PS5 Review
On the evening of March 18, PlayStation Lead Engineer Mark Cerny presented the PS5’s specs and details about its architecture. It should be borne in mind that this was not a marketing presentation, but a pre-recorded video for the participants and guests of the GDC exhibition, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 coronavirus. Cybersport.ru watched the broadcast and collected all the information about the technical specifications of the PlayStation 5.
PS5 Specifications
Mark Cerny began his talk with a short story about how he traveled to developer offices around the world and asked them what they want to see in the next generation consoles. Almost all developers have expressed a desire to work with SSDs. In PS5 it will be.
PS5 SSD drive schematic. Source: PlayStation 5 presentation
The total memory will be 825 GB and the read speed will be 5.5 to 9 GB / s. The console’s SSD can load 2GB of data in just 0.27 seconds, while the PS4’s hard drive can only load 1GB in 20 seconds. Thanks to him, games from the console will practically lose loading screens and will turn on instantly.
Comparison of SSD to PS5 and HDD to PS4. Source: PlayStation 5 presentation
This will also have a beneficial effect on other aspects. For example, patches for games will be installed instantly, and not after some time. The storage will be expandable with external SSDs or HDDs, however Sony noted that next-gen titles should only be installed on SSDs.
Diagram of the CPU and GPU console. Source: PlayStation 5 presentation
Mark Cerny spoke in more detail about the PS5 graphics core. This is a custom solution from AMD with RDNA 2 architecture with a total capacity of 10.28 teraflops. It has 36 computing units operating at limited frequencies up to 2.3 GHz. It also has built-in hardware support for ray tracing, which includes realistic reflections, shadows and other technology features.
The heart of the PS5 will be an eight-core AMD Zen 2 processor with 16 threads. Cerny stressed that the CPU and GPU will operate at dynamic frequencies – with a maximum of 3.5 GHz and 2.23 GHz, respectively. Because of this, the console’s power consumption and heating of the components will be even and, according to Cerny, will be reduced. Thanks to this approach, the console should be significantly quieter than the PS4 Pro running God of War.
Backward compatible slide. Source: PlayStation 5 presentation
The PS5 will have backward compatibility, but with some nuances. Cerny stated that “about 100 of the best PS4 games” are already working on the PS5 – they have created special patches for them. The engineer did not name specific titles, but noted that for some games “PS5 is too fast”.
Slide showing 3D sound. Source: PlayStation 5 presentation
Especially for sound, PS5 engineers have developed an engine called Tempest 3D AudioTech. Thanks to it, the user will be able to experience surround sound on almost any system – from TV speakers to gaming headphones. Cerny said he tried the novelty on his old headset: “And wow, I felt the difference.”
Balancing between revolution and evolution. Source: PlayStation 5 presentation
Separately, Cerny noted that the PS5 architecture will seem very familiar to the developers, so they will not have to spend a lot of time learning the system and developing skills. The engineer assured that acquaintance with PS5 will take no more than a month.
Full PS5 specifications:
Not all players appreciated the presentation
Although Sony has warned in advance that the presentation will only show the technical features of the PS5, the players were still unhappy. At the time of the publication of the material, the video from the PS5 has gained 151 thousand likes and 64 thousand dislikes against 284 thousand likes and 23 thousand dislikes from the Xbox Series X.