PS4 Pro uses 2 gpus.....console crossfire....that ok for you!

[rattacko123]

15 hours ago, AluminiumTech said:

ACTUALLY NVM.

 

just read another article and It claims that PS4 Pro's GPU has some features not present in Polaris (so maybe coming to VEGA?) and yet it also contains components from Polaris.

 

So IDEK anymore.

Well the theoretical performance is 2.28x the performance of a ps4 so I would assume it is a different GPU

Quote

We just turn off half the GPU and run it at something quite close to the original GPU

based on this quote it's not exactly like the original GPU
And from the Verge Article:

Quote

the new console has a second, identical GPU configured next to the original, with a 14 percent boost in frequency to 911MHz

The second GPU appears to be more powerful than the first one, so idk how that would work exactly. I guess we should wait and see until the ps4 pro actually releases to find out exactly how it works

[Questycasos]

I seems to me they've found a way to sort of section off different parts of the die and give them the ability to either work together or independently. Not sure about the whole Polaris or not thing. It'd definitely be interesting if AMD could get two different architectures to work together, but at the same time it's more likely that they've just added some extra backwards compatibility measures to Polaris and called it a day. For AMD this is a good field test for the tech we're possibly going to see in Navi.

[jaggysnake57]

17 hours ago, goodtofufriday said:

Thats cool and all. But seriously OP, change the title from sli to crossfire. 

done 

10 hours ago, LucidMew said:

Because God forbid we increase the CPU speed. It's not like devs would tie the physics to framerate or anything. They surely wouldn't do something like that.

no cevs have never dpne that!!!

2 hours ago, JaeDee884 said:

having doubled up chipsets isnt new, look at ps2 having a ps1 in it, or the ps3 having a ps2 in it. 

this is different in that the chips are mirrored versions with one clock higher

[randomhkkid]

14 hours ago, Godlygamer23 said:

SLI is NVIDIA's protocol, and with the exception of Pascal(although that has ways of getting around it apparently), SLI supports more than two GPUs at one time, but it's not just any two GPUs. It supports only NVIDIA GPUs. AMD uses their own protocol, aka Crossfire.

Yep, not sure that info really adds anything though the my point was that this is just disabling resources not having two distinct gpus talk to each other. 

[Guest]

That was... unexpected. 

[captain cactus]

14 minutes ago, Noire said:

That was... unexpected. 

It really isn't if you look at it from AMD's perspective. They want Navi to be dual-GPU-cards-working-as-one-GPU so what better way to test it out than with a closed environment like the console market is?

[sof006]

Interesting news. Wonder how this will cope if the CPU cores are still as slow as they are now.

[Brian McKee]

Not unexpected, AMD loves crossfire and pushing developers to use it will only benefit them long term.

 

Having good dual GPU support for more games is great for the end consumer too, lets you get more out of older systems.

[Sharkyx1]

17 hours ago, jaggysnake57 said:

done 

no cevs have never dpne that!!!

this is different in that the chips are mirrored versions with one clock higher

In pro mode the full gpu runs at higher clock

 

In base mode half the gpu is disabled and the clock is lowered

[Belgarathian]

On 10/22/2016 at 1:06 AM, jaggysnake57 said:

 

to cope with this sony added a "second" gpu

 

 

its an interesting way to handle both sets of games and i wonder how many older games will try to leverage the extra horse power. still though why not just doi it right in the first place

 

source http://www.gamesradar.com/the-ps4-pro-is-basically-two-ps4-chips-using-one-for-old-games-and-both-for-pro-enhancements/?utm_content=bufferd8c84&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=buffer_grfb

Surely a single GPU solution with two states would have been more effective, use the drivers/firmware to limit the capability of the GPU? 

 

for instance, PS4 @ 600mhz core clock, PS4 Pro 1200mhz core clock. 

[jaggysnake57]

6 hours ago, Sharkyx1 said:

In pro mode the full gpu runs at higher clock

 

In base mode half the gpu is disabled and the clock is lowered

im sure i read that 1 is clocked slightly higher to give extra performance

1 hour ago, Belgarathian said:

Surely a single GPU solution with two states would have been more effective, use the drivers/firmware to limit the capability of the GPU? 

 

for instance, PS4 @ 600mhz core clock, PS4 Pro 1200mhz core clock. 

i think sony are trying to avoid old games needing an update to run on the pro. a different gpu could cause problems that sony just cant see, i mean we have al seen console devs do stupid things like tying physics to the frame rate god knows what else they have done.

[Vode]

6 hours ago, Belgarathian said:

Surely a single GPU solution with two states would have been more effective, use the drivers/firmware to limit the capability of the GPU? 

 

for instance, PS4 @ 600mhz core clock, PS4 Pro 1200mhz core clock. 

It's not about effectiveness or elegance. It's about business and money.

 

Two smaller dies are way cheaper than a single larger one.

