CryTek On Consoles "8 gigs can easily be filled up"

[TechFan@ic]

CryTek's CEO Sean Tracy stated in an interview with GamingBolt that it would actually be fairly easy to fill the entire memory capacity of both new consoles citing scene complexity and increased computational power as the causes behind the increasingly higher memory requirements for upcoming games.

Other developers have stated that the new generation of consoles will likely run out of steam faster than previous generations.
But their reasoning wasn't because the consoles themselves are lacking in performance but because of the unified architecture behind both devices that AMD has built makes it far easier to leverage optimization work across both platforms & arguably even the PC & thus reach peak performance levels very quickly.
 

Ravi Sinha: We recently interviewed a developer who stated that it will take no time for artists to fill up 8GB of RAM. Are we going to see a shortage of RAM budget [again] in this new console cycle? 

 

Sean Tracy: I would have to agree with the viewpoint that 8 gigs can easily be filled up, but also keep in mind that developers don’t necessarily even have access to all 8 gigs of it.

For example the Xbox One retains some of the RAM for OS purposes. Since technology, as Ray Kurweil states, progresses exponentially, we will soon find that the computational requirements of games will quickly hit the ceiling of a few gigs of ram.

 

  We already had to manage quite intensely our memory usage throughout Ryse and this will be one of the limiting factors surely in this generation. As hardware gets stronger the complexity of scenes can be increased and the dynamism within them. However, with that said it’s not the raw power alone that will allow for photorealistic graphics but technology that intelligently scales and utilizes all that the hardware has to offer.

[xXxYOLOxSWAGxXx_420BlazeIt]

But it can also be easily filled on PC

 

I dont get the point youre trying to make. Please explain.

[Ashaira]

On a PC you can get more. You can't on a console.

 

Ofcourse if you use an Iphone you can download all the ram you want.

[Blake]

But it can also be easily filled on PC

 

I dont get the point youre trying to make. Please explain.

but for ~100 you get 32GB of RAM.

[TopWargamer]

Good thing I have 16 gigs then.

[darkfuji]

but for ~100 you get 32GB of RAM.

Where the hell are you getting your ram from.

[ACatWithThumbs]

But it can also be easily filled on PC

 

I dont get the point youre trying to make. Please explain.

People on PC will just upgrade to 12GB or 16GB + VRam.

The consoles are stuck with about 6GB for the next 7-8 Years.

[xXxYOLOxSWAGxXx_420BlazeIt]

People on PC will just upgrade to 12GB or 16GB + VRam.

The consoles are stuck with about 6GB for the next 7-8 Years.

7-8 years? Got a source on that claim?

 

 

but for ~100 you get 32GB of RAM.

No you cant. My 32GB of RAM cost £120 a little over a year ago. Its about £260 now.

[TechFan@ic]

But it can also be easily filled on PC

 

I dont get the point youre trying to make. Please explain.

The question asked of Sean Tracey was specifically about the 8GB of memory in the consoles. Not about memory requirements in general.

Ravi Sinha: We recently interviewed a developer who stated that it will take no time for artists to fill up 8GB of RAM. Are we going to see a shortage of RAM budget [again] in this new console cycle?

Memory shortages on the previous generation of consoles was infamously the most significant bottle-neck in those platforms.

If developers are already beginning to hit a memory capacity bottleneck in such a short period of time it's going to pose some very serious questions about the longevity of these next generation devices.

[ivhyn]

Of course can it be filled up, it's no magic to let a program fill up the space, it's about creating games that don't fill it up.

[Guest]

But sonic boom is on the wii u o_0

[Recon-UK]

Just hold enter on google chrome.EXE for 5 mins, soon fills up 16GB of ram, your point?

[ACatWithThumbs]

7-8 years? Got a source on that claim?

 

 

No you cant. My 32GB of RAM cost £120 a little over a year ago. Its about £260 now.

Consoles always have those long life cycles.

Microsoft already said that they will support XboxOne for 10+ years.

