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    PlayStation 4 is Sony's fourth home video game console, released on November 15, 2013 in North America, and November 29, 2013 in Europe. On November 10 2016, Sony released the Playstation 4 Pro, an updated version of the console targeting 4K gaming.

    AMD talks about hUMA and the PS4 at Gamescom

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    Krakn3Dfx

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    Translated from this article:

    Although both upcoming game consoles Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are based on AMD hardware, only PlayStation 4 incorporates hUMA [Heterogeneous Uniform Memory Access] for supporting a shared memory space. This was explained by AMD's Senior Product Marketing Manager Marc Diana to c't [big German IT magazine] at gamescom. This should put the 3D-performance of PlayStation 4 much farther ahead of Xbox One than many have expected so far. AMD sees hUMA as a key element for drastic performance improvements in combined processors. AMD's upcoming Kaveri desktop processors support hUMA as well.

    Behind the scenes, c't could hear from developers that the 3D-performance of PlayStation 4 is very far ahead of Xbox One.

    Back in April, AMD manager Phil Rogers explained to c't that hUMA improves 3D-performance in particular. "Game developers have been eager to use very large textures for years. Until now they had to resort to tricks in order to package parts of larger textures into smaller textures. That is because today a texture has to be located in a special place of physical memory before the GPU can process it. With hUMA, applications can work with textures much more efficiently". AMD will give more details on hUMA at its upcoming developer conference in November.

    Surprising that AMD would come out and talk about something like this publicly, going to guess it was supposed to be off the record.

    Also another article speaking to AMD planning to sell a cut down version of the PS4 APU for PCs. Sounds like a cost effective solution for budget gaming PCs down the line probably, which could be a boon for PC games. I wonder if something like this would show up in a Steambox down the line.

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    jimmyfenix

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    #2  Edited By jimmyfenix

    I am interested on how people will react to the cut down PS4 APU for PCs

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    Krakn3Dfx

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    @jimmyfenix: I have so many Steam games I haven't touched but that will run in Steam Big Picture mode, if I could pick up a PS4 sized PC $400-$500 and throw it on my TV to run them, it would be a no brainer at this point.

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    The_Laughing_Man

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    #4  Edited By The_Laughing_Man

    Someone has posted an email from AMD saying that this is not a quote from Marc.

    Collusion?

    Dear *Name removed*,

    Your service request : *Ticket number removed* has been reviewed and updated.

    Response and Service Request History:

    While that German Gamescom site does say that an AMD employee confirmed this, there is no actual quote from Marc Diana regarding the hUMA functionality of the PS4 (in English or in Gernam). Neither AMD nor Sony has confirmed that the PS4 will support hUMA either, so this one unverified online report should not be taken as any sort of confirmation of hUMA functionality. As with the XBOX One confirmation, you should contact Sony to confirm any hUMA functionality with their upcoming Playstation 4 console, but neither Sony nor AMD has confirmed this, and the one German website that doesn't have a quote from an AMD employee cited should not be taken as anything but speculation and rumour. There is no direct quote that says anything about either the PS4 or XBOX One utilizing hUMA, and since this information is proprietary to Sony and Microsoft, you will have to contact them for any information about their hardware.

    In order to update this service request, please respond, leaving the service request reference intact.

    Best regards,

    AMD Global Customer Care

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    Krakn3Dfx

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    #5  Edited By Krakn3Dfx

    @the_laughing_man: Curious, I guess if the email is legitimate, we should see an official statement from AMD at some point. Otherwise, anyone can type up an email to dispute anything.

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    The_Laughing_Man

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    @the_laughing_man: Curious, I guess if the email is legitimate, we should see an official statement from AMD at some point. Otherwise, anyone can type up an email to dispute anything.

    I wonder if they will answer if I send them a email.

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    The_Laughing_Man

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    @the_laughing_man: Curious, I guess if the email is legitimate, we should see an official statement from AMD at some point. Otherwise, anyone can type up an email to dispute anything.

    They emailed me back!

    Dear Nick,

    Your service request :

    Response and Service Request History:

    It's not as much that he was misquoted as much as he wasn't quoted at all. You can see the report at http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Gamescom-Playstation-4-bietet-Unified-Memory-Xbox-One-nicht-1939716.html , which everyone has been quoting, but there is no quote from Marc Diana here, it is either in need of confirmation (which is unlikely, since we cannot confirm hardware functionality for other companies), or is just a misinterpretation of the information given to the writer. If there was a quote there we could analyze it further, but they don't have any sort of exact quote, so I am pretty sure that they just tried to draw some conclusions (IE Kaveri supports hUMA, and Kaveri is coming out at the same time as the PS4, so PS4 supports hUMA, which is erroneous as any chip used by Playstation will be custom-made to their specs, and isn't a Kaveri chip).

