Yesterday, we reported on a few rumors about the next-gen consoles from Sony and Microsoft.
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Eurogamer posted some data it claims it gathered from trusted sources that have Orbis development kits:
Orbis/PlayStation 4
- AMD eight-core 1.6GHz CPU
- Radeon HD graphics card (possibly a modified version of the 7970M)
- 1.84 TFLOPS
- “Secret sauce” compute module
- CPU component could be 75 to 80 mm2
- 4GB of GDDR5 ultrafast RAM
- 512MB RAM reserved for the operating system
- 100GB Blu-ray disc drive
Interestingly, the AMD CPU combined with a Radeon 7970M produces the 1.84 TFLOPS benchmark — according to Eurogamer — that popped up in a separate rumor about the next PlayStation.
A PC with such specs like that can run Crysis 2 on its Very High settings at 60 frames-per-second. A dedicated console should churn out even more due to its more efficient architecture.
Eurogamer’s sources also claim that Microsoft’s Durango will share the same AMD eight-core CPU as the Orbis, but it will have a much slower memory bank. Microsoft’s next Xbox reportedly has 8GB of DDR3 compared to Orbis’s 4GB of GDDR5. DDR3 is an older and slower standard, especially compared to GDDR5.
In this case, Sony’s ultrafast RAM, despite having less, is likely an advantage — especially if it’s true that Microsoft is reserving 3GB of its memory for the OS and always-running applications.
So games may run better on Orbis, but Microsoft may have more features and functionality.
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Of course, this is all speculation. The increase in leaks is a sign an announcement is imminent. A Sony executive claims they may have something to say about a new PlayStation in May.