be 3-4 times as powerful as the ones we have now, so if you care about graphics and performance (but not enough to buy a high end gaming PC), then the upgrade will be worth it.

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Re: Sony to release a more powerful version of the PS4

Post by Hush »

The 'S' looks slick, but I wonder why they went with white? I'll probably wait until they inevitably release a black one before considering it.

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Re: Sony to release a more powerful version of the PS4

Post by wheels »

I personally don't care what color my console is

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Re: Sony to release a more powerful version of the PS4

Post by Hush »

I just think it will look dumb in my entertainment center when everything else is black.

Also, this: https://xboxdesignlab.xbox.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Sony to release a more powerful version of the PS4

Post by Hush »

PF Edition Xbox One Controller:

https://xboxdesignlab.xbox.com/en-US/vi ... dfc83f8128" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Sony to release a more powerful version of the PS4

Post by Sigma »

This was announced today. They've called it the PS4 Pro. The leaks were basically spot on. It has a higher clocked version of the existing PS4 CPU combined with a new, more powerful GPU. All in, it chucks out 4.19 TF of performance, which is about 2.3 times as powerful as the existing PS4, so not a huge leap in performance, but it's only $100 more than a regular PS4 at $399.99 so it's a no brainer to buy this over the regular PS4 if you're in the market for one.

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Re: Sony to release a more powerful version of the PS4

Post by Hush »

Caved recently and picked up an Xbox One S 2TB. Don't really care about Kinect anymore as I don't play any games that utilize it and it rarely works without yelling voice commands at it.

More internal storage, no power brick and slightly improved controller are also bonuses.

IMO, this new iterative business model is more reason to pick your favorite console maker and stick with them. I don't see myself upgrading both an Xbox and PS device every 2-3 years. Right now I'm keeping things minimal with the Xbox One for Xbox games/Plex/Amazon Prime Video/Youtube and Raspberry Pi for retro games/Kodi. I still have an original PS4 as well as Wii U, but those haven't been hooked back up after moving recently.

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Re: Sony to release a more powerful version of the PS4

Post by Tommy Bunz »

Why do I always like the console code names better than the official ones

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