 

It's in the best interest of AMD and Sony to opt in for dual GPU solutions (if they are working without major difficulties)

[Sharkyx1]

10 hours ago, jaggysnake57 said:

im sure i read that 1 is clocked slightly higher to give extra performance

i think sony are trying to avoid old games needing an update to run on the pro. a different gpu could cause problems that sony just cant see, i mean we have al seen console devs do stupid things like tying physics to the frame rate god knows what else they have done.

Quote me on this, it is a single die 8 core CPU 2304 core gpu solution

 

It will down clock and disable units for old PS4 games

 

In pro games it runs the entire gpu at 911mhz

 

Also tying physics / simulation to framerate makes a lot of sense on console only titles, makes debugging easier as the game will always respond the same. And there isn't really a downside

 

"the new console has a second, identical GPU configured next to the original, with a 14 percent boost in frequency to 911MHz"

 

read it like

 

1 The new console has a second identical gpu configuration

 

2 The new console has a 14% MHz bump to 911

 

They aren't saying the gpu runs at different speeds

[QBtech]

Okay this might be slightly off-topic, but I really wonder how long sony can be kept to their promise that all games coming out for the PS4 will actually be playable on the old PS4.

Yes the architecture supports it, but the PS4 Pro segments the market, how long before there will be PS4 Pro only games because developers have gotten sick off supporting two versions or limiting their games to the PS4?

 

I don't know about you guys but I'm not upgrading to the PS4 Pro. When I play the PS4 I just wanna lay back and be swept up in the story or something, couldnt care less about 4k and fps. When I car about that I'll play that game on the PC. 

[Godlygamer23]

2 hours ago, QBtech said:

I don't know about you guys but I'm not upgrading to the PS4 Pro. When I play the PS4 I just wanna lay back and be swept up in the story or something, couldnt care less about 4k and fps. When I car about that I'll play that game on the PC. 

The problem here with your argument - specifically what I'm quoting here - is that both resolution and frame rate can add to the experience, both making the game feel more real and one making it more responsive, improving your experience. And if the frame rate becomes low enough where you can perceive the images being displayed, the game may not even be playable anymore, so yes, even in your case, frame rate does matter. 

[Prysin]

On 22/10/2016 at 3:12 PM, lots of unexplainable lag said:

It really isn't if you look at it from AMD's perspective. They want Navi to be dual-GPU-cards-working-as-one-GPU so what better way to test it out than with a closed environment like the console market is?

Navi is 2 years out with ZERO proof supporting your rumors.

[QBtech]

55 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

The problem here with your argument - specifically what I'm quoting here - is that both resolution and frame rate can add to the experience, both making the game feel more real and one making it more responsive, improving your experience. And if the frame rate becomes low enough where you can perceive the images being displayed, the game may not even be playable anymore, so yes, even in your case, frame rate does matter. 

I see what you mean, and in a way you are right. But I have just as much fun playing assassins creed 2 on the ps3 as I would have if I bought the new version for the ps4 in a couple of months. Games where I (want to) notice the difference I play on the pc. As such I will not upgrade to the PS4 Pro aslong as the same games come out for the PS4. 

[captain cactus]

1 hour ago, Prysin said:

Navi is 2 years out with ZERO proof supporting your rumors.

It's right in their road map. You know, scalability?

[Prysin]

6 hours ago, lots of unexplainable lag said:

It's right in their road map. You know, scalability?

That is your proof??? 

[SCHISCHKA]

11 hours ago, QBtech said:

I don't know about you guys but I'm not upgrading to the PS4 Pro. When I play the PS4 I just wanna lay back and be swept up in the story or something, couldnt care less about 4k and fps. When I car about that I'll play that game on the PC. 

i sold my ps4 while it was still worth something, also because they keep pushing out the date of gran tourismo. i think Microsoft and Sony really screwed up this generation of consoles. All that flip flopping on features and restrictions before release and then forcing a subscription just to play multiplayer online. the money you spend on your playstation, spend it on your computer because you will get better graphics and less restrictions, cheaper games too

[Carclis]

On 10/22/2016 at 2:49 PM, rattacko123 said:

Well the theoretical performance is 2.28x the performance of a ps4 so I would assume it is a different GPU

based on this quote it's not exactly like the original GPU
And from the Verge Article:

The second GPU appears to be more powerful than the first one, so idk how that would work exactly. I guess we should wait and see until the ps4 pro actually releases to find out exactly how it works

Most journalists have really twisted the words of Mark Cerny. The exact quote:

 

"First, we doubled the GPU size by essentially placing it next to a mirrored version of itself, sort of like the wings of a butterfly. That gives us an extremely clean way to support the existing 700 titles," Cerny explains, detailing how the Pro switches into its 'base' compatibility mode. "We just turn off half the GPU and run it at something quite close to the original GPU."

