PS4 teardown reveals its ‘simple and beautiful’ architecture

This year it’s all about next-gen consoles. When it comes to the PlayStation 4, we’ve seen concept rendering, vague teaser videos and even got a closer look at it during rAge 2013. Until now, what we haven’t seen is a complete teardown of Sony’s upcoming gaming console.

Wired, together with Sony engineer Yasuhiro Ootori, got an exclusive chance to dig around the mysterious underbelly of the PS4.

Firstly, the power. The processing power combines an 8-core AMD Jaguar CPU with an AMD next-generation Radeon GPU. Unlike traditional PCs carrying two separate pieces of processing hardware — the CPU being the brain and the GPU taking care of rendering the graphics — the PS4 has one processor “that can juggle those two roles with unusual efficiency.”

A neat spread of the PS4’s hardware laid bare

The big black box also carries 8GB of GDDR5 memory to help with the processing which is 16 times more than what you get with the PS3. There is also a replaceable 500GB hard drive (5400 RPM SATA II).

The PS4 also has a bunch of other essentials ranging from WiFi and Bluetooth antennas to a Blu-Ray optical drive. The power adapter is tucked inside the machine which means that there won’t be an external power brick.

In a recent FAQ Sony coughed up some details saying the PS4 measures approximately 275mm (width) × 53mm (height) × 305mm (length), excluding the largest projection. It also weighs only 2.8kg.

Regardless of its slim design, the PS4 will carefully and efficiently move the heat out using two pipes and a specially designed centrifugal fan.

While Wired notes the design is both simple and beautiful, it also said that “it’s not the box that counts as much as the games.” As such, we’ve already seen some premature hiccups and complaints of Activision’s best-selling title Call of Duty: Ghosts lagging on the PS4.

The PlayStation 4 is making its way to US gamers’ living rooms 15 November and hopefully coming to South Africa 13 December.

Images via Wired