PS4’s APU is 3 Times Larger Than Any Other Chip Created With Similar Tech, Costs $100

In a press release sent to GamingBolt by IHS, a firm that specializes in video games analysis, new details about the PlayStation 4’s APU and memory have been revealed. In the report, the core processor and the GDDR5 memory alone costs $188 which is almost the half of the console’s retail price. The processor approximately costs $100.

Furthermore, the PlayStation 4’s processor occupies a massive 350 square millimeters which is three times larger than any other chip manufactured.

“Sony clearly has made the decision to focus on balancing the brains and economics of the console, with the processor and memory dominating both the design and the BOM. This processor is a monster, with the surface area of the chip amounting to about 350 square millimeters. That is three times larger than any other chip manufactured using equivalent-process technology that has been examined by the IHS Teardown Analysis service. Despite the remarkable silicon acreage of this device, it comes at a price point attractive to mainstream consumers while delivering a very high level of performance. Future versions, manufactured with even more advanced semiconductor processing technology, will further enhance both cost and performance,” reveals Jordan Selburn, senior principal analyst for consumer platforms at IHS.

Furthermore, the report also talks about how the GDDR5 RAM is faster than DDR3 found in the Xbox and how it can improve graphics performance.

“GDRAM DDR5 memory has much higher bandwidth than the DDR3 used in the Xbox One. It also works better with parallel computing and is designed specifically to enhance graphics performance,” said Mike Howard, senior principal analyst, DRAM & memory, for IHS. “Because of its cutting-edge status, GDRAM GDDR5 is more expensive than DDR3, which is used in high volume in products including PCs and older game consoles,” said Mike Howard, senior principal analyst, DRAM & memory, for IHS.

You check out our PlayStation 4 review here and learn more about its various components here.