Last week, more detailed leaks emerged concerning the technical specification of thePlayStation 5 Pro.
The question is, what are the design objectives of the new console?
The second tier of leak is more understandable and some might say inevitable.
The key details seen recently come from documentation available on PlayStation’s ‘devnet’ portal.
The relatively widespread nature of this disclosure made it relatively easy to verify.
The ray tracing capabilities are also augmented by 2x to 4x depending on the workload.
PlayStation 5 Pro also features advanced ray tracing hardware/custom machine learning silicon and an enhanced audio block.
Sony suggests approximately 45 percent of extra performance in raw GPU power.
So far, so PS4 Pro.
Back in 2016, we were beginning to see the ramping up of 4K display manufacture.
Instead, machine learning upscaling is used to make up the difference.
Let’s look into the specifications in a more detailed manner.
There’ll be an imperceptible reduction in rendering resolution and that’s it.
If a game is CPU limited, the GPU will stall and will lose far more performance anyway.
With 33.5 teraflops of compute performance vs the 10.23TF of the standard PS5, the boost here looks incredible.
However, these numbers flatter to deceive.
However, this does not mean we get double the gaming performance.
An increase in compute power alone is only one part of the equation, however.
To keep the CUs ‘fed’, it’s important to increase memory bandwidth.
So, the 448GB/s of peak theoretical bandwidth increases to 576GB/s.
Actual throughput may also be enhanced still further with architectural improvements (possibly via improved compression?).
We’ll just have to wait and see.
PS5 Pro also receives certain GPU-based RDNA features that the standard model does not have.
Hardware-based variable rate shading (VRS) was present in Xbox Series hardware but not PlayStation 5.
Sony does mention that PS5 Pro gains VRS.
It’s important to point out that this concerns just RT processing - not the frame-rate of actual games.
So, the 2x to 4x boost is coming from both architectural improvements and the increase in compute units.
PlayStation Spectral Resolution (PSSR) aims to deliver similar results and resolution multipliers as Nvidia DLSS.
Depending on the performance target, that 2ms varies in significance.
The Pro could deliver vastly improved results via its extra GPU powerandPSSR upscaling.
The 12.5GB of available memory for the creators of PS5 games rises to 13.7GB for PS5 Pro.
Quitehowthe platform holder has achieved this is unknown right now.
Analysis: what is PS5 Pro and do we actually need it?
And yet here we are with a PS5 Pro, almost certainly due later this year.
First of all, it’s important to remember that consoles take years to develop.
When PS5 Pro was first envisaged, Sony would not have known just how long cross-gen development would persist.
Corporate messaging spoke of the need to move users from PS4 to PS5 as quickly as possible.
The strategy changed, but the investments in PS5 Pro had already been made.
In terms of the ‘why’, this is still something of a mystery.
Even with large screens, 4K is still more than enough.
Could the PS5 Pro instead be targeting the needs of the gamer more attracted to a higher-performing PC set-up?
Today’s mainstream CPUs blow console-spec Zen 2 out of the water.
And for many, just having the most performant console will be enough.
It’s difficult to see anything else competing with this until the next generation of hardware arrives.
With that said, PS5 Pro also emphasises the direction of travel for the future of gaming technology.
Nvidia started it all back in 2018 with dedicated ray tracing and machine learning silicon.
Beyond that, there are still more questions beyond how Sony plans to market this.
How does backwards compatibility work with existing PlayStation 5 titles - will they run faster?
And are there further enhancements for PS4 games?
Are we looking at strict compatibility or will boost mode return?
Nvidia DLSS has proven the worth of machine learning-based upscaling, but just how good is Sony’s solution?
With that in mind, I can’t wait to see what Sony has prepared for us.
