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PS4 firmware 4.50 add Boost Mode for PS4 Pro.

Isnt that abit odd? I mean a Xbox One S runs games abit faster already then a normal Xbox One because of the slighty better CPU. Didnt need a patch or a boost for that. Why does the Pro need a patch of boost update for that?
Because without boost mode PS4 pro is forced to not use the extra power on non-pro-patched-games. The objective was not to break games (physics e. g.). The power difference between base/amateur PS4 and pro is much more significant than the difference between OG Xbone and Xbone S.
 

PepperedHam

Member
Isnt that abit odd? I mean a Xbox One S runs games abit faster already then a normal Xbox One because of the slighty better CPU. Didnt need a patch or a boost for that. Why does the Pro need a patch of boost update for that?
Games without a Pro patch purposely had the PS4 running as a base PS4, they intentionally downclocked it so as to not potentially break anything that was in place for games developed specifically OG PS4 hardware. With this patch, boost mode just takes those shackles off.
 

Tyaren

Member
Isnt that abit odd? I mean a Xbox One S runs games abit faster already then a normal Xbox One because of the slighty better CPU. Didnt need a patch or a boost for that. Why does the Pro need a patch of boost update for that?

Sony locked access to the full power of the Pro. Only patched titles where able to access it's power. Unpatched games ran on a virtual standard PS4.
They likely did that to avoid any kind of problem that might have occured with games. Even now they are extra careful to make boost mode just an option and not the default setting.
 
Isnt that abit odd? I mean a Xbox One S runs games abit faster already then a normal Xbox One because of the slighty better CPU. Didnt need a patch or a boost for that. Why does the Pro need a patch of boost update for that?

Maybe because PS4 games weren't mean to run on a 4.2 Tflops GPU originally? You have to ensure compatibility first....
 

leeh

Member
Maybe because PS4 games weren't mean to run on a 4.2 Tflops GPU originally? You have to ensure compatibility first....
Is it using the full extent of the GPU or is it just the clocks? I'd expect huge jumps if it was, but I can imagine you can't really tell from frame caps?
 

bombshell

Member
Isnt that abit odd? I mean a Xbox One S runs games abit faster already then a normal Xbox One because of the slighty better CPU. Didnt need a patch or a boost for that. Why does the Pro need a patch of boost update for that?

For ensuring 100% compatibility with non-patched games, Sony locked half of the GPU and the clock speeds of both the CPU and GPU to the exact clocks of PS4 when running those.

Now they have removed that lock and downclock when the user enables the option, which has a disclaimer that it may break some games.

Edit: To further answer to your comparison to Xbox One S.

XB1 S has the exact same architecture as XB1, just with a slight CPU upclock.

PS4 Pro has a much more different architecture, where one part of the GPU is exactly like the regular PS4 GPU and the other part is a mirror of it, on top of higher clocks for both CPU and GPU.
 

Caayn

Member
Is it using the full extent of the GPU or is it just the clocks? I'd expect huge jumps if it was, but I can imagine you can't really tell from frame caps?
If Rainbow Six Siege, uncapped(toggle) and a frame rate counter, is an indication it's most likely using the full extent of the GPU. I wonder if Sony unshackled the CPU as well.
But a game as AC Unity wich had problems getting a locked 30fps on normal PS4 didnt run better and locked 30fps on a Pro without the boost mode? Because that wouldnt have broken anything physics wise etc? Just more stable?
That's been the discussions since it first became known that the Pro wouldn't increase performance for non-Pro titles. Sony now seems to agree by giving control to the user.
 

Theorry

Member
Because without boost mode PS4 pro is forced to not use the extra power on non-pro-patched-games. The objective was not to break games (physics e. g.). The power difference between base/amateur PS4 and pro is much more significant than the difference between OG Xbone and Xbone S.

Games without a Pro patch purposely had the PS4 running as a base PS4, they intentionally downclocked it so as to not potentially break anything that was in place for games developed specifically OG PS4 hardware. With this patch, boost mode just takes those shackles off.

Sony locked access to the full power of the Pro. Only patched titles where able to access it's power.
They likely did that to avoid any problems that might have occured. Even now they are extra careful to make boost mode just an option and not the default setting.

Maybe because PS4 games weren't mean to run on a 4.2 Tflops GPU originally? You have to ensure compatibility first....


But a game as AC Unity wich had problems getting a locked 30fps on normal PS4 didnt run better and locked 30fps on a Pro without the boost mode? Because that wouldnt have broken anything physics wise etc? Just more stable?
 

