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RUMOR: So Killzone: SF was only using 1.5GB of VRAM

C

CLEEK

Member
i-Lo said:
Actually, according to the Eurogamer article, much like this gen, devs were simulating ~4GB with 8GB dev kits. So the natural assumption would be that 1.5GB limit was imposed to work within the earlier parameters.

This does make me ask, is it not ideal to have more RAM in dev kits than retail units? If so, is it reasonable to assume that the final dev kits which will out this summer will take care of it?
Click to expand...

Dev kits usually have ~2x the final RAM to allow for the debugging overhead.

The final dev kits will likely have ~16GB RAM.
 
L

Lagspike_exe

Member
XiaNaphryz said:
Developers have long been clamoring that 2 GB of system memory isn't enough, and now we're to expect that they'd be fine with less than that while we fill the majority of the memory space with textures?
Click to expand...

Because someone couldn't do that with UMA configuration? Do you think that every game allocates RAM space in the same way?
 
T

thuway

Member
REMEMBER CITADEL said:
That's a strange statement, since all the devkits allegedly had 8 GB of RAM. So let's presume that half of that was reserved for tools and debugging, that still leaves us with 4 GB. A part of that was reserved for the system (rumors point to 512 MB), with the rest being available to games. If PS4 didn't have unified memory, having "1.5 GB usable for graphics" would make some sense, the rest could then be dedicated to CPU tasks. However, PS4 does have unified memory so having a fixed amount dedicated to graphics doesn't really ring true. Unless the amount reserved for OS tasks used to be 2.5 GB, not 512 MB.
Click to expand...

When we refer to RAM in earlier devkits, we are speaking explicitly about video memory. Some of these articles written by Kotaku confuse readers by talking about System and Video memory as one large bank which is not the case. As far as I know it went like this:

1st Devkits: 2 GB of RAM (1.5 GB Video Memory)
2nd Devkits: 4 GB of RAM (3+ Video Memory) - if I am reading this right, decision was made in September to up it, and machines were shipped in January.

Finally, Cerny's promise: 8 GB of RAM (6 GB Video memory at max since 176 GBS / 30 = 5.86)

If any one needs me to clarify this post I can.
 
W

whome0

Member
We don't know how RAM/VRAM shared mem system actually works. Its not to say games can split any chunks it please. One rumour previously was games can slice max of 2GB VRAM and rest is a cpu RAM for game code and OS services.
 
P

Pachterballs

Banned
funkystudent said:
Evilore should just get it over with.

NEOGAF

Gaming Discussion
Gaming Community
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Off Topic Discussion
Off Topic Community
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RAM Discussion
RAM Community
Click to expand...

This shit is borderline thread complaining.

What's great about these rumors, is if they are true... And if killzoneSF really has been produced to 2-4 gb ram is that it's going to be even better looking when it hits.

Also someone should post that twitter comment where the GG dev suggested rather slyly that it'll be 60fps
 
M

MYE

Member
Hehateme said:
What's the PS4's final form?
Click to expand...

blown-away.gif


This kid is playing the rope section of Killzone SF in his room, with all RAMs unlocked
 
A

alr1ght

bish gets all the credit :)
Xgjhg5B.jpg


Pachterballs said:
This shit is borderline thread complaining.

What's great about these rumors, is if they are true... And if killzoneSF really has been produced to 2-4 gb ram is that it's going to be even better looking when it hits.

Also someone should post that twitter comment where the GG dev suggested rather slyly that it'll be 60fps
Click to expand...
I think everyone is just having a little fun. There's not much else to discuss atm.
 
I

i-Lo

Member
SPE said:
Dev kits usually have ~2x the final RAM to allow for the debugging overhead.
Click to expand...

True, but in absolute terms we are already in "GB". As such does the same rule hold true?

Hypothetically, if PS4 had around 5.5-6GB available for games, that would provide an overhead of 2GB (for debugging purposes) to the dev kits.
 
Codeblew

Codeblew

Member
CrunchinJelly said:
Previous rumours said Sony had reserved 512MB RAM for system use.

Suddenly it is 2.5GB if this guy is to be believed.

Sounds like BS to me.
Click to expand...

He is just saying there was 1.5gb of video (GDDR5) ram to work with in the devkit. They still had memory for OS, code, etc...
 
P

PnCIa

Member
Maybe one game can only (for example) access 2 GB of RAM so you can run multiple games in background at once, like on a PC.
Actually i dont believe that but its an idea...
 
K

KojiKnight

Member
No one else think this is all just a marketing ploy type rumor?

Again, we're talking about a tech demo... It's very easily to believe that a short demo was only using 1.5GB of ram, especially when all the data in all of the files for said demo probably about equaled that.
 
