The amount of memory and computation speeds are two of the most important factors in deciding where games technology will be going next. However the amount of innovation and growth for CPU processing speeds is far less than what we have seen for modern GPUs. Current gen consoles feature a mid-level GPU and decent amount of memory but their CPUs are pretty under powered compared to a mid-level PC hardware out there.
Developers may run out of memory on consoles given that a few modern PC games already require a recommended 16GB memory. But according to NeocoreGames’ Producer Zoltán Pozsonyi, the limitation of GPU-CPU speed is a tougher problem compared to memory ultimately running out on consoles.
“There was a time when even 512Mbyte of RAM made us the happiest people on the planet – actually before that even less seemed to be more than enough. Programs tend to eat up as much RAM as the given hardware has – 5-6 years from now we’ll see hardware requirements which will far exceed the 8GB limit of the current generation of consoles, simply because the high-end PCs will have a lot more than that,” Zoltán explained to GamingBolt.
“At the end of this cycle the 8GB [memory] might seem tight, but it won’t have to make such a huge difference between the PC and console versions of a game. The limitation of the GPU-CPU computing speed seems a lot scarier at the moment.”
Given that we are still in the second year of the PS4 and Xbox One’s life cycle, it’s too early to judge the kind of limitations developers will face in the next few years. With new graphic APIs and the advantage of being an open platform, PC gaming is an at all time high but the consoles are not too far in terms of user experience and features, most notably Microsoft who has already improved the Xbox One’s processing power using the cloud. Regardless, we will see how it all pans out.