Sony PS3 275,000,000 polygons per second vs Xbox 360’s 500,000,000
By: Daniel Chubb | November 6, 2007
Kim Naroz left a really long comment on the post about the amount of power the developers are using form the Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3, he pointed out that the Sony PS3 display’s 275,000,000 polygons per second, compared to the 500,000,000 polygons per second of the Xbox 360.
My question is does this really matter?
Here is Kim Naroz’s Comment:
Someone needs to point out that the Playstation 3 can only display 275,000,000 polygons per second, compared to the 500,000,000 polygons per second of the Xbox 360.
That is the reason why games like John Madden Football 2008, NCAA Football 2008, All-Pro Football 2008, and many other games from EA Sports, 2K Sports, and so many others all run at 60 frames per second on the Xbox 360, but only 30 frames per second on the Playstation 3.
Gamespot specifically said in the review of those sports games: “The Xbox 360 versions run smoothly at 60 frames per second at 1080p resolution, while the Playstation 3 versions struggle to run at 30 frames per second at 720p resolution.”
It isn’t just sports games with that problem. Look at all the Tony Hawk Skating games, Tom Clancy Splinter Cell: Double Agent, and F.E.A.R. They have frame rates that drop below 20 frames per second on the PS3 and go into slow motion it is so bad…even though the Xbox 360 versions have very smooth framerates.
Oblivion is NOW BETTER on the Xbox 360!!!
When Oblivion was released a year later on the PS3, it used a new shader design…that had NOTHING to do with hardware technology; it was just something put into the new version of the game as a software program. The download was released for the Xbox 360 later on, but the PS3 fanboys always pointed out, “But when you compare the actual discs, the PS3 one has some advantages (although the Xbox 360 version also has advantages, and was ALWAYS rated higher).
Oblivion: Game of the Year Edition is now available for the Xbox 360, and when you now compare Oblivion on the Xbox 360 to Oblivion on the PS3, there is NO DOUBT that the Xbox 360 version is significantly better; that is why it is rated higher!
The Playstation 3 version of Oblivon is a perfect example that what this man is saying about the Hard Drive of the PS3 being used to help out with memory limitations is NOT true. Consider the FACT that the Playstation 3 version of Oblivion does NOT allow the entire world to exist in the game at the same time, like the Xbox 360 version does. This is because of the Memory Bandwidth hardware bottleneck of the Playstation 3.
Also, when it comes to RAM, the Xbox 360 certainly DOES have fundamental advantages over the Playstation 3!
For example, the CPU of the PS3 can NEVER access more than 256MB of RAM at any point. The Xbox 360 CPU is free to access up to 512MB of RAM if there was a need. With the PS3, there are plenty of times when the CPU needs more than 256MB of RAM, and the Video-RAM of the PS3 is actually using less than 256MB of RAM, which means that if the PS3 had a Unified RAM environment–like the Xbox 360’s–then that unused Video-RAM could help the CPU, like it does on the Xbox 360. OBVIOUSLY, the Xbox 360 RAM design is much more flexible; it helps developers in ways that they enjoy working with.
Plus, it’s important to remember that the original design of the Playstation 3 called for the used of TWO Cell CPU processors–each with two Threads that could Send signals to the SPE subprocessors.
However, when Sony saw the design of the Xbox 360, and they saw how much better the Xbox 360 was, then Sony was forced to redesign the Playstation 3 very quickly in a way that hurt the PS3 system. This is nearly identical to what happened with Sega and the Saturn. Sega saw how much better the original PS1 was, and they were forced to quickly redesign the Saturn in a way that used parallel processing that was difficult to work with and was more expensive. This is EXACTLY what happened with the Playstation 3.
The original design of the PS3 was not even supposed to used a GPU, because it was going to have two of the Cell CPU processors. But when Sony saw the revolutionary ATI GPU in the Xbox 360 that was Custom designed for the Xbox 360, and was 1.5 years ahead of its time (since the PC didn’t see similar Unified Shader technology until January 30, 2007), then Sony was forced to removed one of the Cell CPUs in the PS3, and instead add a Nvidia GPU. But there was NOT time to custom design the GPU, so Sony was forced to included a four-year old generic GPU in the PS3. That is why people often point out the vast superiority of the Xbox 360 GPU.
Now that the PS3 only has one 3.2Ghz Cell CPU, it means that the PS3 has only two Threads capable of Sending signals to the six SPE sub-processors running parallel. Each of those six SPE processors is capable of Receiving a Threaded signal; however, the PS3 CPU is only capable of Sending two Threaded signals. This is where the hardware “bottleneck” of the PS3 reveals itself. Programmers often say that the PS3 has two arms (CPU Threads) that are trying to juggle six balls (SPE sub-processors). Obviously, that is NOT possible, and that is why the Playstation 3 hardware is such a BIG disappointment.
With the Xbox 360, Microsoft used a much newer and better form of technology. PCs often brag about their “dual-core” CPU design. The Xbox 360 actually takes that to the next level and used a “tri-core” CPU design, with each CPU using the most developer-favored videogame processor available–the PowerPC.
The Xbox 360 is literally the exact opposite when compared to the Playstation 3 in terms of hardware design and efficiency. The Xbox 360 has three 3.2Ghz CPUs, each with two Threads capable of Sending instructions. But the Xbox 360 doesn’t the outdated parallel processing environment of the PS3. There are no “sub-processors” to worry about with the Xbox 360. The signals can be focused on CPU and GPU commands. This literally means the Xbox 360 has six arms (CPU Threads) that are being asked to juggle only two balls (GPU and CPU functions).
THAT is why the developers absolutely LOVE the Xbox 360 and can design games so much more efficiently for the Xbox 360.
