Alleged hardware specs for the unannounced PS5 Pro have emerged, giving a rough understanding of what improvements one can expect from the mid-gen console.
The leak comes from multiple sources, according to which the mid-gen PlayStation 5 is set for release during the period of Fall, 2024. But how do the PS5 Pro specs compare with the base model, and do the improvements justify an upgrade? The short answer: it depends. For the long answer, read ahead.
According to the leaked specs for PS5 Pro, the new console’s GPU will boast a 45% improvement over the base model in terms of rasterization performance. It will also offer 2 to 4 times faster ray-tracing performance, depending on which metric is being compared. These improvements are likely coming via a new AMD GPU architecture, possibly RDNA4 or a custom RDNA3 design. That said, what does this mean in terms of real-world performance? In games that support the PS5 Pro, those who upgrade to the new console can expect ray-tracing of higher quality/precision as well as support for a wider set of ray-tracing features, including global illumination, reflections, ambient occlusion, and shadows.
However, a 2 to 4 times improvement in ray-tracing performance suggests that the PS5 Pro won’t be able to pull off something like the path tracing seen in CD Projekt’s Cyberpunk 2077 or Remedy Entertainment’s Alan Wake, both of which are very demanding games on high-end PC hardware.
Another factor to consider is that the leaked specs make little mention of the PS5 Pro’s CPU performance and unified memory bandwidth, both of which are important when evaluating gains in performance. The only thing we’ve heard is that it will follow an approach similar to that of the PS4 Pro, where the processor will get a moderate boost in clock speed over the base model. As such, it may well end up being the new console’s limiting factor or Achilles heel, so to speak.
Games that are CPU intensive with heavy use of physics simulation and environmental interactions may not be able to deliver higher frame rate on the PS5 Pro. One upcoming example of this could possibly be Rockstar Games’ GTA VI. However, those who upgrade to the Pro should, at the very least, expect the graphical knobs to to turned up over the base console. There’s also the fact that, even if the PS5 Pro can’t run GTA VI at 60 fps, it should still be able to run the game at a stable 40 fps or an unlocked frame rate with VRR engaged, ultimately provided a better experience than the base console.
Possibly the most exciting aspect of the PS5 Pro that is mentioned in the leaks is Sony Interactive Entertainment’s proprietary image reconstruction technology known as PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR). It is claimed that the console will feature hardware boasting a custom Machine Learning architecture capable of 300 TOPS of 8-bit computation that will be used for PSSR. It is also claimed that Sony’s proprietary image reconstruction technology delivers superior image quality than AMD’s FSR2.
Depending on how smart the console maker is with regards to its implementation, PSSR could be a major selling point for the enthusiast market. If the decision to support PSSR is left to developers, we’ll likely a limited number of games taking advantage of it. Additionally, earlier PS5 titles are unlikely to be patched with support for the technology. Valve has a system level implementation of FSR for the Steam Deck that Sony could learn from for the PS5 Pro.
Ultimately, whether the PS5 Pro will be worth upgrading to depends entirely on one’s own expectations. If the expectation is to have a console that delivers more stable frame rates, and possibly even targets higher frame rates in some cases, the boost in CPU clock speed may not be enough to deliver a revelatory improvement, particularly in CPU intensive games. On the other hand, if the expectation from the PS5 Pro is for it to simply turn up the graphical knobs, it should be up for the task, especially with PSSR in effect.