    In order to update this service request, please respond, leaving the service request reference intact.

    Best regards,

    AMD Global Customer Care

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    Krakn3Dfx

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    #8  Edited By Krakn3Dfx

    @the_laughing_man: Cool, yeah, doesn't surprise me that they would be actively working to back away from something like this, like I said in the original post, I imagine anything said to this effect would be off the record.

    I guess like most things, we'll have to wait for confirmation or launch to see if this pans out. Heise would appear to be a pretty significant IT based website in Germany, so I'm sure there is at least some basis for their article.

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    Istealdreams

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    I emailed them as well, and this was their response!

    Dear Zak,

    Your service request :

    Response and Service Request History:

    It is absolutely 100% correct. In fact the Playstation 4 is so far ahead of the Xbox One in graphic processing power, that I find it hard to believe that someone would even entertain the notion of buying it! If you would like to personally talk to Marc Dana for further clarification, I am sure that I can get you in contact! as you can see I am monitoring this very closely as I got back to you regarding your email in less than 10 min, so feel free to let me know day or night.

    In order to update this service request, please respond, leaving the service request reference intact.

    Best regards,

    AMD Global Customer Care

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    The_Laughing_Man

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    #10  Edited By The_Laughing_Man

    @istealdreams said:

    I emailed them as well, and this was their response!

    Dear Zak,

    Your service request :

    Response and Service Request History:

    It is absolutely 100% correct. In fact the Playstation 4 is so far ahead of the Xbox One in graphic processing power, that I find it hard to believe that someone would even entertain the notion of buying it! If you would like to personally talk to Marc Dana for further clarification, I am sure that I can get you in contact! as you can see I am monitoring this very closely as I got back to you regarding your email in less than 10 min, so feel free to let me know day or night.

    In order to update this service request, please respond, leaving the service request reference intact.

    Best regards,

    AMD Global Customer Care

    No Caption Provided

    Wont even edit my hot bar out. SOUL EATER HOOOOOO

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    tescovee

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    @istealdreams said:

    I emailed them as well, and this was their response!

    Dear Zak,

    Your service request :

    Response and Service Request History:

    It is absolutely 100% correct. In fact the Playstation 4 is so far ahead of the Xbox One in graphic processing power, that I find it hard to believe that someone would even entertain the notion of buying it! If you would like to personally talk to Marc Dana for further clarification, I am sure that I can get you in contact! as you can see I am monitoring this very closely as I got back to you regarding your email in less than 10 min, so feel free to let me know day or night.

    In order to update this service request, please respond, leaving the service request reference intact.

    Best regards,

    AMD Global Customer Care

    No Caption Provided

    Wont even edit my hot bar out. SOUL EATER HOOOOOO

    actually made me chuckle :P was it not stated on gaf that it was misinterpretation?

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    Istealdreams

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    #12  Edited By Istealdreams

    ok you got me, but my main point is that posting "quotes" without proof of Quote is pretty much worthless. I mean, why not just do what you did, but with the image so that it is more official than just some internet poster doing what I did?

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    connerthekewlkid

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    #13  Edited By connerthekewlkid

    @tescovee said:

    @the_laughing_man said:

    @istealdreams said:

    I emailed them as well, and this was their response!

    Dear Zak,

    Your service request :

    Response and Service Request History:

    It is absolutely 100% correct. In fact the Playstation 4 is so far ahead of the Xbox One in graphic processing power, that I find it hard to believe that someone would even entertain the notion of buying it! If you would like to personally talk to Marc Dana for further clarification, I am sure that I can get you in contact! as you can see I am monitoring this very closely as I got back to you regarding your email in less than 10 min, so feel free to let me know day or night.

    In order to update this service request, please respond, leaving the service request reference intact.

    Best regards,

    AMD Global Customer Care

    No Caption Provided

    Wont even edit my hot bar out. SOUL EATER HOOOOOO

    actually made me chuckle :P was it not stated on gaf that it was misinterpretation?

    No Caption Provided

    STEP IT UP PLEBS

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    Krakn3Dfx

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    @tescovee: Not really. AMD Customer Support cannot confirm or deny anything because of NDA agreements. If Diana said something, it was likely never supposed to make it outside of the conversation between the 2 people talking. AMD announced hUMA earlier this year, and it is kind of their ace in the hole when it comes to their APU tech by their own admission, so if the PS4's APU has it built in, that would be significant performance wise according to AMD's previous statements regarding hUMA.

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    tescovee

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    ok you got me, but my main point is that posting "quotes" without proof of Quote is pretty much worthless. I mean, why not just do what you did, but with the image so that it is more official than just some internet poster doing what I did?

