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Sony Unlocks PlayStation 4's Previously Reserved Seventh CPU Core For Devs (hothardware.com)
MojoKid writes: Toward the beginning of the year, it was revealed that Microsoft was going to "unlock" the seventh core on the Xbox One's processor, enabling developers to eke just a bit more performance out of the console and offer more flexibility at resource utilization. It appears that Microsoft's move would inevitably be followed by Sony, as reports are now coming in that this will be made available on the PlayStation 4 as well. This subtle change was highlighted in the latest changelog for the FMOD sound engine which is labeled as a "LowLevel API." While the unlocked core could take on FMOD duties if developers want it to, it's now not going to be tied to any single purpose. Developers could make use of this core, for example, to boost AI performance, or any other process that has a heavy computation requirement. It could also be used to simply help ease overall system load.
Unfortunately, it appears they've also unlocked the seventh troll.
Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
Next the secret 8th CPU core will be DLC, or a game easter egg, the way things are going. Sheesh
READY.
PRINT ""+-0
No, no and no.
The PS4 and Xbox One both have "8 core" AMD CPU's.
Previously only 6 cores for both systems were available to game developers.
They're not disabled. They were reserved exclusively for the OS. Now that's changing
I guess neither of these are that, but what if they were? Would the core have... special powers?
It's not the OS. The 7th core of the Xbox One was reserved for phone surveillance in partnership with the NSA. It's no longer needed.