 

To me that simply says that they doubled the size of the GPU from 18 CU's to 36 which makes it basically an underclocked RX480. It also sounds like it has all the features of Polaris and some from Vega and the ability to disable half it's CU's for compatibility in unsupported titles.

[Qrtrmstr2k]

It's an older topic, however, there is new information and new features. So while I'll always be a PC gamer first and use my 4960x, 5960x, 6950x, 7700k, 1800x, dual E5-2660's, GTX 980 Ti's, GTX 1080's, and just swapped my Titan XP's for 1080 Ti's (because nVidia is probably gonna squeeze out 1 more Titan Pascal card at Computex to compete with Radeon RX Vega) for my work and gaming first and foremost, something compelling happened with the PS4 that made me upgrade and suddenly I am spending some decent time with Sony's system.

 

Going into this let me start by saying that I had a PS4 and had no intention of getting a Pro because it really was initially more of an iteration of the same console and not a fleshed out upgrade. But then they suddenly changed 2 things that made me take a second look and choose to proceed with trading up.

 

A year ago I took the plunge and upgraded the main TV in the house to a Sony XBR-X900C (or for laymen that's their ultra thin, 65" 4K UHD 60hz running Android Lolipop. But then they pushed out an update to Marshmallow which enabled HDR and the HDMI ports gained 2.0 support. 

 

But it then I realized it would be quite some time before any carrier service like DirecTV or Charter Spectrum (formerly Time Warner) or Comcast etc etc would broadcast content utilizing the resolution my new-ish shiny was capable of. However, I also realized that I was probably going to be able to get the most out of this screen by using it as my console gaming monitor. Never would I ever normally drop this kind of money on something to just be used for gaming, but alas, DirecTV only offers 2 channels at 4K, both of which you have to pay for, and one of them is just sports, doesn't include any final game like World Series or Super Bowl, basically it's not worth paying for. The other is just a random channel. So I swapped the older 55" Sony 1080p HDTV back into the family room and put the 4K in my office. 

 

I tested using it with my desktops but I prefer using my PG279Q and PG27AQ (Linus's reviews made me buy these lol) as they are excellent displays and having the action/art of a game is much more immersive when it's all up in my face...at least it feels better to me. And, these monitors have G-Sync, the 4K Sony does not. Plus, having to constantly fuddle with the cables for the PS4 on these monitors was driving me nuts. While I applaud Asus for plenty of I/O, I really wish they would stop with the draconian Alcatraz style of making it so difficult to swap cables. And so, since the PS4 doesn't use G-Sync, I just wanted to hook it up once not think about cables anymore...and that was supposed to be it...until

 

BAM!!! Sony had already launched this PS4 Pro...I actually laughed because it offered no real reason for anyone to buy it, people would better off buying a used PS4 or a PS4 Slim. Or it was that way until Sony pushed out a mean little update which made ONLY the PS4 Pro support HDR gaming while in 4K. That was a serious temptation. That almost got me to do it...I'm sure it almost got a lot of people to make the swap...so they sweetened the pot once more...they pushed out another update with Boost Mode (or as some have affeftionately come to call it, BEAST MODE lol) suddenly games that just sucked, were choppy and almost unplayable at times, games like the infamous Assassin's Creed Unity, suddenly were stable, smoothe, and were at a decent 30+ frames per second stable, never dipping below 30 where as before it would dip into the teens and even single digits. And of course using Beast Mode while in VR suddenly lowers the cost of the VR entry point...at least for a truer than cardboard VR experience of which anyone whose seen both knows cardboard really shouldn't even be compared to full VR headsets.

 

So if you want to enjoy Beast mode (Boost mode) it's only available on the Pro. 

 

If you want to game in HDR you have to get the Pro. 

 

And while the original PS4 will run PSVR, the faster, smoother experience is only available on PS4 Pro.

[Misanthrope]

It was probably a lot cheaper to pay AMD more money for more copies of the same chips than to wait for newer architecture and pay a heck of a lot more. This is a total Scrapyard Wars move on their part but hey, if it works more power to them (And yes that's an intentionally big if)

[sof006]

47 minutes ago, Qrtrmstr2k said:

 

 

If you want to game in HDR you have to get the Pro. 

 

 

You're wrong there buddy. Sony brought HDR to the original PS4. 

[Drak3]

The APU found in the OG PS4 underwent a node shrink on the GPU side, and Sony did 2 things with it- Took the smaller die, which is cheaper to mass produce, easier to power and cool, and made the PS4 Slim, then they took the smaller process, and made a newer version of the APU the same physical size as OG's, but with more graphical prowess because more can be crammed into that space.

 

There's no Crossfire like solution. No disabling cores or resources. If the software isn't held back by artificial limitations, it uses the power of the Pro's APU.

It's the same concept as running an extremely demanding new game vs a moderate old game on a Titan XP, new game has the Titan XP running full speed, old game has the XP sitting on it's ass and still delivering dynamite results.