25.02.2015, 10:30
PS4 is roughly 10 times as powerful as the PS3. Other than being a lot more powerful, as you’d expect, the most important difference between the two is that they use completely different architectures.
The PS3 uses a custom Sony-made Cell architecture that was long criticised for being hard to develop for.
Sony’s latest console definitely has taken a different tack. It uses an x86-based chip, which is the same type used in both Windows PCs and the Xbox One.
Under the hood, the PS4 features an 8-core AMD Jaguar CPU (max 2.7GHz) with an 800MHz AMD Radeon GPU and 8GB of GDDR5 RAM.
The PS3 has a main 3.2GHz single-core CPU with a collection of companion cores. Plus it comes with a 550MHz GPU and 256MB of DDR3 RAM. That clock speed might sound rather high, but the PS4 processor is easily the better and more powerful of the two.
Because the PS4 uses a totally different architecture to the PS3, it does mean that you can’t play PS3 games on the new console. Instead, you’ll need to wait until PlayStation Now launches in the UK next year to be able to use the cloud game streaming service to play PS3 games on your PS4 over an internet connection
The PS3 uses a custom Sony-made Cell architecture that was long criticised for being hard to develop for.
Sony’s latest console definitely has taken a different tack. It uses an x86-based chip, which is the same type used in both Windows PCs and the Xbox One.
Under the hood, the PS4 features an 8-core AMD Jaguar CPU (max 2.7GHz) with an 800MHz AMD Radeon GPU and 8GB of GDDR5 RAM.
The PS3 has a main 3.2GHz single-core CPU with a collection of companion cores. Plus it comes with a 550MHz GPU and 256MB of DDR3 RAM. That clock speed might sound rather high, but the PS4 processor is easily the better and more powerful of the two.
Because the PS4 uses a totally different architecture to the PS3, it does mean that you can’t play PS3 games on the new console. Instead, you’ll need to wait until PlayStation Now launches in the UK next year to be able to use the cloud game streaming service to play PS3 games on your PS4 over an internet connection