B

benny_a

extra source of jiggaflops
thuway said:
Finally, Cerny's promise: 8 GB of RAM (6 GB Video memory at max since 176 GBS / 30 = 5.86)

If any one needs me to clarify this post I can.
Click to expand...

Can you elaborate why you do 176 GBS / 30? I thought developers can do whatever they want with the RAM (and also with the CUs)
 
N

nib95

Banned
REMEMBER CITADEL said:
That's a strange statement, since all the devkits allegedly had 8 GB of RAM. So let's presume that half of that was reserved for tools and debugging, that still leaves us with 4 GB. A part of that was reserved for the system (rumors point to 512 MB), with the rest being available to games. If PS4 didn't have unified memory, having "1.5 GB usable for graphics" would make some sense, the rest could then be dedicated to CPU tasks. However, PS4 does have unified memory so having a fixed amount dedicated to graphics doesn't really ring true. Unless the amount reserved for OS tasks used to be 2.5 GB, not 512 MB, and that also sounds nebulous.
Click to expand...

That 8GB is for system use. Ie Widnows, the OS or whatever else. Original PS4 dev kits had 2.2GB of GDDR5, and that only recently changed to 4GB GDDR5, and will likely now change again in the immanent future to 8GB.
 
Honey Bunny

Honey Bunny

Member
antonz said:
Its a corridor shooter. Everything up close is made to look nice but once you get out of the corridor its all low polygon buildings using dof and other tricks to make them look a lot better than they do.
Click to expand...

But you don't. Lol at 'look better than they do' - they can only look one way to the end user, how you see them.
 
S

scytherage

Member
I think they don't have to increase the sharpness of it, they should just aim for 60FPS now that they have more RAM to work with
 
C

CLEEK

Member
benny_a said:
Can you elaborate why you do 176 GBS / 30? I thought developers can do whatever they want with the RAM (and also with the CUs)
Click to expand...

His sums just show how much RAM can be written each frame in a 30fps game. In this case 5.86GB. In a 60fps game, this halves to 2.93GB. These are theoretical maximums as well, but give a decent enough picture.
 
T

thuway

Member
benny_a said:
Can you elaborate why you do 176 GBS / 30? I thought developers can do whatever they want with the RAM (and also with the CUs)
Click to expand...

At thirty frames you have access to 5.87 GB of RAM because the bandwith of the memory is 176 GB/S. This leaves 2+ GB of space for OS functions, which sounds similar to MS's setup.
 
EviLore

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
Chill. See sticky. It's a legit rumor, and meaningful in some capacity if true, so there's no reason to shit on the thread.
 
S

spwolf

Member
REMEMBER CITADEL said:
That's a strange statement, since all the devkits allegedly had 8 GB of RAM. So let's presume that half of that was reserved for tools and debugging, that still leaves us with 4 GB. A part of that was reserved for the system (rumors point to 512 MB), with the rest being available to games. If PS4 didn't have unified memory, having "1.5 GB usable for graphics" would make some sense, the rest could then be dedicated to CPU tasks. However, PS4 does have unified memory so having a fixed amount dedicated to graphics doesn't really ring true. Unless the amount reserved for OS tasks used to be 2.5 GB, not 512 MB, and that also sounds nebulous.
Click to expand...

they were probably told to work on assumption that 2 GB will be RAM in the box, like those early rumors.
 
T

thuway

Member
KojiKnight said:
No one else think this is all just a marketing ploy type rumor?

Again, we're talking about a tech demo... It's very easily to believe that a short demo was only using 1.5GB of ram, especially when all the data in all of the files for said demo probably about equaled that.
Click to expand...

A tech demo is a non playable cutscene designed to show off a feature. This is a playable demonstration, a vertical slice, in other words, gameplay. He even let that tool Jimmy Fallon play it.
 
J

JABEE

Member
It will probably make the games look nicer and make it easier for developers to improve Killzone. It's great news for the future of the PS4. Sounds promising if PS4 was able to produce those visuals with limited tech.
 
Ploid 3.0

Ploid 3.0

Member
DSN2K said:
been mentioned already but yeah anyone who's played about with modding Skyrim on PC with HD Texture packs and ENB post processing effects will tell you vram is king, more of it the better.
Click to expand...

Yeah, my video card's ram is 768 mb and it hurts. Looking to upgrade my PC and wait on PS4 launch, or maybe the first redesign of PS4.
 
U

Ushae

Banned
funkystudent said:
Evilore should just get it over with.

NEOGAF

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Gaming Community
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Bwahahaha!

If the rumour is true we're in for some beautiful effects in our games. Id say we'll get much bigger and better looking levels.
No load times. Powerful particle physics (also depends on software).
 
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