THAT is why games are released so much earlier for the Xbox 360.
THAT is why the overwhelming majority of Xbox 360 games offer better graphic and online performance on the Xbox 360.
THAT is NOT going to change!
It may be easier to port a PS3 game to the Xbox 360 than it is to port an Xbox 360 to the PS3 (since the Xbox 360 is more powerful in terms of videogame performance–500,000,000 polygons for the Xbox 360 is more than the 275,000,000 for the PS3), but the Xbox 360 will continue to be the Lead Platform this generation for two reasons:
(1) Because the Xbox 360 is so much easier for developers to develop games for and experiment with new types of gameplay.
(2) Because the Xbox 360 has sold over Eight-Million more systems than the Playstation 3, and that lead continues grow by hundreds of thousands of systems each month, in terms of Worldwide Sales.
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Call of Duty 4: Larger burden on Sony PS3 than Xbox 360
Im sorry but this totally screams Fanboy! LOL!
Johnny is almost right but still very wrong. I agree R&C TOD could be made for the PS2, but the game quality and complexity would suffer, huge sacrifices would have to be made IMO making it offer a very different gaming experience.
Calling people “PS3 losers”, says enough though. I you want to talk to real coders, check out PS3Coderz.com (online again soon, I hope), the site is co-run by a buddy.
There is no way the 360 is more powerful than the ps3, the 360 graphics arn’t that big a step up from the last big ps2 games like GOW2, the ps3 graphics of there exclusive tiltles are far superior. Anyway it doesn’t matter about power it comes down to one thing and one thing only, the disc format, ps3 has stepped up and all the 360 does is push DVD’s further which wasn’t needed as the ps2 and XBOX already pushed it far enougth. 360 will lose out because it keeps producing generic games (apart from Bioshock) and has concentrated too much on online play and ended up neglecting the single player side of their games, Halo3, GOW, PGR etc. all rely on online to much and have ended up neglecting the hardcore/casual gamer like myself who like a bit of story and charcters and all round good single player experience from games like God of War, MGS series, Heavenly Sword, Shadow of Collosus, Ratchet and Clank Future etc and having games like RFOM and Motorstorm (althougth i am annoyed that in MS to play multiplayer u hav to go online) having online as a nice bonus feature. The PS3 got it right by concentrating on single player over multiplayer and bringing out great games for online play like Warhawk. The PS3 covers everything whilst the 360 is for people who like to go online and play the same games and do the same thing over and over (what’s the point?), when playing the 360 I start to think that Roger Ebert was right that games arn’t art, but then I stick on a ps3 game or play Wii round my mate’s and u see the effort and love put into these games because the developers made the games they want to make not the generic garbage the 360 spews out (just look at what they are doing to try and capture the Japan market, trying to guess what Japanese gamers want instead of using great ideas to make games).
Sorry bout ranting but I think 360 fanboys need to respect the Wii for what it does and the ps3 as the great all round games console and entertainmet hub that it is, this generation of gaming is going to be dominated by the ps3 and the Wii,and I guess the PC as well(it does have all the 360 games and more).
U 360 owners can have fun with Mass Effect I’ll stick with the console that willbring us MGS4, Haze, Uncharted, FF13, Killzone 2, GOW 3, Home, GT5 and the other that will bring us Smash Bros. and Galaxy, oh and a Wii mote lightsaber.
@michael
I think you have a good point. I think the younger crowd is more your 360 fanboys and they are getting what they want, online play. I have a lot of fun doing online play, but the 13-23 crowd seems to take great pride in spending hundreds of hours online honing their skills and making sure you know they are better than you. Online play is almost all trash talking fools who probably sit there playing Halo until they run out of red bull. Me, I like the story driven games a little better and occasionally go online with games that let me.
@johnny
Dude you really come off as a hack to me. I’m guessing a freshman or sophomore in college who knows just enough about software to not come off as a COMPLETE idiot.
i like big titties!!!
I would like to give a big roud of applause to Johnny Large for TELLING THE TRUTH!!! Yet the PS3 Boys still carry on a rant. You guys a pathetic.
doesn’t matter whos more powerful, if we continue to see trends like this than. . . who Knows.
The world’s largest game publisher made most its money on Xbox 360 sales last quarter, more than double that of Sony and Nintendo sales combined.
Source: Electronic Arts
According to an Electronic Arts filing released yesterday, Xbox 360 alone accounted for 50 percent ($218 million) of EA’s total revenue during the third quarter followed by Sony platforms with 25 percent ($111 million – PS2, PSP, PS3) and Nintendo’s Wii and DS with a combined 24 percent ($106 million).
Xbox 360 sales were up 31 percent over last year as Wii sales debuted at $59 million for the period followed by just $17 million in PS3 sales. PS2 sales were significantly down to $73 million from $269 million in the previous year while DS sales increased from $14 million for the quarter in 2006 to $47 this year. PSP sales dropped from $64 million in 2006 to $21 million in 2007.
Electronic Arts revenue by system (Q3 2007)
Xbox 360 – $218 million
PlayStation 2 – $73 million
Nintendo Wii – $59 million
Nintendo DS – $47 million
PlayStation Portable – $21 million
PlayStation 3 – $17 million
http://www.gamepro.com/news.cfm?article_id=146228
Seriously, they proof is in the pudding.
http://kotaku.com/gaming/sales-charts/a-look-back-at-the-years-npd-sales-320210.php
@Nickky
Would you buy a half ass port from EA that they didn’t even bother to tweak for the PS3? I would have FOR SURE gotten Madden 08 but the reviews for it were horrible. If EA wants to games that run like shit on the PS3, well, that’s what they are going to get…poor sales on that platform.