Year 1 - Memory - Understanding hardware technologies for game platforms

Memory - Understanding hardware technologies for game platforms

Task 1 -

RAM:

Devices Viewed:

Xbox One
Xbox 360
PS4
PS3
HP OMEN 870-195na Gaming PC

Type:

Xbox One - DDR3
Xbox 360 - GDDR3
PS4 - GDDR5
PS3 - GDDR3
Gaming PC - DDR4

Amount:

Xbox One - 8GB

Xbox 360 - 512 MB

PS4 - 8GB

PS3 - 256 MB

Gaming PC - 8GB

Clock Speed:

Xbox One -2133 MHz

Xbox 360 - 700 MHz

PS4 - 2750 MHz

PS3 - 650 MHz

Gaming PC - 2133 MHz

Bandwidth:

Xbox One - 68.26 GB/s
Xbox 360 - 22.4 GB/s
PS4 - 176 GB/s
PS3 - 25.6 GB/s
Gaming PC - ?

Task 2 -

What is The Purpose of Memory:

Its sole purpose is to store data, however, it has many other functions.

What is RAM (Random Access Memory)?:

Allows information to be stored and retrieved in a system. Because of the memory accessed randomly instead of in a sequence, the data can be accessed much quicker. The RAM has volatile memory, this means that the data is erased when the devices power is turned off.

What is RAM Capacity?:

It comes in various sizes, 4GB is considered a basic amount for general computing. 8GB is normally a minimum for gaming but 16GB is recommended. A KB is 1024 bytes, a MB is 1024KB and a GB is 1024MB. More RAM is better than less RAM.

Types of RAM, What Are They Used For and What Are The Differences?:

SRAM (Static)	DRAM (Dynamic)
Does not need to be refreshed as transistors inside continue to hold data as long as its supply to power is not cut off.	Requires data to be refreshed every now and then to retain its data.
SRAM is a lot faster than DRAM because of it not having to constantly refresh and save,	The time it needs to introduce the refresh creates issues that make this memory slower, causing it to be less worthwhile than that of SRAM.
The SRAM uses much less energy due to its ability to retain data.	The power used in DRAM is considerably higher than that of the SRAM because of the constant refreshing.
This all comes at a very high price because SRAM needs 6 transistors. The price causes it to be used much less than DRAM.	Despite of all these issues its has one upside. Its Price. As it only uses 1 transistor it costs much less making it the most mainstream RAM.

References:


http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing/desktop-pcs/desktop-pcs/hp-omen-870-195na-gaming-pc-10151063-pdt.html
http://uk.ign.com/wikis/xbox-one/Xbox_One_Hardware_Specs
http://winsupersite.com/product-review/xbox-360-vs-playstation-3-vs-wii-technical-comparison
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_4_technical_specifications#System_memory_.28RAM.29
http://www.psdevwiki.com/ps3/RSX
http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/r/ram.htm
http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/v/volamemo.htm
http://www.differencebetween.net/technology/difference-between-sram-and-dram/