PS4 vs Xbox One News: Specs for PS4 50% Faster in Some Areas According to Devs Before Release Date

The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are both coming to gamers in November, and fans of the consoles have been debating which has the advantage when it comes to software and specs. Well now a new report from Edge has game developers claiming the PlayStation 4 is the supreme machine in several critical specs.

The report says that the PlayStation 4 has a huge advantage when it comes to memory reads, with the Sony console outperforming the Xbox One quite easily:

"Our contacts have told us that memory reads on PS4 are 40-50 per cent quicker than Xbox One, and its ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit) is around 50 per cent faster. One basic example we were given suggested that without optimization for either console, a platform-agnostic development build can run at around 30FPS in 1920×1080 on PS4, but it'll run at '20-something" FPS in 1600×900 on Xbox One. "Xbox One is weaker and it's a pain to use its ESRAM,' concluded one developer."

This is huge news for gamers looking for a console with the potential to deliver a breakthrough gaming experience from a technical perspective. Microsoft is apparently trying to catch up to the PS4's specs, but one unnamed developer was reportededly not impressed with their attempts:

"The clock speed update is not significant, it does not change things that much. Of course, something is better than nothing."

It is important to note that neither console's hardware is locked in. Microsoft and Sony are still trying to improve the console in any way they can before the console's have to be shipped out for release. Both companies are trying to improve the graphics drivers for their consoles, but Sony again has the advantage in this regard.

However, one developer did come to the defense of the Xbox One, giving an example of how the Xbox One has the advantage over the PlayStation 4:

"Let's say you are using procedural generation or raytracing via parametric surfaces - that is, using a lot of memory writes and not much texturing or ALU - Xbox One will be likely be faster,"

While both consoles are impressive machines, it will be quite some time before developers unlock the real potential of the consoles and discover what the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are truly capable of. The PlayStation 4 will launch on Nov. 15, and the Xbox One will follow on Nov. 22.