PepperedHam

Member
But a game as AC Unity wich had problems getting a locked 30fps on normal PS4 didnt run better and locked 30fps on a Pro without the boost mode? Because that wouldnt have broken anything physics wise etc? Just more stable?
It didn't run better without boost mode because prior to this firmware update any games that did not receive a Pro patch forced the Pro to function as a regular PS4. When running Unity the PS4 Pro was just a plain old OG PS4, boost mode takes advantage of everything the Pro has even for non patched games.
 

madmackem

Member
Playing driveclub man it might because I've not played it in a while but feels super smooth I know it was a pretty much locked game but it feels better now and loading is next to nothing off my external.
 

bombshell

Member
But a game as AC Unity wich had problems getting a locked 30fps on normal PS4 didnt run better and locked 30fps on a Pro without the boost mode? Because that wouldnt have broken anything physics wise etc? Just more stable?

What about the rest of the 1000+ games in the PS4 library?
 
Hearing that Yakuza 0 plays a bit faster in boost mode worries me. Sounds like that glitchy stuff that happens when you force a locked FPS open on certain PC ports.

Switching boost mode on and off just works right? No need to restart the console or anything?

I've given yakuza 0 more time than any other game when testing out boost mode and it doesn't play any faster anywhere. It's exactly the same you just don't get the screen tearing anymore. People saying stuff like the camera spins faster and what have you are not correct. It's smoother which can be mistaken for faster I guess but the game is identical across normal and boost mode apart from performance gains.
 

PepperedHam

Member
I've given yakuza 0 more time than any other game when testing out boost mode and it doesn't play any faster anywhere. It's exactly the same you just don't get the screen tearing anymore. People saying stuff like the. Amara spins faster and what have you are not correct. It's smoother which can be mistaken for faster I guess but the game is identical across normal and boost mode apart from performance gains.
Big thanks for the clarification! I shall go forth into the boost.
 
But a game as AC Unity wich had problems getting a locked 30fps on normal PS4 didnt run better and locked 30fps on a Pro without the boost mode? Because that wouldnt have broken anything physics wise etc? Just more stable?

Remember, before Boost Mode, playing non-Pro patched games on a Pro was identical to playing them on a non-Pro because all the extra hardware of the Pro was locked away to make it functionally identical to the non-Pro.

They didn't want to unlock the extra hardware due to concerns it might cause problems with already released games (and it seems like some games do have actual problems with Boost Mode enabled). Boost Mode is just the ability to say "OK, I get it, this probably wasn't tested, unlock the hardware anyway."
 
Is it using the full extent of the GPU or is it just the clocks? I'd expect huge jumps if it was, but I can imagine you can't really tell from frame caps?

From the Eurogamer article, Sony gave them this update.

UPDATE 3/2/17 8:45pm: Sony has confirmed boost mode and offered a statement about its capabilities. According to word received by The Verge, boost mode "lets PS4 Pro run at a higher GPU and CPU clock speed in order to improve gameplay on some PS4 games that were released before the launch of PS4 Pro. Games that have a variable frame rate may benefit from a higher frame rate, and load times may be shorter in some games too."

It does seem to allow games to use the extra GPU and CPU speed / power but they don't say if it's using all of the extra power.
 
D

Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
Oh wow, cool. Has anything been found to be notably broken yet? This could be fun for speedrunning.
 

leeh

Member
From the Eurogamer article, Sony gave them this update.



It does seem to allow games to use the extra GPU and CPU speed / power but they don't say if it's using all of the extra power.
Thanks. Looks like it's just using the clock speeds of the Pro then and not the other half of the GPU?

Still, looks impressive and the other half of the GPU would be wasted with caps anyway.
 
More tests.
Broforce works like a charm. No matter what's going on game seems to be locked at 60 fps.
Strange thing with Tembo the Badass Elephant. Game doeesn't start at all with firmware 4.5 beta. It freezes right after splash screen - game loads infinitely. Checked on Turbo and without. Strange.
I may download this once again to check if this help (when PSN will be back in Europe).
 
More tests.
Broforce works like a charm. No matter what's going on game seems to be locked at 60 fps.
Strange thing with Tembo the Badass Elephant. Game doeesn't start at all with firmware 4.5 beta. It freezes right after splash screen - game loads infinitely. Checked on Turbo and without. Strange.
I may download this once again to check if this help (when PSN will be back in Europe).

