Sony unlocks the PS4’s 7th processing core for developers

Sony unlocks the PS4’s 7th processing core for developers

  

Ever since launch the PS4 has had a significant lead in graphical performance over the Xbox One, forever branding the PS4 as the “more powerful” console, allowing developers to run the PS4 versions of a game at a higher framerate or resolution than the Xbox One’s version of the game. 

At launch both consoles were able to use 6 out of the consoles 8 CPU cores in games, but last year Microsoft opened up more of the Xbox One’s performance, giving developers use of the consoles 7th CPU core and more GPU bandwidth in order to give developers more performance to use in their games, which has certainly help developers bridge the performance gap between the PS4 and the Xbox One.  

This boost in the Xbox One’s performance came at a cost, as developers which used this extra performance would not be able to use the Kinect with their game or Xbox One Voice commands, as this performance was gained by disabling these features. 

  

Now Sony has quietly launched a software developer kit which enables access to the PS4’s 7th CPU core, allowing developers to access more CPU performance by utilizing this extra CPU core. Right now we do not know how games using the 7th CPU core will affect the PS4’s features, similar to how the Xbox lost support for the voice commands and the Kinect.  

This update will not immediately give the PS4 more performance in-game, as developers will need to code their games with this extra performance in mind, but it does mean that developers will be able to make more demanding games, or use this performance it make their titles run more smoothly. 

Sony’s PS4 already had a performance lead over the Xbox one, but with the developers now having access to more of the PS4’s hidden potential the gap between PS4 and Xbox One games may increase further. 

 

You can join the discussion on the PS4’s performance boost on the OC3D Forums.