There’s an interesting report coming out of UK based video game blog VG24/7 that Sony has begun shipping new “PlayStation 4” developer kits, codenamed Orbis, to developers. The most interesting fact coming from this report is that they are based on AMD A10 Trinity APUs (check out our Trinity review if you haven’t yet).
Does this mean that the PS4 will simply be a re-tooled PC, like the original XBOX? Not at all. Although the rumors have been pretty consistent about the PS4 having an x86 CPU architecture, the CPU may still be very customized to suit Sony’s needs better. It is very unlikely that the final design will be all that similar to a Trinity APU. The GPU may be close, but the CPU portion will most likely be more customized for a single-purpose console (well not so much anymore, but a console’s hardware design can definitely be more focused than what a CPU offers).
One thing is for certain, if the PS4 uses anything like the GPU that is built into the A10 APU, it is already fast enough to run current games in good resolutions, even full-HD with certain graphical settings. This is evidenced in the AAA games testing we performed in our Trinity Review.
