I see my statements the other day caused more of a stir than I had intended. I saw threads locking down as fast as they pop up, so I apologize for the delayed response.
I was hoping my comments would lead the discussion to be more about the games (and the fact that games on both systems look great) as a sign of my point about performance, but unfortunately I saw more discussion of my credibility.
So I thought I would add more detail to what I said the other day, that perhaps people can debate those individual merits instead of making personal attacks. This should hopefully dismiss the notion I'm simply creating FUD or spin.
I do want to be super clear: I'm not disparaging Sony. I'm not trying to diminish them, or their launch or what they have said. But I do need to draw comparisons since I am trying to explain that the way people are calculating the differences between the two machines isn't completely accurate. I think I've been upfront I have nothing but respect for those guys, but I'm not a fan of the mis-information about our performance.
So, here are couple of points about some of the individual parts for people to consider:
• 18 CU's vs. 12 CU's =/= 50% more performance. Multi-core processors have inherent inefficiency with more CU's, so it's simply incorrect to say 50% more GPU.
• Adding to that, each of our CU's is running 6% faster. It's not simply a 6% clock speed increase overall.
• We have more memory bandwidth. 176gb/sec is peak on paper for GDDR5. Our peak on paper is 272gb/sec. (68gb/sec DDR3 + 204gb/sec on ESRAM). ESRAM can do read/write cycles simultaneously so I see this number mis-quoted.
• We have at least 10% more CPU. Not only a faster processor, but a better audio chip also offloading CPU cycles.
• We understand GPGPU and its importance very well. Microsoft invented Direct Compute, and have been using GPGPU in a shipping product since 2010 - it's called Kinect.
• Speaking of GPGPU - we have 3X the coherent bandwidth for GPGPU at 30gb/sec which significantly improves our ability for the CPU to efficiently read data generated by the GPU.
Hopefully with some of those more specific points people will understand where we have reduced bottlenecks in the system. I'm sure this will get debated endlessly but at least you can see I'm backing up my points.
I still I believe that we get little credit for the fact that, as a SW company, the people designing our system are some of the smartest graphics engineers around – they understand how to architect and balance a system for graphics performance. Each company has their strengths, and I feel that our strength is overlooked when evaluating both boxes.
Given this continued belief of a significant gap, we're working with our most senior graphics and silicon engineers to get into more depth on this topic. They will be more credible then I am, and can talk in detail about some of the benchmarking we've done and how we balanced our system.
Thanks again for letting my participate. Hope this gives people more background on my claims.
Here is some more info from Albert Penello MS Director of Product Planning - http://67.227.255.239/forum/showthread.php?p=80951633#post80951633
I think this once again goes back to my post yesterday that Microsoft is not trying to provide the fastest hardware but a well balanced machine that their software utilizes to the fullest.
I am more discouraged by the freak out of a certain segment that seems intent on demonizing anything and everything any Microsoft representative says...
The response to the initial tweet and follow up being examples of that.
It is little wonder that Microsoft seems to want to distance its self from "core" gamers.
I am more discouraged by the freak out of a certain segment that seems intent on demonizing anything and everything any Microsoft representative says...
The response to the initial tweet and follow up being examples of that.
It is little wonder that Microsoft seems to want to distance its self from "core" gamers.
Well look, NeoGAF and more or less the entire "core" gamer segment has gone from being the center of the gaming universe to being the minority. We're not in the Sega Genesis/SNES days anymore where the only people who played video games were "video gamers". And because they are no longer the center of the gaming universe, places like NeoGAF have a hatred for casual gamers. And with that comes a hatred for anything that even remotely caters to the casual gamer.
That is why you see the burning hatred for Kinect, and for any of the non-gaming functions the Xbox One is trying to accomplish. And they feel like they are still so important that Microsoft should completely cater to them even if it means destroying their own vision or something they spent millions in R&D on. And in this case, why specs matter to them. They don't have anything else to hang their hat on, so it's all about the GDDR's and the TFLOPS. Which is ironic because I'd say 95% of NeoGAF has no idea what any of that stuff means. It was hilarious watching them try to pretend they all knew what HUMA was after they thought the PS4 had it and the Xbox One didn't.
And why I am glad that I am no longer a "hardcore" gamer.
Well I can honestly say back when I was single it was work full time then days off 100% gaming. Then I got married at 26 and my gaming time went from 100% to about 75%. Then we had our first kid it went from 75% to 55-65% the as my daughter has gotten older my time is down to 25-30%. We just had our second kid and I probably only play 2 - 5 hours a week now lol.. So my hardcore gamer self is now a casual gamer to get away and relax from real life
Plus happy wife = happy life![]()
Well I can honestly say back when I was single it was work full time then days off 100% gaming. Then I got married at 26 and my gaming time went from 100% to about 75%. Then we had our first kid it went from 75% to 55-65% the as my daughter has gotten older my time is down to 25-30%. We just had our second kid and I probably only play 2 - 5 hours a week now lol.. So my hardcore gamer self is now a casual gamer to get away and relax from real life
Plus happy wife = happy life![]()
Well I can honestly say back when I was single it was work full time then days off 100% gaming. Then I got married at 26 and my gaming time went from 100% to about 75%. Then we had our first kid it went from 75% to 55-65% the as my daughter has gotten older my time is down to 25-30%. We just had our second kid and I probably only play 2 - 5 hours a week now lol.. So my hardcore gamer self is now a casual gamer to get away and relax from real life
Plus happy wife = happy life![]()
I can relate. Also my entire family uses the xbox WAY more than I do...and I've 5 girls...
It's mainly a media center as it sits now, and when the kids are monopolizing it, and my honey isn't on it watching a movie or exercising (I love watching her exercise btw, lol) - I play as much as I can.
So the X1 is going to be a big game changer here...and once I can swing it, another box and flat screen (smaller of course than what's in the living room) will be mine for upstairs gaming! I've already discussed this and it's all a GO! woot! (no, I won't be getting two 'day one' models).
Well I can honestly say back when I was single it was work full time then days off 100% gaming. Then I got married at 26 and my gaming time went from 100% to about 75%. Then we had our first kid it went from 75% to 55-65% the as my daughter has gotten older my time is down to 25-30%. We just had our second kid and I probably only play 2 - 5 hours a week now lol.. So my hardcore gamer self is now a casual gamer to get away and relax from real life
Plus happy wife = happy life![]()
BINGO!! Just like the 360 and PS3. On paper PS3 BLEW AWAY the 360. But it wasnt abiut having the best hardware. You eeded to have a balance in software and hardware. hence why more than HALF of all 3rd party titles look and run better on 360 than PS3.
That's fanatical culture for you. They exist on all sides of this generation's console war. Microsoft wouldn't be doing themselves any favors by ignoring the "hardcore" sect, but they oughtn't work to appease their insatiable demands.I am more discouraged by the freak out of a certain segment that seems intent on demonizing anything and everything any Microsoft representative says...
The response to the initial tweet and follow up being examples of that.
It is little wonder that Microsoft seems to want to distance its self from "core" gamers.
That's fanatical culture for you. They exist on all sides of this generation's console war. Microsoft wouldn't be doing themselves any favors by ignoring the "hardcore" sect, but they oughtn't work to appease their insatiable demands.