They always support the old console 2-3 Years into the life cycle of the new one so it will be around 7-8 years just like it was with Ps2-->Ps3-->Ps4.

It will take several years before the Ps4/XboxOne even get a price were non core gamers buy the consoles.

( http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-one-is-a-more-than-10-year-journey-microsoft-says/1100-6415000/ )

 

[TERAFLOP]

It's funny how a lot of people keep recommending expensive graphics cards that only have 2GB of memory and say that 2GB is totally fine for 1080p when in fact developers are already maxing out all of the consoles' memory and on resolutions below 1080p.

[creativename]

It's funny how a lot of people keep recommending expensive graphics cards that only have 2GB of memory and say that 2GB is totally fine for 1080p when in fact developers are already maxing out all of the consoles' memory and on resolutions below 1080p.

consoles share the vRAM and system RAM. FOr textures 2gb is fine, but it's still gonna fill up the basic system ram.

[ivhyn]

It's funny how a lot of people keep recommending expensive graphics cards that only have 2GB of memory and say that 2GB is totally fine for 1080p when in fact developers are already maxing out all of the consoles' memory and on resolutions below 1080p.

Both consoles have unified RAM, 2GB is still enough for games because they load most of the stuff onto the RAM and everything else to the VRAM. Both consoles only have around 6GB usable system memory, with modern games on PC that's easy to fill (4GB SystemRam, 2GB Vram)

[TERAFLOP]

consoles share the vRAM and system RAM. FOr textures 2gb is fine, but it's still gonna fill up the basic system ram.

Both consoles have unified RAM, 2GB is still enough for games because they load most of the stuff onto the RAM and everything else to the VRAM. Both consoles only have around 6GB usable system memory, with modern games on PC that's easy to fill (4GB SystemRam, 2GB Vram)

In that same interview Tracey said that they have siwtched to using compute shaders which are GPU shaders for things previously done on the CPU. So they shifted memory usage from the CPU to the GPU for better performance. So in fact GPU memory usage is going up much more than system memory.

Previous generations only had 0.5GB of memory for the GPU, and previous generation games ported to the PC instantly used twice that much. So if the consoles really ONLY have 2GB of memory dedicated for the GPU you're talking about at least doubling that for the PC eye candy.

[ChrisxIxCross]

Of course it it can, but by the time you're using all of it your fps will we well below 30. 

[atrash]

Soon there will be Xbox One.2 with extra 16GB ram..

[Cryptonite]

Soon there will be Xbox One.2 with extra 16GB ram..

Xbone slim

[kuddlesworth9419]

But it can also be easily filled on PC

 

I dont get the point youre trying to make. Please explain.

The 8GB is shared with the CPU and GPU so you aren't getting 8GB of RAM more like 4/6GB. 

[kuddlesworth9419]

Where the hell are you getting your ram from.

He downloaded it of course. 

[Kamil]

I'm going to be perfectly honest here... If 8 GB of RAM isn't enough for your games, then they better look a pretty absurd amount better than last gen consoles that had what... 256 MB? Or was it 512? I'm definitely not an expert, but I just can't imagine RAM being the limiting factor here when a system with about 16 times as much RAM brings resolution from 720p to, say, 762p. I know that's a different company, but it just really seems weird that they'd be talking about already pushing the limits of that particular spec when it's the one that has such a ridiculous improvement from the last generation while the games themselves are only into "noticeable".

[jecho]

What takes so long to come out with a console. I mean now they are just mid-range gaming pcs. The only thing different about them is their highly locked down operating systems.

[That Norwegian Guy]

Star Citizen, The Division and The Witcher 3 will all have 8GB minimum RAM requirements on PC. With tangible benefits of having more. This is not shocking, everyone who's been around for a few generational shifts know that old RAM standard amounts is the first thing to get obsoleted.

 

Can't wait for modded Elder Scrolls 6 to use upwards of 24GB of RAM. Shit'll be glorious.