Thursday, May 11th 2023
Xbox Series S Hitting VRAM Limits, 8 GB is the Magic Number
Microsoft launched two flavors of its Xbox Series console back in November of 2020 - a more expensive and powerful "X" model appealing to hardcore enthusiasts arrived alongside an entry-level/budget friendly "S" system that featured lesser hardware specifications. The current generation Xbox consoles share the same custom AMD 8-core Zen 2 processor, albeit with different clock configurations, but the key divergence lies in Microsoft's choice of graphical hardware. The Series X packs an AMD "Scarlett" graphics processor with access to 16 GB of VRAM, while the Series S makes do with only 8 GB of high speed video memory with its "Lockhart" GPU.
Games studios have historically struggled to optimize their projects for the step down Xbox model - with software engineers complaining about memory allocation issues thanks to a smaller pool of VRAM - the Series S CPU and GPU have to fight over a total of 10 GB GDDR6 system memory. Microsoft listened to this feedback and made necessary changes last year - an updated SDK was released and a video briefing explained: "Hundreds of additional megabytes of memory are now available to Xbox Series S developers...This gives developers more control over memory, which can improve graphics performance in memory-constrained conditions."
End users are now joining in and complaining about Xbox Series S VRAM limitations - news outlets this week have been alerted to feedback appearing on Reddit. A /Gaming subreddit member called jokekiller94 has posted an entry titled "Apparently the Series S can run out of VRAM…" along with a photograph that captures the unfortunate incident on their system of choice. The Xbox Error message states: "Out of video memory trying to allocate a rendering resource. Make sure your video card has the minimum required memory, try lowering the resolution and/or closing other applications that are running. Exiting..." this warning sits over a frozen Borderlands 3 session. A commenter, bacon_sammer, confirms that they are also experiencing multiple crashes with same game and platform. It is slightly amusing that the example Series S recommends that its user adjust video card's settings, but this is not a problem exclusive to the home console segment. PC gamers are becoming resigned to the fact that modern games are driving up VRAM requirements, and face having to pay handsomely for GPU upgrades.
Sources:
The Gamer, Gaming Reddit Member jokekiller94
Games studios have historically struggled to optimize their projects for the step down Xbox model - with software engineers complaining about memory allocation issues thanks to a smaller pool of VRAM - the Series S CPU and GPU have to fight over a total of 10 GB GDDR6 system memory. Microsoft listened to this feedback and made necessary changes last year - an updated SDK was released and a video briefing explained: "Hundreds of additional megabytes of memory are now available to Xbox Series S developers...This gives developers more control over memory, which can improve graphics performance in memory-constrained conditions."
52 Comments on Xbox Series S Hitting VRAM Limits, 8 GB is the Magic Number
This site...
Get to work dev people's, what:p ;)
Hundreds you say? That's nothing, I recall purchasing a 4 MB SSD card for my SONY camera some 20 years ago and increasing storage space by thousands of kilobytes. Now that's impressive.
Devs aren't lazy, as I have stated before. However, the tools we are given might be considered massively inefficient. I'm looking at you, unreal 5. Unity isn't in a much better state. Yes you can make these engines work SOMEWHAT better but the fact remains they are generalized solutions and don't perform great.
We used to code our own engines but publishers ain't got time to wait for that shit anymore.
I will admit, it is somewhat amusing getting called lazy by and large by a group of people who only desire to use your product and really haven't ever made a game in their entire life (not directed at you neccesarily, just internet attitudes)
Personally I have a lot of respect for developers and the likely poor work conditions at a lot of studios they have to deal with. These people are working hard trying to put food on the table.
That being said Epic really needs to do better with it's engine when it comes to shader compilation etc on the PC side.
I think you know what most go with. It is sad though.
Some Devs are lazy though, some are not, some get enough time and resources and some don't, it's absolutely a mixed bag, plus the odd ocean under a map event happens.
I personally don't think it's aimed at you.
And I also think this world endemic and not just a dev thing, I often wonder at the thought put into the design and processes some gave a thumb up to, because it will do.
And the dramatic skills now lost due to better tool's, allegedly , like those truly replaced skills.
Let's face it, we have two same gen consoles with different specs, and VRAM is the killing blow for performance. Forget linear perf loss, it just kills it.
Water is also wet, the age of 8GB is finito
But do pray those devs are going to fix all the things. Some will, some won't, many will compromise heavily in the future.If you're content sitting there staring at a screen 8hrs per day you damn sure are lazy. 99% of IT is lazy as fuck
A specific type of lazy, though :) You can't see brains sweat
:)
Honestly I don't think this is a bad thing per se.
Nvidia is not willing to increase VRAM on mainstream models forcing game developers to "creatively" find solutions (or compromises) to make their game work for the vast majority of the playerbase.
Consoles driving higher VRAM demands (due to shitty PC ports primarily admittedly) may force Nvidia to start increasing VRAM for mainstream models as well.
4000 series is a lost cause, but perhaps we'll see a noticeable bump with 5000.
Just trying to look at it from a different angle.
Now a *technical* insight on the problem, I'd be very much interested on
And yes, there are lazy devs too. I just feel it's the exception more than the rule. :)
Series S might have less memory, but it has enough amount of memory to drive Borderlands 3, either there is an issue with the game or with the Xbox system on Series S.
If this issue is related to the game, it makes things much more ridiculous, I've seen some devs complaining about how limiting the Series S can be for the newer gen of games, but I end up not understanding how limiting it is.
1. VRAM? Just give the Series S worse quality on the textures, we have these options on PC, Series S can definitely get lower textures as well so that games can fit inside the budget.
2. CPU is the same, so it can power the same worlds, engines, physics, and logic.
3. Series S lacks graphical power. Well, it's true, but just like PC, it just needs to deliver a more reduced settings version for Series S, worse AO, worse shadows, worse distance, worse textures, worse GI, or any other demanding option available alongside worse resolutions.
The only way I see Series S being a big issue, is if a dev team like A4Games wants to continue the trend of going full RTGI for their games, Series S (which already suffers so much with Metro Exodus RT Edition), might suffer even more and creating a fallback version is not an option, or simply Star Wars Jedi Survivor which only delivers decent reflections if RT is enabled (also on PC) with no decent SSR as a fallback, it forces people to use RT because reflections without it seems just broken because devs only cared about RT which is enabled on all graphics settings on both bigger consoles, but the truth is, consoles could easily have much better reflections without RT, they simply didn't cared in the first place because it's much more easier to just enable RT..... "It just works"
Ungrateful gamers should just eat the crap they release and be grateful