Mark Cerny talking technology

Games are by far the most important part of any new console, but the hardware is significant too. While Sony spent a lot of time discussing the internals of the PlayStation 4 at its own unveiling conference earlier in the year, Microsoft was decidedly more muted during its presentation. However, following today’s press conference, the firm has now deployed the Xbox One’s official specifications. So, how does it stack up?

Well, the biggest area of discrepancy is in the memory. Sony’s system boasts 8GB GDDR5 RAM, while its counterpart features 8GB DDR3 RAM. The numbers may be the same on paper, but it’s worth noting that the PS4 is using a much faster type of RAM that will cede the system an advantage in some games. It’s also unclear how much memory the Xbox One’s operating system will require. We know that the PS4 will use roughly 1GB for system tasks.

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Elsewhere, Microsoft has created its own CPU chip, while Sony has gone for a custom x86 AMD ‘Jaguar’ Processor. It’s difficult to compare the GPUs, as Microsoft is being a little bit reticent with some of the information. Despite the differences, though, there are a lot of obvious similarities, too: both will include Blu-ray drives, USB 3.0, and 4K support. They’ll each come with cameras as well, though the new Kinect is naturally a lot more capable than the refreshed PlayStation Eye.

Meanwhile, the biggest new additions to the Xbox One’s controller are force feedback triggers and a redesigned d-pad, while the DualShock 4 obviously includes a touchpad and light tracking bar. We’re sure that more comparisons will come to light over the coming days.

[source joystiq.com]