    In reality who gives a shit? this is just low rent epeen. will it justify a purchase? "oh goawdzors my next console has not a huma, I suxzorz" The hyperbole from the sony fanbase is balls out nutty.

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    Istealdreams

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    I actually dont care. We will really find out how everything measures in just a few months. But people on both sides of the fence posting and counter-posting with unfounded quotes is really tiresome, and sometimes it needs to be pointed out, Because like I showed above, if you cant prove it, why post it.

    This topic was started with a quote that really wasn't a quote and had no reference, and then people trying to debunk it were using the exact same process.

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    tescovee

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    #17  Edited By tescovee

    @istealdreams said:

    I actually dont care. We will really find out how everything measures in just a few months. But people on both sides of the fence posting and counter-posting with unfounded quotes is really tiresome, and sometimes it needs to be pointed out, Because like I showed above, if you cant prove it, why post it.

    This topic was started with a quote that really wasn't a quote and had no reference, and then people trying to debunk it were using the exact same process.

    Bull shit, anything positive towards MS turns negative, an anything sony (neg or pos) becomes godlike.

    Edit: nothing towards you specifically its just bizarre. I have no stakes in both (actually I have both on pre order but) man people are nutty

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    Istealdreams

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    #18  Edited By Istealdreams

    Should I direct you to the one-man MS PR machine @alexglass?

    Also:

    No Caption Provided

    edit: just saw your edit while posting my reply.

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    Seppli

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    #19  Edited By Seppli

    @the_laughing_man:

    AMD does business with both Sony and Microsoft. Billion dollar kind of business. It can't have an employee paint one of the two in an overly positive light, respectively the other in an overly negative one.

    My bet would be that Mr. Diana said exactly what he's allegedly said in that interview, and meant it too. Just, it had to be unsaid. Now everybody can believe what they will.

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    AlexGlass

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    #20  Edited By AlexGlass

    I think it was the writer that made the connection and comments based on what they heard from AMD, not AMD.

    I really believe what you will see here when it's said and done is an Xbox vs GC type situation where the PS4 will have a raw power advantage similar to how the Xbox did, but the Xbox One will have its own unique advantages due to the architecture and cloud offloading capabilities. Similar to GC's multitexturing in a single pass. Though no games really ever took advantage of it other than Rogue Squadron and the GC's secret sauce never really got to shine.

    I think you'll see a more obvious IQ graphics difference out of the box for the PS4 overall, but there will be certain areas in graphics that will also perform better on the Xbox One. PS4 will push more geometry and allow for easier scalability to take advantage of the GDDR5's bandwidth to achieve higher res textures especially on multiplatform titles . Xbox One will probably have a tiling and megatexturing advantage but it will likely be more limited to exclusives. And same goes for cloud-offloaded games. I think whatever graphics or physics code is suitable more suitable to run on the CPU, then that is an area where the Xbox One will be stronger when it offloads portions of that code to the cloud.

    And I also believe the gap isn't going to get that much bigger precisely because of that factor. The more time goes by where developers can squeeze juice out of the PS4, the same will apply to developers figuring out how to offload data to a server, improving X1 performance.

    That's just my 2 cents based on researching both console's hardware features and differences.

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    tescovee

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    #21  Edited By tescovee

    @seppli said:

    @the_laughing_man:

    AMD does business with both Sony and Microsoft. Billion dollar kind of business. It can't have an employee paint one of the two in an overly positive light, respectively the other in an overly negative one.

    My bet would be that Mr. Diana said exactly what he's allegedly said in that interview, and meant it too. Just, it had to be unsaid. Now everybody can believe what they will.

    my bet would be that you have a bias, and looking at your previous post that would be fantastic odds.

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    Scampbell

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    #22  Edited By Scampbell

    Still it would strange for an AMD employee to make something like that up, it is awfully specific.

    What I want to know is when it will be possible to buy DDR5 RAM and what the price will be.

    I've actually just build a small APU based computer.

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    AlexGlass

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    Still it would strange for an AMD employee to something like that up, it awfully specific.

    What I want to know is when it will be possible to buy DDR5 RAM and what the price will be.

    I've actually just build a small APU based computer.

    my bet would be that you have a bias, and looking at your previous post that would be fantastic odds.

    And my bet is still that the writer of that article took some liberties to fill in gaps. For what it's worth MS is scheduled to talk about their SOC design next week at Hot Chips, where the focus is going to be on Heterogeneous System Architecture and next-gen SOC design and Microsoft is scheduled to get on stage right after AMD.

    We'll find out soon enough. Monday 8/26, 9:30am.

    This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for:

    Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.

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