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PS4 Has 20 GCN Cores (2 redundant) according to Chipworks Teardown Analysis

C

coldfoot

Banned
2 deactivated for yields.

http://www.chipworks.com/en/technical-competitive-analysis/resources/blog/inside-the-sony-ps4/

JdwDdek.png
 
L

LittleJohnny

Banned
That's usually how they do things:

PS3 Cell = 8 Cores, 1 deactivated, 7 total
PS4 GPU = 20 GCN cores, 2 deactivated, 18 total.
XBO GPU = 14 GCN cores, 2 deactivated, 12 total.
 
T

The_Inquisitor

Member
That's rather brilliant actually. Used to work in semiconductor manufacturing. That explains why they have so many consoles at launch.

Cores end up dead due to a variety of issues in the photolithography process including misalignement, over/under etching, over doping, and test hardware issues. By giving a 10% window they dramatically increase their process capability (cpK)
 
F

Finalizer

Member
Ishida said:
So... It's this like... Good, or bad?
Click to expand...

It's standard practice. Extra stuff for redundancy to ensure good yields. Pretty sure we already knew about this too, though maybe it was just speculation, or just mixing up with Xbone's 14 CUs. (Again, 2 disabled)

EDIT: Why is GameCube GCN? I thought that would just be GC.
 
McHuj

McHuj

Member
tesla246 said:
Deactivating 10% of its cores. How does that compare to other GPUs in the market?
Click to expand...

Most GPU's one the market have some deactivated. For example 7870 and 7850 are identical chips, but the 7850 has a some CU's deactivated and a different clock.

For such a large chip, it's not unsurprising. MS has two disabled as well.
 
D

Danthrax

Batteries the CRISIS!
Ishida said:
So... It's this like... Good, or bad?
Click to expand...

The Radeon 7970, AMD's strongest consumer-level video card prior to the R9 series' arrival, has 32 GCN cores.

The 7850, which is more affordable for the average consumer (about $170), has 16 GCN cores.

So the PS4 isn't cutting edge, it's in the "cost-effective yet powerful enough for your average Joe" range.
 
B

betterman

Banned
The_Inquisitor said:
That's rather brilliant actually. Used to work in semiconductor manufacturing. That explains why they have so many consoles at launch.

Cores end up dead due to a variety of issues in the photolithography process including misalignement, over/under etching, over doping, and test hardware issues. By giving a 10% window they dramatically increase their process capability (cpK)
Click to expand...

of course

produce something with 20 cores...if 20 is ok, ok...if 19 is ok, ok...if 18 is ok, ok...

ps3 was a disaster because they were failing to produce cell with enough cores to use
 
E

epaturun

Member
being a noob, so does that mean that some consoles will have 20 no-faulty cores but 2 will be deactivated by hardware controller so that all systems have 18 running cores
 
D

DBT85

Member
epaturun said:
being a noob, so does that mean that some consoles will have 20 no-faulty cores but 2 will be deactivated by hardware controller so that all systems have 18 running cores
Click to expand...

Yes. Some might have 18 working cores, some 19, some 20. They can use anything that has at least 18 working. If only 17 are working it gets chucked in the bin.
 
S

Sianos

Member
but how many gamecu- oh that many gamecubes taped together thanks

Seems to be at a good range power wise, straddling the line between consumer and enthusiast friendly (for now).
 
Finster

Finster

Member
Steroyd said:
I think that's par for the course, Harddrives usually have 10% space less than advertised for the same reason.
Click to expand...

Wat? No.

The Hard Drive size discrepancy is because Comp. Scientists measure capacity in powers of two. 1 GB = 1024 MB.

For manufacturers, 1GB = 1000 MB, because then they can claim "500 GB" when really you're only getting like 460 GB when your OS uses the powers of two ways of counting things.
 
D

Demon Ice

Banned
tesla246 said:
Deactivating 10% of its cores. How does that compare to other GPUs in the market?
Click to expand...

It's normal practice for different members of the same line of graphics cards to have some of the cores deactivated to increase yields and decrease price.

VariantX said:
I'm assuming there's no way to turn on the deactivated cores in the future right?
Click to expand...

No. Because there's no guarantee that the two deactivated cores are even functional in all of the consoles sold. They were deactivated to increase production yields.
 
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