Are you serious? You mean THE BROFORCE that shits all over fps?
 

bombshell

Member
Was just a example. Really thought the Pro was already using its power to help to get a more solid targeted framerate for the games. 30fps or 60fps.

That seemed to be the general public consensus that the Pro needed to do just that, but for 100% compatibility reasons it didn't do it for non-patched games until now where the power can be unlocked with a system setting at the user's discretion.
 

NXGamer

Member
If Rainbow Six Siege, uncapped(toggle) and a frame rate counter, is an indication it's most likely using the full extent of the GPU. I wonder if Sony unshackled the CPU as well.
That's been the discussions since it first became known that the Pro wouldn't increase performance for non-Pro titles. Sony now seems to agree by giving control to the user.
Being the same family/identical this would be the easiest part and a given. The Gpu is what would be the most volatile under calls/commands.
 

orochi91

Member
I want eurogamer to retest loading times with the ssd too. Should be a nice boost.


It's already a pro game.

It was already patched for Pro, boost mode doesn't matter

Exactly the same, it already had a pro patch so was using 100% of the pro's power

TLG is a Pro patched game. Only non-patched games profit from boost mode.

I expect it's no different because it already has on-disc Pro support.

Edit: lol so LTTP
Ah, brain-fart on my end, I completely forgot about the Pro modes for TLG.
 

kyser73

Member
Playing driveclub man it might because I've not played it in a while but feels super smooth I know it was a pretty much locked game but it feels better now and loading is next to nothing off my external.

I saw a tweet from Rushy mentioning that the motion blur was throttled depending on GPU load, so presumably that's no longer happening, so that might be why?

I have difficulty believing it loads any quicker tho - still probably the fastest loading game on any console at present.
 

bombshell

Member
CPU Clock from 1.6 to 2.1 Ghz is certain

GPU Clock from 800 to 911 Mhz too

Could that be alone be enough for the improvements we are seeing?

No, I don't think so. Rainbow Six Siege doesn't seem like a game that would be CPU bound and the increase in FPS for the terrorist hunt mode with Vsync off seems way too high for just a GPU clock increase. So I'm leaning towards the second half of the GPU being unlocked too.
 

BigEmil

Junior Member
For ensuring 100% compatibility with non-patched games, Sony locked half of the GPU and the clock speeds of both the CPU and GPU to the exact clocks of PS4 when running those.

Now they have removed that lock and downclock when the user enables the option, which has a disclaimer that it may break some games.

Edit: To further answer to your comparison to Xbox One S.

XB1 S has the exact same architecture as XB1, just with a slight CPU upclock.

PS4 Pro has a much more different architecture, where one part of the GPU is exactly like the regular PS4 GPU and the other part is a mirror of it, on top of higher clocks for both CPU and GPU.
Yeah
I saw a tweet from Rushy mentioning that the motion blur was throttled depending on GPU load, so presumably that's no longer happening, so that might be why?

I have difficulty believing it loads any quicker tho - still probably the fastest loading game on any console at present.
Boost mode does improve loading speeds
 

kyser73

Member
Yeah, if they're still locking the mirror half of the GPU needs confirmation.

CPU Clock from 1.6 to 2.1 Ghz is certain

GPU Clock from 800 to 911 Mhz too

Could that be alone be enough for the improvements we are seeing?

Richard@DF said:
UPDATE 3/2/17 8:45pm: Sony has confirmed boost mode and offered a statement about its capabilities. According to word received by The Verge, boost mode "lets PS4 Pro run at a higher GPU and CPU clock speed in order to improve gameplay on some PS4 games that were released before the launch of PS4 Pro. Games that have a variable frame rate may benefit from a higher frame rate, and load times may be shorter in some games too."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/d...de-makes-standard-ps4-games-run-more-smoothly
 

SP17

Member
Ah, brain-fart on my end, I completely forgot about the Pro modes for TLG.
Its so easy to get excited about games that could benefit from this, only to realise the 'boost' has already gone into resolution/ more demanding effects in an already released pro patch :/
 

Caayn

Member
No, I don't think so. Rainbow Six Siege doesn't seem like a game that would be CPU bound and the increase in FPS for the terrorist hunt mode with Vsync off seems way too high for just a GPU clock increase. So I'm leaning towards the second half of the GPU being unlocked too.
Rainbow Six Siege is actually CPU bound in t-hunt mode. All modes in Rainbow with AI operate at a low framerate than the competitive multiplayer modes.
 
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