While on paper Microsoft and Sony's next-gen consoles look pretty similar and the Xbox maker might have talked up its recent processor clock improvements to the GPU and CPU by a few megahertz here and there, developers who've had their hands on dev kits from both console makers for quite some time, are saying that the PS4 is "noticeable faster."
How much faster? Memory reads are said to be in the region of 40 to 50 percent quicker and that the graphics chip's Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) is around 50 percent faster as well.
This was reported by Edge after conversations with several developers, one of whom gave an example, suggesting that without console optimisation, the PS4 could deliver 30 frames per second at 1920x1080p, whereas on the Xbox One it would run in the mid 20s FPS at the lower resolution of 1600x900. They also suggested that the Xbox One's ESRAM was a "pain to use."
But what about the clock speed upgrades to Microsoft's GPU and CPU? Shouldn't they have made a difference. Not enough apparently.
"The clock speed update is not significant," said one developer. "It does not change things that much. Of course, something is better than nothing."
"The clock speed update is not significant, it does not change things that much," he said. "Of course, something is better than nothing."
The graphics drivers on the Xbox One have fallen behind too, though it's said that Microsoft's internal developers are beavering away to try and get them up to scratch for launch and will continue tweaking them after.
Despite the extra power on the PS4 though, don't expect it to make much difference. It just wouldn't be financially viable for most developers: It would be totally fine for us to make one version prettier without any political difficulties," said one, "but it usually doesn’t make financial sense," they said, "unless it’s a very simple tweak."
