PS5 Pro uses AMD or Nvidia? Discover the new console’s hardware

On Tuesday (10), Sony finally announced the new PlayStation 5 Pro after years of speculation. The model promises double or even triple the performance of the standard PS5 in certain scenarios, and brings much more advanced specifications than those contained in its predecessor, using cutting-edge hardware from the red side of the force.

Answering the question in the title of this article, The PlayStation 5 Pro uses a chip developed by AMD. This was already something that was quite expected, since the company has been responsible for the development of the PlayStation and Xbox for many generations, but the big news is that Sony has decided to significantly improve the technical specifications of this model.

New AMD chip with larger GPU

Since the PS5 launched in 2020 with the hardware of the time, it was assumed that Sony and AMD would only make a revision of the specifications. However, the PlayStation 5 Pro works with a new SoC from AMD, which did not reveal much about the CPU used, but guaranteed significant improvements to the GPU.

The console’s chief architect, Mark Cerny, commented that developers needed more graphics power to work on games. So AMD produced a custom chip with a bigger and better integrated graphics card, which increases the number of CUs (Computing Units) by up to 67%.

AMD is at the forefront of chips for consoles and portable devices.Fonte:  PlayStation

For comparison, the regular PS5 uses 36 CUs, while the new model has 60 of these structures. The most interesting thing is that the entire GPU is built based on the RDNA 3 or 4 microarchitecture. It is still difficult to pinpoint this information, since the companies have not yet confirmed all the details.

With the GPU, AMD worked to make the RAM 28% faster, making the game rendering 50% faster. In a more technical understanding, this means that the system has speeds of up to 18 Gbps and a bandwidth close to 580 GB/s.

Information about the CPU has not been revealed. However, the expectation is that the device will continue with the same eight-core processor and 3.5 GHz frequency.

Mais Ray Tracing

Ray Tracing, a technology that is so sought after this generation, will gain more prominence with the PlayStation 5 Pro. Although Sony has not provided many details, the company projects that games will receive more dynamic reflections and greater light refraction.

This will also only be possible due to the improved graphics card, possibly developed in RDNA 3 or 4. AMD’s new architectures brought more RT cores and performance to support this technology, although they are still well behind their rival Nvidia.

PS5’s improved ray tracing is demonstrated in Hogwarts Legacy.Fonte:  PlayStation

It’s worth remembering that AMD has yet to officially reveal its RDNA 4 graphics cards, so this could be the reason Sony hasn’t commented on the technology used in the console.

According to what was presented by Cerny, Will the PS5 Pro be able to maintain a high frame rate?similar to what happens in PS5’s Performance Mode, while graphical quality is not sacrificed. Ray Tracing improvements could also touch on this issue, as processing power is intensified.

Upscaling e Game Boost

As expected, the PlayStation 5 Pro will use a resolution upscaling technique to maintain performance. Called PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution), the technology uses artificial intelligence with machine learning to change the resolution and deliver more FPS on the screen, while quality is not compromised.

Since games run at 4K resolution, upscaling is very necessary to ensure stable gameplay, since not even dedicated GPUs from AMD and Nvidia with similar specifications can run games at ultra quality without this feature.

PSSR promises to make images sharper and more detailed, even with resolution upscaling.Fonte:  PlayStation

The company also revealed Game Boost, a feature capable of stabilizing or improving the performance of PS4 and PS5 games on the PS5 Pro through backward compatibility. This technology will be available in more than 8,500 games.

Other improvements: Wi-Fi 7 and 2TB SSD

In addition to these three pillars, the PlayStation 5 Pro will have internal storage with 2 TB of SSD with the same fast-loading technology. Users will also be able to add the disc reader available for the PS5, or use the device only with digital media.

The device will still support the updated Wi-Fi 7 wireless network, VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and 8K resolution.

Price and availability

The PlayStation 5 Pro will hit the market on November 7th in the international market for US$699 (around R$4,000 in direct conversion, without taxes). The price and release date in Brazil have not yet been announced by Sony.