Sony's PS4 upgrade is codenamed NEO, features improved CPU, GPU and RAM

Details of the rumored incremental PS4 upgrade surfaced in apparent leaked communication from Sony to developers making games for the PS4. The documents, received by Giant Bomb, contain details of the improved hardware, along with instructions to developers on how to handle and approach content for both versions. While the press and fans have been referring to the upgraded version as the PS4.5 or the PS4K, internally the device is referred to by the code name NEO. The CPU in the Sony’s PS4 NEO will have 8 Jaguar cores clocked at 2.1 GHz as against the 1.6 GHz on the base version. The GPU is an improved AMD GCN with 36 CUs at 911 MHz, the base version has an AMD GCN with 18 CUs at 800 MHz. The memory bandwidth on the 8 GB DDR5 RAM in the NEO is boosted to 218 GB/s from the 176 GB/s in the base version. Games released after October are required to ship with two modes, one for the base version and one for the NEO version. This does not mean that the NEO will be out before October, as the documents explicitly mention that the games can be shipped NEO ready before the console itself hits the market. The gameplay features are to be uniform across both the consoles, with only the frame rate and the graphical quality being allowed as the difference. There will be no titles exclusive to the NEO, and both consoles will share the same ecosystem. Gamers with either console will be able to play with each other on the PSN. No exclusive content for the NEO is expected.