Sony has made some corrections to last week's report on the PlayStation 4's RAM allocation.
Last week it was reported that of the 8GB of RAM which is being utilized by Sony’s next-gen console, only 4.5GB would be available to run games as the other 3.5GB would be needed to run the console’s OS. Sony has now sent out a clarification in regards to the PS4’s RAM allocation and how the console’s “flexible memory” will function.
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The report from last week also mentioned that 1GB of the 3.5GB needed for the PS4’s OS would also function as “flexible memory” meaning it could be “borrowed” from the OS when the player booted up a game but that it would have to be returned if requested. According to Sony, that’s not the case:
“We would like to clear up a misunderstanding regarding our "direct" and "flexible" memory systems. The article states that "flexible" memory is borrowed from the OS, and must be returned when requested - that's not actually the case. The actual true distinction is that:
- "Direct Memory" is memory allocated under the traditional video game model, so the game controls all aspects of its allocation
- "Flexible Memory" is memory managed by the PS4 OS on the game's behalf, and allows games to use some very nice FreeBSD virtual memory functionality. However this memory is 100 per cent the game's memory, and is never used by the OS, and as it is the game's memory it should be easy for every developer to use it.
We have no comment to make on the amount of memory reserved by the system or what it is used for.”
What this means is that the 3.5GB being used for the OS is actually allocated differently for different games so developers won’t necessarily be limited to 4.5GB of RAM when developing games for PS4. It looks like the 1GB of flexible memory will also be reserved exclusively for gaming which should help smooth out the process of in-game social and online functions.
