No doubt the console war boils down to the availability of games and worth-while exclusives. However, especially recently, a large factor has been the sheer power of the machines. After the E3 Xbox One X reveal, many suspected the PS4 Pro to take a backseat to the new console. Contrary to popular beliefs, the PS4 Pro’s support of Rapid Packed Math could be closing the power gap with the Xbox One X.
Rapid Packed Math and PlayStation 4 Pro
In short, Rapid Packed Math has the capacity to execute two math-based codes for the price of one. In terms of GPU processing powers, with Rapid Packed Math, you get two 16-bit processes instead of running one 32-bit. This of course won’t replace heavy process needed to run games. However, it will make small details like hair, materials, lighting and shader effects simpler. Ultimately, it’ll free up more resources and provide a smoother overall performance.
This could be big for PlayStation 4 Pro owners as it is the only console with Rapid Packed Math support. So even though the PS4 Pro only sports 4.2 teraflops, Rapid Packed Math could essentially doubles it for the same price.
The important thing to note is this is all a possibility. The Xbox One X will still have 6 teraflops onboard without support for Rapid Packed Math. Microsoft will still have the concrete hardware advantage put PS4 Pro owners may not need to worry as much. Ubisoft’s Farcry 5 will be making its outing with Rapid Packed Math setting it up to be the best looking Farcry thus far. This will only benefit those on the PS4 Pro but it will be interesting to see if the difference in consoles will be drastic.
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