Sony Confirms Full PSP CPU Speed (Updated)

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June 22nd, 2007, 21:57
wraggster

Sony Confirms Full PSP CPU Speed (Updated)

via shacknews

Update: The availability of the PSP's full CPU speed only affects in-development titles, a SCE representative has told Shacknews. Previously released PSP games continue to operate at the speed they were originally programmed for, and do not see any sort of change in performance or battery life.

A Sony Computer Entertainment representative has confirmed to Shacknews that developers can now take full advantage of the PSP's CPU following the late May release of the system's version 3.50 firmware. Rumors of the unlocking were initially reported via an unnamed source.

Previously, developers were only able to run the CPU at 266MHz rather than its full potential clock speed of 333MHz, though most games ran at only 222MHz. High Impact Games' Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, released in February, is said to run at 266MHz. Hackers long ago discovered methods to run the PSP's CPU at full speed, the benefits of which include a smoother framerate for certain games, at the cost of reduced battery life. There is no word yet if this update enables previous PSP releases to run at 333MHz, something hacked PSP firmware has enabled in the past.

It is widely believed that the PSP CPU was underclocked to increase the portable's battery life. Some speculate that the availability of the portable's full CPU speed affirms recent rumors of an upcoming redesign, which supposedly includes a brighter screen, a slimmer profile, and increased battery life. Such a system would be better equipped to deal with the greater power demands of the unthrottled CPU.
June 22nd, 2007, 22:33
Tesseract

Quote:

Some speculate that the availability of the portable's full CPU speed affirms recent rumors of an upcoming redesign, which supposedly includes a brighter screen, a slimmer profile, and increased battery life. Such a system would be better equipped to deal with the greater power demands of the unthrottled CPU.

Some also speculate the existence of Unicorns and Fairies.

These rumors have been shot down more than once. If anything, the confirmation of THIS rumor should put more emphasis on the fact that SONY will often confirm rumors when they're actually valid. :P
June 23rd, 2007, 02:24
Buddy4point0

so the news is true! thats great. that means that higher polygon models can be used and more models and stuff can be shown at once without framerate loss!
wooh hoo! the developers of goW said that if they ran at 333 its basically like programing for the ps2. YAY i cant wait too see what happens to the psp now
June 23rd, 2007, 03:35
ICE

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buddy4point0

so the news is true! thats great. that means that higher polygon models can be used and more models and stuff can be shown at once without framerate loss!
wooh hoo! the developers of goW said that if they ran at 333 its basically like programing for the ps2. YAY i cant wait too see what happens to the psp now

awesome. thats actually much better news than it appears i guess lol.
June 23rd, 2007, 09:28
Tesseract

I wonder if this was planned to happen before games like God of War and Crisis Core were released. Both seem to be the most graphically challenging games on the console to date...
June 23rd, 2007, 13:09
Mew

GREAT!!
I'm waiting for GoW and Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops 2 :)..
June 23rd, 2007, 18:43
JoeyStitch

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tesseract

I wonder if this was planned to happen before games like God of War and Crisis Core were released. Both seem to be the most graphically challenging games on the console to date...

This is my guess too. The level of graphical detail in God of War is amazing and I'm almost certain that when it comes out, it'll be a 333MHz title.
June 25th, 2007, 11:43
jammet

So far there are only two 'sizes' in official battery packs. It's time for a third.

At least it would seem to make sense to also manufacture a third - even-higher capacity battery to compensate.