System architect Mark Cerny delivered the Road to PS5 presentation, basically an in-depth tech briefing behind the specifications of the Playstation 5. See the table below for the complete specs list:
PlayStation 5 | PlayStation 4 | |
---|---|---|
CPU | 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.5GHz (variable frequency) | 8x Jaguar Cores at 1.6GHz |
GPU | 10.28 TFLOPs, 36 CUs at 2.23GHz (variable frequency) | 1.84 TFLOPs, 18 CUs at 800MHz |
GPU Architecture | Custom RDNA 2 | Custom GCN |
Memory/Interface | 16GB GDDR6/256-bit | 8GB GDDR5/256-bit |
Memory Bandwidth | 448GB/s | 176GB/s |
Internal Storage | Custom 825GB SSD | 500GB HDD |
IO Throughput | 5.5GB/s (Raw), Typical 8-9GB/s (Compressed) | Approx 50-100MB/s (dependent on data location on HDD) |
Expandable Storage | NVMe SSD Slot | Replaceable internal HDD |
External Storage | USB HDD Support | USB HDD Support |
Optical Drive | 4K UHD Blu-ray Drive | Blu-ray Drive |
The most pertinent of details from Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry post regarding the PS5 confirms the console’s backwards compatibility, with external storage like NVMe still capable of working with the console. It won’t be matching the PS5’s bandwidth so soon, but there is the option to shove those older games into external drives, saving the console’s storage for newer games.
The full presentation can be watched above, if you are especially interested behind the nitty gritty details behind the hardware. The key points, as succinctly summarized by Eurogamer, is essentially:
- The technical specifications of PlayStation 5 and its innovative ‘boost’ approach to core clocks;
- The features of the PlayStation 5 GPU;
- How the SSD helps deliver the next-generation dream;
- How Sony tackles expandable storage;
- Unprecedented 3D audio fidelity via the Tempest 3D Audio Engine.
This might be a much to take in, but the Road to PS5 has only just begun, so we’ll look forward to seeing that next gen home console this coming Holiday 2020 should everything go smoothly.