Sony PS3 275,000,000 polygons per second vs Xbox 360’s 500,000,000
Filed under: News | By: Daniel
Posted on: November 6, 2007 | 167 Comments
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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@ Daniel
you see, it looks like I’m not the only one with the feeling that PR are just going to far with this kind of articles, this is “The Internet” for god sake, we know it might be an awfull source of news, but why make it worse?
The articles you’ve been posting are in the best description Ridiculous and biased. I don’t want you to be Sony Fanboys, or Wii fanboys or X360 Fanboys, I just wanted some professionalism, if you want to keep with this kind of “articles” you should remove your “account” from google news.
I’m tired of this, I was a fanatic Sony fanboy some time ago, I’m hardly trying to forget that, but this is to much, I couldn’t stand that even if it was critisizing other consoles.
It’s a matter of dignity, proud and honesty.
@OhBoy– AGAIN??
Thanks for the feedback, if other people also do not want to read the featured comments then we will remove that section and not feature comments again.
So lets have a vote as it is what’s best for the user at the end of the day (That’s you people).
Who would like the featured comments section removed and no more comments being featured?
We don’t need specs and tech talk to figure this out… Simple observation works quite well
Yes, this is pretty one sided it really does sound. Honeslty, both systems are powerfull enough to last. PS3 has the Blu Ray player, that’s it…thats trully it. My Xbox 360 does rule as far as I care. No issues here. I’ll be sure to get my ps3 for 399.00 now and watch movies on my new 52 inch lcd 1080p sony hdtv…but thats about it. You can keep snake and turismo honestly.
@ Daniel
I don’t know you Daniel, maybe you are a fantastic guy with who I’d love to drink some beers, play some games, talk, do what friends use to do, Internet makes us to distant and it’s hard to evaluate people or their interests, and it’s to easy to critisize as I’m and others are doing, shame on us all!
If you want my opinion I think that yes, opinions as “news” should be banished from PR, at least opinions from “users”, we can never have sure if what they are saying is true or not.
Video Games are suposed to be fun, I’m 26 and for me video games are becoming more political than fun, god how I miss my old days as a gamer and when “all” games were good…
I don’t hown all 3 systems, I hown a PS3 and I will buy a Wii, not a X360 because the difference between the 360 and PS3 are not enough in my opinion, but I wouldn’t mind to have them all.
Well, again, I agree that personal opinions should be banned from “news titles”, not only because they might be incorrect but also because it’s not “news”, and of course everything they do is what we see in most posts, fights and more fights…
@OhBoy– AGAIN??
I have to agree with you, news in all types is best kept separate from comments, I have removed the section from the left and will not be featuring any more comments.
The other writers did not do this, so thats the end of that as I want what’s best for the users (You).
I will be adding a list of the most commented posts or latest commented posts.
I am 30 by the way and you are right about gaming today, when I played my Commodore 64 years ago every night the graphics were bad, but the gameplay was amazing.
Now days we are spoilt with choice and great graphics.
polygons hmmm… why not gameplay instead of shear processing power? pit that against each other please. i still prefer tekken 4 to all other fighter games… i miss ace combat 4!!! i prefer super mario kart on the snes to all battle racers… gameplay rules. entertainment is king. thats prob why exclusives rock so much… the ability to concentrate on the game rather than “how will this look on the wii, 360 and ps3″ …all the grey matter is focused on the development for its respected console. oh well. i think i made a post like this for the whole ps vs 64 vs pc vs dreamcast back in the day… rinse and repeat until desired
The problem is, the garbage you spout here, is posted on forums by brainwashed cluesless Xbots worldwide (Microsoft must be laughing their heads off, and all the idiots they have brainwashed).
Amen brother… 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. NUFF SAID… 360 ftw! now let’s see if the market will put up with the high defect rates… also you can keep bluray, i’ll just download HD thru FiOS, that’s the future…
So how does he explain Oblivion and Dirt running better on the PS3?
The reason EA games have been better on the 360 is simple and has nothing to do with the 360 being more powerful.
ITS BECAUSE THEY WERE WRITTEN FOR THE 360 AND PORTED TO THE PS3.
The PS3 IS more powerful. Get over it and stop lying you idiots.