Primed for release on Nov. 15, The PlayStation 4 is set to be picked up by thousands when the clock strikes midnight. For anyone still debating between picking up the PlayStation 4, the Xbox One or the Wii U, here's a quick comparison of the consoles' specs.
The Wii U will cost gamers $299, while the PlayStation 4 costs $399 at launch and the Xbox One will cost $499 when launched on Nov. 22. The CPU for the PlayStation 4 is a Single-chip x86 AMD "Jaguar" processor with 8 cores. In comparison, the Xbox One will have an 8-core Microsoft custom CPU and the Wii U has a Tri-Core PowerPC "Espresso" CPU. As for the GPU, the PlayStation 4 has an AMD Radeon Graphics Core Next engine with 1152 shaders. The Xbox One will have an 853 MHz AMD Radeon GPU with 768 shaders. The Wii U GPU is an AMD "Latte" 550 MHz model with 320 shaders. The RAM memory for the PlayStation 4 is 8GB GDDR5, and the Xbox One has the same amount of memory but in DDR3 form. The Wii U has 2GB of DDR3 RAM.
Both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will have 500GB of internal memory on the consoles. The Wii U has either 8GB or 32GB of flash memory. The PlayStation 4 can support removable hard drives of at least 160GB in size and thinner than 9.5mm, but cannot support other means of external storage. The Xbox One and Wii U, however, support USB drives as a way to expand the memory of the consoles, but do not allow for removable hard drives. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will have cloud storage, but the Wii U does not.
The Wii U does not have a game DVR, but the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 do have the ability to record game footage. The game DVR feature requires a subscription to Xbox Live Gold for the Xbox One, but the PlayStation 4's game DVR does not require a PlayStation Plus subscription. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will allow users to play games as they download, but the Wii U cannot. Similarly, the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 allow for remote downloads and access to a user's account on multiple consoles while the Wii U does not.