PlayStation 5’s full hardware specs revealed
Following on from the Xbox Series X reveal earlier this week, Sony has shared the full hardware specs of the PlayStation 5.
According to Digital Foundry, Sony’s next-generation console will feature a CPU with eight Zen 2 cores running at 3.5 GHz, a custom 10.28 teraflop GPU, and 16 GB’s of GDDR6 memory. As a comparison, the Series X contains a custom Zen 2 processor with eight cores running at 3.8 GHz, a 12 teraflop GPU, and 16 GB of GDDR6 memory.
However, as pointed out by lead system architect Mark Cerny in the Road to PS5 presentation, lower teraflops doesn’t necessarily mean that a GPU is weaker. He uses an example of a GPU with 36 compute units running at 1 GHz and one with 48 CUs running at 750 MHz that both deliver 4.6 teraflops.
“If you just calculate the teraflops, you get the same number, but actually the performance is noticeably different, because teraflops is defined as the computational capability of the vector ALU. That’s just one part of the GPU. There are a lot of other units, and those other units all run faster when the GPU frequency is higher. At 33 percent higher frequency, rasterization goes 33 percent faster, processing the command buffer goes that much faster, the L2 and other caches have that much higher bandwidth, and so on,” Cerny explained.
The PlayStation 5’s GPU has 36 CUs running at 2.23 GHz, while the Series X has 52 CUs running at 1.825 GHz.
Moving onto storage. The PlayStation 5 will launch with a custom SSD that has 825 GB of storage space. The console will also feature an expansion slot for NVMe SSDs, which lead system architect Mark Cerny mentioned will support third-party M.2 SSDs. However, only SSDs that match or exceed the PS5’s 5.5 GB/s and fit in the slot will be supported.
Take a look at the full hardware specifications of the PlayStation 5 below:
- CPU: 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.5 GHz (variable frequency)
- GPU: 10.28 TFLOPs with 36 CUs at 2.23 GHz (variable frequency)
- GPU Architecture: Custom RDNA 2
- Memory/Interface: 16 GB GDDR6/256-bit
- Memory Bandwidth: 448 GB/s
- Internal Storage: Custom 825 GB SSD
- IO Throughput: 5.5 GB/s (Raw), Typical 8-9 GB/s (Compressed)
- Expandable Storage: NVMe SSD Slot
- External Storage: USB HDD Support
- Optical Drive: 4K UHD Blu-ray Drive
As previously announced, the next-generation console will also feature support for hardware-based ray tracing, PlayStation 4 backward compatibility, and new haptic/adaptive triggers for the controller.
The PlayStation 5 will be available in holiday 2020.
Matt is one of the longest-serving members of the EGMNOW team. An ability to go many hours without sleep and a quick wit make him ideal for his role as associate editor at EGMNOW.com. He often thinks back to the days when the very idea of this career seemed like nothing but an impossible dream.
