PS3 vs XBOX360 (long post)

[JPFS1]

well it seems XBOX360 is still in the running when it comes to pure grunt when compared to the PS3.

Initially, after only reading the specs and not looking much further into it, it looked like the PS3 had it all over the XBOX360, seems that is not the case.

For those interested, i've researched both consoles closely, looked at many official releases and technical specs and have come up with the following.

It seems the XBOX360 will actually be the one with more grunt based on some simple tech numbers and not so simple tech numbers.

based on specs provided by both manufacturers, the XBOX360 will;

1. have better main CPU performance based on it's more efficient and usable design
2. have a more powerful GPU
3. have a far greater memory bandwidth

now the reason the XBOX360 should have better CPU performance over the PS3 is that they have designed ALL 3 cores to include cache, branch prediction and a vector unit, this is extremely important because it is said that games are primarily designed to used these functions, roughly about 80% of the time, the PS3's SPE's (7 of them), don't have cache, direct access to random memory and no brach prediction. What the SPE's are great at is streaming floating point calculations (SFPC) where it is roughly twice as powerful as XBOX360, but in reality, SFPC is a much smaller part of a games code, actually the numbers for the next gen games are somewhere between 10%-30% for floating point, and 5%-10% for streaming floating point.

The PS3' main CPU also has a different instruction set to the SPE's, so this i would think would make it more difficult for programmers as they would need to write unique code for the SPE's.

The GPU of the PS3 is said to be about 2 times faster than the 6800 ultra of which it is based on, graphic numbers that i've seen for both seem to be very close, but the XBOX360 gets its nose infont... however, there are some technical design unknowns of sony's GPU as in how close it is related to the 6800 ultra's architecture, there may be some differences that will contribute to better performance, but it's close.

Memory bandwidth, this is a BIG difference, the PS3 has 22.4 GB/s of GDDR3 bandwidth and 25.6 GB/s of RDRAM bandwidth for a total system bandwidth of 48 GB/s, this may prove to be very limiting for the next generation requirements, they are using however Z buffer and colour compression technologies to compensate this limitation, these are said to break down though when rendering complex high quality 3D scenes.

The Xbox 360 has 22.4 GB/s of GDDR3 bandwidth and a 256 GB/s of EDRAM bandwidth for a total of 278.4 GB/s total system bandwidth.

There has also been some controversy surrounding some PS3 games shown at E3, where they say that CG was used in place of in game footage, ala Kill Zone, but there have also been some really really impressive ingame footage shown, ala I-8.

Saying this, the PS3 will still be a ripper of a console, much much faster than the previous console, just might be a bit more of a pain to code for and may have some shortfalls, the developers may even have some tricks up their sleeve, while the XBOX360 will be a lot closer than first thought.

[The MaDDeSTMaN]

Interesting... we'll see what happens, after all, the most important thing for either platform is QUALITY software, combined with a decent library of titles.

If either platform misses one or both of these important things, it's going to be in trouble.

It's times like these that make me glad I stopped doing computer programming many years ago now :P

[JPFS1]

yeah you're not wrong.

I did electronic engineering and all this is too familiar, glad i don't work in the field that i studied. way too nerdy and over the top for me.

There's no doubt these consoles are going to show off some of the most amazing ingame scenes we've seen.

Apparently a lot of the developers that showed their stuff at E3 only had their hands on the developer kits for a couple of months, probably why many of them were forced to pre-render their demo's, give them another 6 months and you'll see how much more they'll get out of the systems, what was shown in the pre-rendered demo's is said to be achievable in game.

can't wait.

[The MaDDeSTMaN]

At one stage a few years ago, I seriously wanted a 'Net Yaroze' or however it was spelt - the programming setup for the original playstation. I couldn't afford it at the time, and that's probably a good thing, seeing as I doubt I could have made anything worth showing anyone else with it.

However, one day I would like to get back into programming PCs - I want to make my own racing game.

Off topic, but I wish that Commodore Business Machines hadn't gone bust, effectively killing off the Amiga - I found that machine so easy to program, and it was easy to get impressive results out of it. By comparison, the thought of programming a modern PC scares me!

[BA GT-HO]

Meh, PS3 will have the Gran Turismo series.

Nuff said.

[needfordspeed]

Originally Posted by BA GT-HO

Meh, PS3 will have the Gran Turismo series.

Nuff said.

AMEN!

All I want to know is.........how easily can it be chipped:P:P

[Lukeyson]

i will get both, and give my family my XBOX and PS2.
love Gran Turismo, but i love Halo

[Kryton]

anyone gonna mention the ridiculous prices both these consoles are gonna be when released?

[needfordspeed]

Originally Posted by davway

anyone gonna mention the ridiculous prices both these consoles are gonna be when released?

I would if i knew:P Do you know? When are they coming out btw?

[paul7v7]

hmm interesting...can't say i'd buy any not worth the money. Although the XBOX360 has taken my fancy (I can't stand microsoft but hey). A quick trip to the local Harvey norman will determine the choice hehee.

[JPFS1]

$700+ is my guess.

[HSE2]

Nice post Chris. It isn't as clear cut as the paper specs would have us believe as the PS3 does have some bottlenecks and memory issues. It is a long time since sony held the paper spec advantage. Will be interesting to watch.

[M14A-Mclaren]

I'd still buy the PS3 over the Xbox, call me a label basher but the idea of me buying a microsoft console does not compute

[paul7v7]

Originally Posted by M14A-Mclaren

I'd still buy the PS3 over the Xbox, call me a label basher but the idea of me buying a microsoft console does not compute

as i said i hate MS but really i'll buy what ever is good value. Same with cars.

if i have to base the decision on previous experience then the XBOX will get the nod..the only MS product that works...hmmm did MS really build it? But best to try them all.

[Lukeyson]

the gadgets guys on sunrise said Xbox wont be out in Australia till easter 2006.
rest of the work (ie: USA) gets it xmas this year