Sony Unlocks PlayStation 4 7th CPU Core in SDK Update

With the PlayStation 4 having 8 CPU cores but only giving access to 6, will unlocking a 7th core improve performance for games on the console?

With games on the current generation of consoles requiring more and more CPU power it’s always interesting to hear about changes to the way the cores are accessed. It looks like PlayStation 4 may be getting another core unlocked, though we won’t see improvements on performance just yet.

This news is based on an interesting post on NeoGaf that not only looks at the importance of the cores to the PlayStation 4, but what affect working with 6 cores has on performance. This issue is looked at in a report on the performance of Killzone Shadowfall and how the hardware coped with the game.

What’s intriguing though is that an update to the SDK that Sony provided to developers has an interesting addition to the changelog:

Firelight Technologies FMOD Studio API

Detailed Revision History

17/11/15 1.07.03 – Studio API patch release (build 69975)

Features:

LowLevel API – When using System::recordStart the provided FMOD::Sound can now be any channel count, up/down mixing will be performed as necessary.

LowLevel API – Improved performance of convolution reverb effect when wet is 0 or input goes idle.

LowLevel API – PS4 – Added FMOD_THREAD_CORE6 to allow access to the newly unlocked 7th core.

As you can see it now appears that another core has been unlocked to developers, which was previously one of the ones locked for OS usage. If it is the case that the CPU core has been unlocked it will be interesting to see what impact this has on performance.

Will games companies also look to improve performance for older games by updating the code to use the core? Will the performance upgrade be noticeable? Let us know your thoughts below.

Paul is a fan of single player games, but lately has pushed himself into online gameplay. Often found taking the stealthy approach of hiding behind trees in H1Z1 Battle Royal sessions, he also plays Grand ...