PS3Portal.com has posted an article called "Inside the PS3" that takes a look at how the competing consoles utilize resources while running the OS in the background of games:

...Everything that one wants to do involving software on a Game Console, specifically while the user is playing games, comes at a cost. In the case of the Xbox360, this cost is approximately 2% of total CPU time and 6.25% of the Xbox360's total available RAM. Balancing these out, one could argue that MS has removed a total of 4% of the Xbox360's total available system power in order to provide these features and more which were not mentioned.

...In the case of the PS3 this equates to 25% of the available Cores on the CPU and 18.75% of the available RAM in the system. Balancing these out, one could argue that Sony has removed a total of 23% of the available system power in the PS3 for these features

Of course, this is all based on anonymous sources. The author even admits he doesn't quite know what he's talking about. But then, we are Xbox fanboys and this could be blood in the bathtub. Is MS simply better at coding than Sony (as some PS3 fans seem to fear), or is Kutaragi's time-bending 4D OS simply doing more, i.e. multi-video chat? Does hogging nearly a quarter of system resources mean the PS3's bells and whistles are coming at the expense of its games?

PS3 portal has some juicy information that has come to them by way of some anonymous, yet informative sources. You know what that means: it must be true! be cautious about what you read. Even they go as far to say that all this could change before the end. But either way, the information sounds pretty insightful.

At any rate, these guys have some in-depth facts about the upcoming next-gen console. The details start out like any good diagnosis would: with a comparison! Giving you a rundown of the Xbox 360 system sets the reader up for what to expect when talking about the PS3. Some of the information regarding the behind-the-scenes processing is laid out below:

- 32MB of the 256MB of available GDDR3 memory off the RSX chip
- 64MB of the 256MB of available XDR memory off the Cell CPU
- 1 SPE of 7 constantly reserved
- 1 SPE of 7 able to be "taken" by the OS at a moments notice (games have to give it up if requested)

This is about 23% of the total system power for the PS3, which is a far cry from the 4% set aside for the Xbox 360's OS. Of course we still don't know what kind of applications Sony has in mind for this nearly-quarter allotment, or if that's even going to be the final specification! Even so, we'd like to believe they have a lot in store for gamers when it comes to the operating system's functionality.

Its all on paper and not real world applications. I have a feeling that they will be about equal in power. Graphics and games will all be dependant on the programmers skills.

Its marketing man. When main stream media catches on, Sony will up their game, and vice versa. At least more people understand that it is a game now.

Kind of like steroid testing or computer viruses. It is an everlong battle.