FMOD Dev Confirms That PS4 7th CPU Core Is Now Available, Allocation Isn’t Dynamic

Could this help developers in the long run?

Posted By | On 30th, Nov. 2015

ps4 amd

Latest update: It seems like Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End may be using the extra processing power as well. A tweet from Naughty Dog lead designer Robert Cogburn possibly hints at its usage.

Original Story:

Last week it was widely reported that Sony had unlocked the 7th CPU core of the PS4 for developers. The information was taken from FireLight Technologies’ website, a company that deals with audio middleware [FMOD], when they revealed that their tech was using the PS4’s 7th core. The change log has since been removed but we got in touch with FireLight to get a confirmation regarding the same.

Brett Paterson from FireLight Technologies confirmed to GamingBolt via email that the 7th CPU core of the PS4 is indeed available for the developers. However its allocation is not dynamic which possibly means that only a certain percentage of the core’s processing units are available to the developers. Brett also revealed a few details regarding how FMOD is using the 7th core. FMOD is shared with other OS libraries on the core and in case FMOD doesn’t receive enough CPU, the debugging profiler needs to be used to check out what is causing the overhead. [Read more about PS4’s Razor profiler here]

According to previous reports, only 6 of the 8 cores were available for developers which means the 7th core will definitely help development in someway. In case of FMOD, the developer can simple offload the audio middleware on the 7th core while ensuring other OS libraries and code are working properly.

Microsoft on the other hand also provided developers with the Xbox One’s 7th core but with a dynamic range of 50-80% utilization. This has helped several developers improve frame rate and other performance parameters of Xbox One games. It will be interesting to see how this will help the developers working on the PS4. If you are interested in learning more about FMOD and FireLight technologies, check out GamingBolt’s interview here.


Amazing Articles You Might Want To Check Out!

Share Your Thoughts Below  (Always follow our comments policy!)



Keep On Reading!

Guilty Gear Strive – Queen Dizzy Revealed in New Gameplay Trailer

Guilty Gear Strive – Queen Dizzy Revealed in New Gameplay Trailer

Dizzy is available for Season Pass 4 owners on October 31st and remains as potent as ever with freezing, weapo...

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Has Sold Just 1 Million Units – Rumour

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Has Sold Just 1 Million Units – Rumour

It's claimed that Ubisoft expected the title to sell as well as the bestselling Metroidvanias out there, thoug...

A Rayman Remake is in Development – Rumour

A Rayman Remake is in Development – Rumour

Some of Prince of Persia: The Lost crown's recently disbanded dev team has moved to the project, which is in t...

Monster Hunter Wilds Trailer Showcases Oilwell Basin, Azuz, and New Monsters

Monster Hunter Wilds Trailer Showcases Oilwell Basin, Azuz, and New Monsters

Rompopolo and Ajakaran are two new threats, but there's also the Black Flame, a mysterious threat that awaits ...

PS5 Pro – 10 More Things You Need to Know Before You Purchase

PS5 Pro – 10 More Things You Need to Know Before You Purchase

Learn all the crucial details about Sony's upcoming mid-gen hardware refresh ahead of its imminent release.

15 Essential Nintendo Switch Games You Need to Play

15 Essential Nintendo Switch Games You Need to Play

The Nintendo Switch is chock full of great games, but some obviously outshine others in terms of quality. Here...